SEBASTOPOL, CA (Source: KGO/CNN) - We all know music is powerful, but is it powerful enough to change how something tastes?
One maker of craft whiskey thinks the answer is yes.
The sound of whiskey being born echoes through the Spirit Works Distillery.
Sometimes you'll hear Head Distiller Lauren Patz adding yeast.
Next door in the barrel room, the sound is much different.
You don't often see a barrel of whiskey rocking out to a dance mix, but that's exactly what's happening.
"We've been pumping music into a few very select barrels for a few years now. It's been an interesting experiment for us," co-owner Timo Marshall said.
There's one listening to Michael Jackson, and another listening to Led Zeppelin. Some of the music has been played on repeat for three years.
"Listening to the same playlist for three years in a row, you're either going to go crazy or become like a genius, right? So let's hope or a little bit of both," Patz said.
There is some crazy genius here, as whiskey derives much of its flavor from the oak barrels it lives in for years, moving in and out of the wood as it expands and contracts with changing weather.
"How can we get the interaction between the liquid and the wood itself to behave in a different way? We thought we could excite that by using sound vibrations," Marshall said.
Though the exact effects of the music are up for debate, but there is a difference between these barrels, and it's one you can taste.
Marshall admitted the most popular was picked by his wife - a barrel that spent three years hearing the Nutcracker.
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