Identifying fake antique whisky

Identifying fake antique whisky

Identifying fake antique whisky

Scientists claim to have found a unique method of identifying counterfeit antique malt whisky by detecting in the beverage traces of radioactive particles flung into the atmosphere by nuclear bomb tests.

A team at Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit has discovered that it could pinpoint the date a whisky was made by detecting traces of radioactive particles created by the nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s. In fact, they can also use natural background levels of radioactivity to identify whiskies that were even made in earlier centuries.

"It is easy to tell if whisky is fake as if it has been produced since the middle of the twentieth century, it has a very distinctive signature. With whiskies that are older, we can get a range of dates but we can usually tell which century it came from.

"The earliest whisky we have dated came from the 1700s and most have been from 19th century. So far there've probably been more fakes among the samples we have tested than real examples of old whisky," Dr Tom Higham of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit told The Daily Telegraph.

In fact, the technique the scientists have started using is known as radiocarbon dating and is more commonly used by archaeologists to date ancient fragments of bone and wood. It relies upon the fact that all living organisms absorb low levels of a radioactive isotope known as carbon 14, a heavy form of carbon which is present in low levels in the atmosphere.

After death, levels of this isotope in animal and plant remains will slowly decay away, meaning the scientists can well estimate their age from the amount of carbon 14 that remains in the sample.

Nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s saw levels of carbon 14 in the atmosphere rise around the world and so the amount of isotope absorbed by living organisms since this time has been artificially elevated, according to the team.

The scientists burn the liquid and bombard the resulting gas with electrically charged particles so they can measure the quantities of carbon 14 in the sample.