The Mystery of Whisky Tasting Notes

If you’ve ever been to a whisky tasting or watched a whisky review online you’ll have no doubt heard some questionable tasting notes being touted. A couple of my favourites include, “a burnt oven glove” and “the bottom of a mechanics tea mug”. Whilst certainly evocative, It did leave me wondering ‘is this guy just making these up?’ So here we will explore that very question, are tasting notes real?

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Are Tasting Notes Real?

I’ll start with a condensed answer, yes. Though it certainly is not as simple as that. This is because taste and aroma are incredibly subjective and I for one have always been a staunch believer in letting people experience their own unique adventure when tasting a new dram. However, not everyone has the neural connections to link a certain taste to a memory of what that is, whilst clearly some have some exceptionally whimsical connections between taste and linking that to its identity.

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The Journey of Whisky Tasting

When you first venture into the world of whisky, you'll find plenty of gurus and guidebooks explaining whisky heritage, a little about the processes that produce such exquisite spirits, plenty of people telling what they have tasted but very little about how to taste a whisky and what to look out for.

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What Should You Be Looking For?

Some key prompts for you; Imagine describing the aroma of a particular whisky to a friend — like a freshly mown lawn on a summer afternoon, or the cozy familiarity of a Christmas with some Christmas cake. These memories and metaphors are excellent ways to elaborate a taste experience and a great place to start when looking to understand what you are tasting, link the flavours and aromas to a memory, a feeling or a place in time. A rabbit hole that will allow your brain some creative freedom.

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The Influence of Region and Cask

Region can be a helpful guide for directing certain flavour profiles. Islay for example - coastal peat, Speyside - Sweet and subtle complexity, Highlands - bold, fruity and robust. Though be careful not to get too hung up on region, while geographic areas do tend to have a stereotypical style, often there is a plethora of expressions, finishes and experimental releases.

Finishes are often a good indicator of where a flavour profile may be leaning towards. Familiar partners for whisky maturation are of course sherry and bourbon. While in recent years more unique finishes are becoming more available such as rum, wine, port or madeira. The type of cask finishes can offer some guidance but is not foolproof as again there are many types of sherry, bourbon, wine that will offer different characteristics. Oloroso sherry is a little more on the dry and spicy side, while Pedro Ximenez sherry is more fruity and sweet. Bourbon will typically produce those sweet vanilla notes but may also contribute coconut. Wine of course is so incredibly varied that there are too many influences to list. 

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Understanding Whisky by Age and Water

Age is of course a helpful factor to consider when tasting whisky. Age doesn't always equal a better flavour but it does produce something that only time can, intricate complexity. An older whisky will typically have taken on a lot of the oaky influence, nutty, possibly some woody spice and the malt will have been suppressed. Though a younger whisky will generally have much more apparent malt character. Take time to let your pallet explore the flavours at different levels.

Water is considered sacrilege by some factions but is integral to explore and enjoy the full roster of flavours held within a whisky. Especially if that dram is cask strength. There are different flavours and aromas to be found as water is added one tiny drop at a time. Opening the pallet, softening those more dominant flavours and unlocking what is underneath.

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The Whisky Flavour Wheel and Spiral

While the above prompts are very helpful to overview, lets get into what you might find in each dram.

You may have heard of a flavour or tasting wheel, a novel concept developed by some very knowledgeable whisky folk. You may not have heard of the flavour spiral, this is our concept that we think better reflects the appearance of aromas and flavours and the multi-dimensional layers of flavour.

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Exploring Different Whisky Flavours

Taking inspiration from Charles Maclean’s flavour wheel titles our spiral is made up of a combination of flavours imparted from distillation and maturation:

• Cereal: Derived from malted barley and often altered during later production stages (fermentation and distillation).
• Fruity (or estery): Delightful sweet, fragrant, fruity scents resulting from fermentation and distillation.
• Floral (or aldehydic): Think leafy, grassy, or hay-like scents, sometimes reminiscent of Parma Violets or gorse bushes.
• Peaty (or phenolic): Distinctive phenols infused into the malt during kilning, famous in Islay malts, spanning from wood-smoke to tar and iodine.
• Feinty: Appearing midway through the spirit run, ranging from biscuity and toasted scents to tobacco-like and honeyed, evolving during maturation in quality casks.
• Sulphury (from organosulphur compounds): Emerging during distillation and maturation, often considered unpleasant and removed by copper elements.
• Woody: Vanilla-related aromas originating from American white oak, directly linked to age, enhancing complexity, fragrance, and delicacy.
• Winey (or extractives): In casks previously filled with wine, traces of wine residues are extracted, mainly sherry but sometimes other wines, becoming part of the whisky's flavor profile.
• Briney: Often associated with distilleries close to the coast and take a claim to having a maritime character infused from the sea air, producing salty and oily spirit. Think Springbank, Kilkerran and Old Pulteney. Though the origin of these salty suggestions is a polarising topic.

Now you are a real whisky aficionado.