

How To: Taste Whisky - Anon84
http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Taste_Whisky

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bugsy
Good article. I agree about the glass and water. But for smelling it, saying
put your nose and sniff, he has it all wrong.

Try this instead and I believe you will be convinced it is the superior
method.

Place nose over edge of the sherry glass. Then breath in gently through mouth,
which is not above glass at all. Mouth breathing always brings a little into
the nose. Rather than suck the vapors into your lungs, they are pulled through
suction action into your actual tasting parts in your nose. You will really be
able to detect a lot more of the subtle parts of the whiskey there. I would be
very surprised if anyone tries his method and mine and doesn't find this one
superior.

~~~
desigooner
The reason water is added is because it brings out the aroma in the spirit.
Putting one's nose in to sniff can cause irritation if not done right.

The following is a very comprehensive writeup as far as tasting whisky goes.

<http://www.whiskymag.com/nosing_course/>

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bugsy
There's every chance that article has been written by the world's greatest
whiskey expert. He still gets it wrong. He says to sniff. Don't sniff. You
don't breath through your nose. As I said before, place your nose above the
glass and then gently breath in with your mouth. Your mouth will just breath
in normal air, but it will create a draft through your nose that pulls in the
vapours that are evaporating into your nose without creating eddies in the
glass, and without quickly sucking the most delicate and lightest of the
vapours past your nose's sensing cells and into your lungs, which misses the
most interesting parts.

Don't take my word for it, try it instead. Seriously, try the expert's "sniff
with nose" method and compare to the two-orifice with nose close to the glass
edge method I have described. You will detect much more of the bouquet with
the two-orifice method. Perhaps I have invented it, I don't know, that seems
unlikely, but for some reason the so-called experts don't know about this and
aren't doing it right. Just try. You'll see, it will be really clear. You can
use the direct sniff too if you like to get the heavier vapours.

~~~
kscaldef
It's odd that it's not mentioned explicitly in either article, but I have
certainly had it stressed before that when smelling wine, or whisk(e)y, or
coffee that you should have your mouth open. Also, the "sniff" is not as if
you had the sniffles, but a gentle inhalation. So, even if they are not saying
so in the articles, I suspect the experts are doing something rather similar
to what you describe.

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tptacek
Eh. Also, "how to get made fun of at a bar". I think a better bet: get a half
pour of a cheap/decent single malt (ask for a Macallan, everyone will have
it), a half pour of a decent bourbon (Makers Mark is fine), and a half pour of
rye. Compare. The distinctions are impossible to miss.

The water thing is important though. Even with single malt. If all you taste
is fire, you're not really tasting the spirit.

~~~
desigooner
That's when one is comparing different styles of whiskies. If one is tasting
3-4 of the same type (single malts or blends etc.), sometimes the differences
are subtle. Also, the aroma of the whisky (or whiskey depending on the
heritage) do give out different notes. That's the reason water's added. Not to
dilute the spirit but enhance the aroma.

~~~
tptacek
I totally believe that water opens up whiskey, but I think the real reason to
do it is that whiskey is just too strong to taste --- especially early in the
evenings.

If you're new to whiskey, taste scotch, bourbon, and rye together first; then
taste different single malts. You won't need all the ritual.

~~~
rubashov
It's actually not that rare they don't have rye. Often you ask for rye and
just get a canadian whiskey.

~~~
faboo
What do Canadians put in that stuff anyway? I've yet to see a bottle that
mentioned what goes in it. And it seems like most places only have cheap
and/or blended Canadian whiskey.

Does Canada produce a top-shelf whiskey?

~~~
defen
Canadian whiskey can be made from any grain or blend of grains, but
historically rye was popular. Canadian law allows a whiskey to be labelled as
rye even if it contains very little or no rye, as long as it has the aroma and
character of rye whiskey. U.S. labeling laws require a "straight rye whiskey"
to be distilled from a mash of 51% or more rye.

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mattmaroon
He's wrong about one thing (sort of) ice doesn't mask flavors in small
quantities. In fact it technically doesn't mask flavor in any quantity. Test
buds operate independent of temperature. Something hot tastes no different
than it does cold, (ssuming in both cases that the temperature is not extreme
enough to injure your tongue, it merely feels different.

When a drink gets very cold though, the volatile compounds that give it scent
separate from the liquid more slowly. Scent and taste get all jumbled up
together in your brain, of course, so enough ice will be noticeable.

Small amounts of ice won't be enough to perceptibly cause this, they'll merely
add the water he suggested slowly and create the pleasant sensation of a cool
beverage. I use 1-2 small cubes for this reason in scotch. I don't drink any
that need cut down though. If you'drinking J&B you may need a slab of dry ice.

~~~
sandGorgon
I dont know about that.

For example if you have a curry which uses butter - eating it at cold
temperatures means solidified butter which tastes different to me. It may not
be applicable in the whisky case since there is no change in the state of
matter.

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defen
Anyone who is not a whiskey fan but is considering taking up the hobby should
read this first:
[http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/2004-March/000700...](http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/2004-March/000700.html)

I'm a Scotch man myself but reading that again is almost enough to make me
switch to Bourbon.

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peterbraden
this guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

For a start, the traditional whisky glass doesn't have a stem.

'preparing the glass' waste of time and whisky, just swirl the glass before
you sniff.

Try a Speyside if it's your first whisky - they have the most broadly liked
flavours. If you want something with some kick, go for a highland malt or an
Islay, my favorite commercial bottle is probably one of the Lagavulins.

But then this guy works for Whyte and Mackay. Whyte and Mackay is pig swill.

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tzury
tl;dr

However, the Clint Eastwood's old movies style of "tasting" whiskey is much
more appealing to my manhood than this Sherry Cupita approach

