Tips to prepare
- Rinse the tasting glass. It can pick up odors from the packaging. If using soap, always use non-scented.
- Have a glass of water with no ice for drinking, adding to your whisky and for rinsing your whisky glass.
- Have a vessel to dump whisky you don’t wish to drink. Never drink for the sake of drinking.
- Optional to have plain crackers or bread for palate cleansing.
- Most of the samples are a full ounce. We recommend pouring a quarter of this sample into your glass. Drinking the full sample is way too much for one sitting. Also, this allows you to revisit the sample later. Your palate can change by the day and a whisky you didn’t like may be different the next day.
- Drink water between samples to hydrate and clear the palate.
Tips for whisky tasting
- Nose: How does the whisky smell?
Give the spirit time to breath. Exposure to air and temperature will change the aromas. Always nose spirits with your mouth open to help the aroma roll through your olfactory. Smell more than once.
Use the following categories to help you identify different characteristics.
Intensity – Neutral, light, medium, pronounced (How fiery is the whisky?)
Aroma characteristics – Grains, fruits, flowers, vegetables, botanicals, herbs, oak, sweetness, wood-smoke, tar, iodine, sea-weed, leafy, grassy scents, leathery, tobacco, beeswax, resinous, pine, nutty, cigar-box, honey, vanilla, nutty, buttery, sherry, bourbon.
2. Palate: How does the whisky taste?
This is the initial arrival of the spirit on the palate. Different regions of the tongue detect different tastes: sweet (on the tip of the tongue), salty and sour (at the sides), dry/bitter (at the back), and umami-savory (center). Let the spirit flow completely over the tongue and sit for a moment as the sensory receptors work at various speeds, sending signals to the brain at varying rates. One rule of thumb to try is to hold the whisky in your mouth for at least one second for every year the whisky has aged. If the whisky has been waiting for you for 18 years, the least you could do is give it 18 seconds on your palate.
Sweetness – Dry, off-dry, medium, sweet
Alcohol – Soft, smooth, warming, harsh
Body – Light, medium, full
Flavor characteristics – Fruits, flowers, vegetables, grains, botanicals, herbs, oak, sweetness.
3. Finish and Balance:
After a few seconds, what is left on the palate? Clean and simple, some complexity, very complex? What can you taste five or ten seconds after drinking the whisky? Did the whisky have a long finish or a short finish?
4. Add Water and Repeat:
Add a few dops of water. This can open it up as a chemical reaction can occur that releases more aromas. Especially if your sample is high proof, water will dilute it and possibly make it more palatable. Repeat steps 2, 3, 4.
