James Gilpin believes that no other whiskey in the world could taste like the Gilpin Family Whiskey, and why not if you have a secret magical ingredient enhancing the flavor. By now, the nosy bug in you must be jumping to know the secret ingredient. Would you believe me if I say it’s “urine”? Well, this ingenious designer and researcher has developed a high-end line of single malt whiskey made from the sugar-laden urine of people with diabetes.
Gilpin actually came up with the idea of the Gilpin Family Whiskey project after he heard a strange tale of a pharmaceutical company that supposedly set up a factory next to an old people’s home in order to extract unprocessed drugs from elderly patients’ urine for re-use in new products. He then decided to use the same elderly patients’ pee and purify it in the same way as mains water is purified, with the sugar molecules removed and added to the mash stock to accelerate the whiskey’s fermentation process.
Soon after it is fermented into a clear alcohol spirit, whiskey blends are added to give color, taste and viscosity, and the product is bottled with the name and age of the contributor. Gilpin, who claims that the whiskey is more a piece of art, will be exhibiting it at 100% Materials, a design and architecture event in London in September and the Abandon Normal Devices festival in Manchester in October. Honestly, I have no clue if there is anything special about sugars extracted this way, other than the obvious shock value.
