The Magic Flask Review

“Upgrade the Cheap Taste”

Yes that is the lead tagline on The Magic Flask website.

According to Magic Flask, their patented manufacturing process will upgrade bottom shelf liquor into a premium quality. The words they use are something “smooth and respectable.”

Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Could it actually work?

Magic Flask sent one of their flasks to Bourbon and Banter for a try out and I volunteered to put it through its paces.

The Magic Flask is a stainless steel flask that uses technology related to bioresonance. The flask is specially tuned with electromagnetic waves so that water molecules within liquid placed inside will be qualitatively changed. As far as how the technology works, that is about all the explanation that comes with the flask. The flask instructions state that it works best with spirits.

What is bioresonance?

Bioresonance, invented in 1977 in Gernany, by Franz Morell and Erich Rasche is a non-invasive therapy where electrodes are placed on the skin for diagnosis and treatment. These electrodes are connected to a machine which checks the energy wavelengths coming from your body. The machine is used to determine and counter bad frequencies by restoring the optimum balance. Replacing the negative wavelengths with positive ones promotes healing. It is supposedly good for detoxifying the body, fighting drug addiction, restoring energy, digestive disorders, sleeping problems and other maladies. It is part of a group of alternative medicines such as acupuncture, energy healing and spiritual healing. There is a lot of scientific skepticism about the effectiveness of bioresonance.

Magic Flask is part of a brand called Potion Pal that is owned by a company called UpSynergy. UpSynergy bills themselves as a health and wellness company that in particular is a gateway for Asian manufacturers to market their products in North America. The company is working on several wellness products and one of the first to come to market is The Magic Flask, a part of the Potion Pal Brand. According to Andrew Peters, VP of Sales and Marketing, “Our goal was to provide a cost-effective solution for people to stop drinking harsh liquor, and make bottom-shelf liquor more pleasurable. Our finished product is a must-have for students, millennials, and every liquor lover.” The Magic Flask comes in two sizes: a 7oz personal flask and a larger size 18oz flask. These will be available eventually for $59.95 and $79.95 MSRP respectively.

Does it work? I can say that is definitely changes the nose and taste of bourbon placed inside the flask! Surprised? So was I, but read on, there’s more.

I tried The Magic Flask with six different whiskies on six different days. These included Ancient Age, Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Lusty Claw, McKenna Bottled in Bond 10 year Single Barrel and Buffalo Trace in that order. For each whiskey, I placed about three ounces of the whiskey in the flask and followed the directions that came with the flask and let it sit in the flask for anywhere from 40 minutes to almost 4 hours. The instructions state let it sit for at least 30 minutes. The last four, after I tasted them I let the whiskey sit overnight and tried it again. For each tasting I did a half ounce pour of the whiskey from the bottle and a half ounce pour from the flask.

According to its own news releases, The Magic Flask will change bottom shelf liquor into something that is “smooth and respectable.” It will upgrade bottom shelf liquor into premium quality and enhance the aroma, color, texture, and taste.

Yes, it does change the texture and taste of the whiskey. In every one of my trials, the texture of whiskey had a thicker mouth feel. As for the nose, color and taste, the results were different. I could not see a noticeable difference in color except for the first trial but the instructions themselves stated that in the first usage this may happen. After that there was no difference.

As for the nose, in every case the nose of the whiskey was diminished. It was hard to get any nose from the four bottom shelf whiskies and for the McKenna and Buffalo Trace there wasn’t much at all. Even Mr. Peters himself said in an interview that The Magic Flask softens the nose of the spirits. Essentially it is dulled.

And the taste? Yes it changes the taste. It dulls the taste as well. The nuances you find in tasting whiskey are missing on the palate. The finish, in my opinion, was worse. None of my trials turned into premium quality whiskey. The last four trials that I let sit overnight and sampled in the morning showed no improvement from sitting in the flask for a much longer period.

Going one by one, briefly:

• Ancient Age – I like Ancient Age. The Magic Flask dulled the nose extremely and the taste out of the flask was not good.
• Jim Beam – I don’t like Jim Beam. It tasted bad before, and it tasted bad after.
• Jack Daniels – I like Jack Daniels to an extent. Again the flask dulled the nose and dulled the taste. It certainly didn’t become Jack Daniels Single Barrel.
• Lusty Claw – If you are interested in Lusty Claw you can find an excellent Lusty Claw review from Luke Castle here. It was bad out of the bottle and worse out of the flask.
• McKenna BIB – I am not a big fan of the McKenna Bottled in Bond. I know a large number of bourbon drinkers will swear by it. Or maybe my bottle is just a really bad barrel. This one is not good out of the bottle and much worse out of the flask.
• Buffalo Trace – Finally, Buffalo Trace is one of my favorite bourbons. It was not good coming out of the flask.

The Magic Flask does not change bottom shelf spirits into premium quality. It does thicken the texture of the spirit on the palate but it dulls the taste and removes the taste nuances. I can see some utility in the flask for inexperienced spirits drinkers who might want to take a flask of cheap liquor along to an event. Maybe someday technology such as this may well be able to quickly change low level spirits into high quality ones, or maybe you just can’t mess with the age old process.

For someone who is a liquor connoisseur this is a hard pass.

Disclaimer: UpSynergy provided Bourbon & Banter with a sample of their product for this review. We appreciate their willingness to allow us to review their products with no strings attached. Thank you.