Nosing & Tasting

The best way to really enjoy and appreciate a whisky is to break it down and see what its all about. There are some many whiskies from so many regions each with a different character a great way to "get into" these whiskies so to speak is to follow our nosing and tasting tips.

The Glass

A tulip shaped glass is the preferred receptical for nosing and tasting a whisky. The shape allows the aroma of the whisky to collect in the round bottom of the glass and rise up to the small opening where it is trapped allowing for a better ‘nose'.

Colour

Your eyes are as important as your nose or palate as checking the colour of the whisky can help you tell how old it is, a younger being lighter in colour and an older darker and what type of cask profile was used, a sherry or madeira being darker and bourbon lighter.

Viscosity

Check the viscosity of the whisky by swirling it in the glass. Again the tulip shaped glass is perfect for this as it allows the whisky to be swirled comfortably. While swirling the viscosity can show you a lot about the character for instance a younger whisky would swirl quicker in the glass and be of a thinner viscosity and an older thicker and slower.

Strength

To check the strength, shake the whisky in the glass if bubbles appear at the top of the spirit and stay for a while it will be quite strong, over 50% Abv. In a diluted whisky the bubbles will disappear quickly.

Nosing

Your nose is the most important tool in the nosing and tasting arsenal as there is thirty-two primary smells that it can detect while there are only four primary tastes detectable in the mouth. With a beginners nose it is difficult to describe the aroma of a whisky as there is a wide range of flavours and flavours can differ from person to person. With more practise a whisky can become alive with fragrances.

It is important after initially nosing the whisky to add a little water. This will open up even more fragrances that may have been dormant.

Tasting

When tasting the spirit it is important that it covers the four taste receivers in the mouth. Rolling the whisky around in the mouth coating the front, back and sides of the tongue will pick out the flavours, some of which may be different to the fragrances of the nose. Also rolling it around will give an idea of the ‘mouthfeel' or viscosity. How is the finish? Do the aromas stay in the mouth for a long time or quickly disappear? This is known as a long or short finish.