“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Not exactly a motto driving the consumer-facing whiskey accessory market.

The number of rapid-aging, oak-amplifying barrel alternatives claiming to miraculously transform new make or bottom-shelf whiskey into super-aged liquid gold seems to grow daily. Most of these products fail to live up to their claims (or our expectations), but one new invention from Portland-based BRAIN Labs might change all that.

The Whiskey Lab isn’t a rapid aging product. Instead, it aims to precisely replicate the dynamics inside a full-sized traditional oak barrel: low light, regular oxygenation, and a very specific ratio of wood-to-spirit surface…