I often hear people say, “I just can’t taste the things that you do.” That may be true for some people. I am a “super taster,” which means that I can smell if my son put a pan of cookies in the oven on the wrong rack from across the house before they start to burn. It’s weird and I know most people don’t have the sensetivity to taste and smell that I do. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t train your palate to detect the various flavor compounds in whiskey. You may not be as sensetive to the inputs as I am, but you can still detect them. It just takes a little bit of training and practice.
Getting Started
As with any academic study, it’s best to practice in a quiet place free from distractions. Get a notebook and dedicate a page to each whiskey. Start off slow and easy — no more than 3-4 whiskeys at a time and nothing that is more than 100 proof. Ensure you have the same glassware for every training session, or at least try the same whiskeys in multiple kinds of glassware so you’ll understand how different glasses affect your perceptions. Print out a few different flavor wheels — you can find lots of them from various sources online, some more detailed than others.
Start Tasting!
Everyone has a different process for tasting whiskey, but most of the pros follow these steps:
- Nose your whiskey. Keep your lips parted so you won’t anesthetize your olfactory bulbs. You can either inhale through your mouth or your nose depending on how sensetive your palate is. Move the glass from one nostril to the other. Notice the predominant smells — for whiskey it’s usually something like caramel, fruit, candy, floral, or spice.
- Take a small sip of whiskey. Allow it to roll across your entire palate. Swallow and exhale. Notice the flavors, some of which may be the same as what you smelled, some of which may be completely different. Repeat this as often as you need to.
- Notice the mouthfeel — is it oily, dry, hot? Notice the finish — does it feel warm the whole way down? Does it fade quickly? Is there a typical “Kentucky Hug”?
Determine What You Are Tasting
When you start with general tasting notes, you’ll start with things like fruit, nuts, candy, or flowers. This is where your tasting wheel comes in. Work your way out from the center from the general to the specific. Are the candy notes more like caramel, butterscotch, chocolate, or vanilla wafers? If something tastes nutty, is it almond, walnut, or hazlenut? If there’s a floral note is it vanilla flower, honeysuckle, roses, or orange blossoms?
No Matter What, You Aren’t Doing It Wrong
Everyone has different sensory memories. We all grew up with a slightly different chili recipe, a slightly different Thanksgiving meal, and a slightly different favorite cookie recipe. You taste what you taste and all that matters is whether or not you like it.
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