Following almost three full years in space, traveling around the globe 15 times a day at over 17,000 miles per hour, a dram of Ardbeg single malt scotch was welcomed back to Earth yesterday at New York’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

According to a press release from the distillery, one vial of the peaty liquor was handed over to the International Space Station for research purposes in 2011, and accompanied astronauts in orbit for the 1,045 days following. The sample’s journey, completed in partnership with space research company, NanoRacks, was done in an attempt to understand the effects of gravity on scotch’s maturation process. How the results of the study will affect scotch production in the years to come, of course, is yet to be determined.

Now that the Ardberg has returned from orbit, it’s time for a victory lap. After the study’s tests are completed by Ardbeg’s Director of Distilling and Whisky Creation, the vial will go on a US tour, which will culminate in its being put up for auction in 2015. [Ardbeg] [Photo: Ardbeg]