A GUIDE TO TASTING
A GUIDE to TASTING WHISKY
Learning how to taste Scotch may not come
naturally, so I’ve found some tips on how to
taste whisky. It’s all about the nose, the palate,
and the finish.
Note: when we refer to an “expression”.The term used to describe
variations on a given whiskey recipe. This can be the result of
changing a spirit’s ingredients, the distillation process, its age, the
amount of char on barrels, or any other minor alteration that does
not change the overall spirit too much from the original recipe.
GET PREPARED
The first step is to cleanse your palate with water to wash away
any impurities in your mouth. Using your toothbrush or
mouthwash will have the opposite effect. Also, it’s best to avoid
heavy meals with strong flavours like garlic, onions, curries etc.
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Use a tasting glass. It is essential to have a glass with a bowl
that has a narrow top to collect the aromas. The Glencarin glass
is the most popular tasting glass. (see blog on “What is a Dram").
LOOKING
Before you taste, you should hold the glass of whisky up to the
light. At this point, you should look at both the colour and the socalled “legs”.
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LEGS
Legs refer to the way the whisky runs down your glass. It often
indicates age and quality of the spirit. After swirling your whisky
around the glass beginning it to the top edge, look for the viscous,
syrupy run of your tasting glass.
• If the whisky runs quickly, it often indicates a light, possibly
young expression.
•
A slow, oily crawl back to bottom is usually a sign of longer
aged whisky.
COLOUR
The colour or “robe” will actually tell you a lot about what to
expect when tasting:
• Clear or very pale yellow could mean the whisky is young.
• A yellow or light golden colour often means it was aged in a
new cask or bourbon barrel and will often be light and sweet.
• Deep golden colour usually indicates a well-aged expression
from a bourbon barrel.
• Reddish hues usually indicate the whisky is aged in a sherry
or port cask.
• Green to brown colour usually indicates earthy/mineral and
herb/vegetation flavours, often with some charred character.
• Deep dark whisky is usually matured in port or sherry casks
with the cask having been quite charred
Note: Some distilleries prefer to use charred or burnt casks to age
their spirit. This provides the whisky with wonderful expressions. I
will blog about the process.
THE NOSE
When tasting whisky, the first step is to
assess its nose – nosing the spirit is the act of bringing whisky to
your nose and sniffing it for different aromas. It helps in picking
out flavours and aromas that are typically not detected through
sipping. Nosing is an essential part of tasting whisky.
First, give the whisky a swirl to release the aromas, then carefully
bring it to your nose. Be warned, however, that the olfactory
system is highly delicate, so don’t shove your nose into anything
before checking the abv (strength of the whisky), taking a BIG
WHIFF…could be a negative experience for you…approach it
with thoughtfulness. Before you sniff, hold your glass about 20cm
from your nose, keep your mouth open slightly when you’re
smelling the whisky. This stops the alcohol in the whisky burning
the inside of your nose, which prevents you from smelling all of
the individual notes.
If you close your eyes and envision the fruit, plant, mineral,
earth, wood, and other scents which make up the expression, it
will magnify your ability to taste them.
The first draw takes in much of the released ethanol vapors - the
“shock and burn”.
Your next whiff is where the true aromas come out; you will get
much more of the blender’s expression coming through. Some
whisky experts sniff the whisky three times alternating each
nostril...I've tried and it works for me.
The Whisky’s aroma is the biggest indicator, 80-95% is how we
perceive flavor. I have taken a course specifically on identifying
AROMA that I will blog about in the near future.
Another method of smelling your whisky involves putting your
finger in the glass to get a few drops of whisky, then rubbing that
finger to the back of your hand vigorously. This method helps to
rub off the alcohol so that you can pick up oaky, sweet, fruit
flavours depending on the whisky profile. It involves
deconstructing the whisky leaving the compound flavours behind.
At this point take another whiff of your whisky to match up the
flavours.
These are the 8 primary aromas:
1. Cereal: Comes from the malted barley used in a particular
expression.
2. Fruit (ester): Sweet, fruity scents, characterized best in
Speyside Whisky.
3. Floral (aldehydic): Grass, leaf, bush, or hay best
characterized in Lowland Whisky.
4. Peat (phenolic): Islay Whisky, the tar, iodine, and acidic
phenols come from kilning of the grain.
5. Feint: Consider this the umami of the whisky world, hard to
describe nuances, feints are part of the actual distillation and
can range from toasted biscuit to tobacco and honey. They
characterize the physical still as well as the skillset of the
distiller.
6. Sulfur: Generally too sharp or harsh to enjoy, the use of
copper in distillation is meant to filter this out. Though a
touch of sulfur can add to the tasting experience.
7. Wood: Any time you taste vanilla, it is usually because of
American White Oak. If left too long in the cask, a whisky
can develop a pure wood scent.
8. Wine (extractives): Extractives or the natural withdrawal.
The essence leached from ageing in a barrel previously filled
with wine (often sherry or port). This includes tannins, fruit
particulate, and other residues.
THE PALATE
TASTING, CHEWING YOUR FIRST SIP
After looking, then nosing your whisky, and becoming familiar with
what this expression is promising, take a sip.
Chew it around in your mouth and move it across your palate; hit
the top, front, rear–every place where you find something new to
taste. Remembering the aromas try to pick it up in the flavour.
THE FINISH
After you swallow it, take in a mouthful of air. The lingering flavour
will pass over your tongue with a cool breeze. The interesting
thing is that you may detect a whole new set of flavours.
Try to identify 4 distinct tastes
1. Salty: Brine flavor, often associated with heavy peat but can
just as easily accent a sweet Highland dram
2. Sweet: Nectar, anything that has too much sugar-sweetness
would be quite undesirable
3. Sour: Often found in sherry casking, a bit of lactic acid which
gives you a slight pucker and makes your mouth water
4. Bitter: Bittering occurs through aging in many expressions
That’s it.
ADDING WATER
When you add a drop of distilled water with a straw or pipette, it
lowers the alcohol content and “opens up” the whisky. This is the
right thing to do. Water plays an entirely different role enabling
you to experience changes in the complex reaction.
This happens as a result of water agitating the molecules creating
a different profile. Some whiskies are so much better opened
up… but that’s up for debate depending on your individual
preference.
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This is a great time to write down your thoughts on the whisky you
have tried. When you begin your whisky adventure, a Whisky
Journal can be invaluable in comparing the different whisky you
experience.
When you come back to it again and again…. it would be
interesting to see if your notes have changed. The more you try,
the clearer the art of tasting whisky becomes.
Enjoy!
Slàinte -“slawn-che”...... to your health