Researchers from The University of Technology Sydney in Australia have developed NOS.E, A device that detects the differences between whiskies by “smelling” them.

Many whiskey drinkers who have experience believe that they can smell and taste the difference between premium spirits and cheaper, fake blends. However, even the best drinkers are still susceptible to fraudulent practices, which is now becoming an increasing problem for the whiskey industry.

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia believe they can change the way we think about it by creating an electronic nose that will discern distinct whiskey styles, brands, and the origins of whiskey by “smelling” samples.

In an effort to combat counterfeit whiskies, researchers in Australia created a device called NOS.E that can detect and identify differences by “sniffing” spirits. Pixabay

In a paper that was released on April 1 in The journal IEEE Sensors, the device–called NOS.E–was capable of identifying the distinct differences between three blended malt whiskies as well as three single malt whiskies – made by Johnnie Walker, Ardbeg, Chivas Regal Macallan, and Johnnie Walker–in under four minutes. It was 100% precise in the region, 96.15 percent accurate on the brand’s name, and 92.31 percent accurate for the design of the whiskies it evaluated at the CEBIT Australia trade show in the year 2019.

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Researchers confirmed the findings of the technology using mass spectrometry using time-of-flight. Gas chromatography with two dimensions: These are lengthy chemical tests that have to be carried out in a laboratory by a certified professional. NOS.E is, on the other, it is fast and fairly inexpensive, researchers explain in their study.

Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia developed an electronic nose called NOS.E that can identify different whiskey styles, brands and origins by “smelling” samples.

The device was designed to replicate the human olfactory process; NOS.E features the eight sensors for gas that can “sniff” a vial of whiskey. The device analyzes every smell molecule it detects and then transmits the information to a computer. An algorithm for machine learning that has been trained to recognize the characteristics of whiskey analyzes the results.

Electronic nose technology has been utilized previously to stop the illegal wildlife trade, to assess the odors of wastewater treatment plants as well as to identify cancerous cells, and, most recently, to identify Covid-19 in addition to other uses. As we move forward, NOS.E not only can detect fake whiskies. It also has the potential to detect fake cognacs, wines, and costly perfumes, as per an announcement from a university. It could also be useful in identifying diseases and different medical purposes.

In the article, Clay Risen wrote for the New York Times in January that whiskey has become “a counterfeiter’s dream” because of the high demand and the scarce supply. When the coronavirus epidemic was raging, the situation got worse as people stayed in their homes to prevent transmission of this virus. They began drinking more alcohol at home and also.

NOS.E identified differences between three blended-malt whiskies and three single-malt whiskies in less than four minutes Pexels

To entice customers with their frauds, counterfeiters often fill up expensive bottles of spirits with cheap booze to make scams work. They then seal them again and then sell the bottles to buyers who are unaware, typically for thousands or hundreds of dollars. Certain fraudulent sellers steal the money of their customers and do not ship the whiskey or deliver empty bottles like the Buffalo Trace Distillery warned in 2021.

Although there aren’t many statistics about the extent of the issue globally, A study from 2018 found that a third of the rare Scotch whiskies were counterfeit. With some of the rare whiskeys fetching upwards of $2.5 million, a system such as NOS.E can help consumers save a significant amount of cash and pain.

“To have a rapid, easy to use, real-time assessment of whisky to identify the quality and uncover any adulteration or fraud could be very beneficial for both high-end wholesalers and purchasers,” Steven Su, a biomedical engineer and one of the paper’s co-authors stated in the statement.