.
there actually IS some chemical engineering going on right now on new ways of achieving scotch and bourbon. One technique i have seen is they put the hooch in a giant stainless steel tanks, and toss in wood slats of oak, and other woods, for aging and flavor. So instead of the labor intensive method of coopering up white oak barrels, and aging for years (and losing the "angel's share"), and then maybe moving it into other sherry barrels, etc....is all bypassed. You toss in wood, maybe pressurize the tank, to make the hooch go in and out of the wood, and in maybe 6 months you have the equivalent of 8 years in a wood barrel.
Sacrilege