Tasting and testing Whisky
TO ENJOY GOOD WHISKY, YOU NEED TO HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF THE VARIOUS FLAVOURS AND AROMA. IT IS AN ART PERFECTED LIKE SCIENCE, AND TAKES TIME, PATIENCE AND PRACTICE TO MASTER IT.
Experience will help you understand your whiskys better. We enlist a few ways the glass, temperature of glass and water can help to enhance the favours.
Tasting Glasses and Appearance: While tasting whisky, it is important that you know your glasses; wide glasses with no stem are often considered typical whisky glasses but they are actually inappropriate. For tasting, you need a stemmed glass in order to avoid heating the contents of the glass with your hand, and distance the whisky from any other odours. The thinness of the lip of the glass and the absence of a small bulge around the rim of the glass are a sign of quality. While testing two whiskeys, remember to use identical glasses. Appearance might not play an important role in tasting but having a knowledge of it comes handy; you need to tilt the glass sideways and rotate it to ensure the whiskey is distributed over the whole inner surface, and this helps stimulate the aromas. In appearance what one needs to see is the colour and possibly the type of cask used for ageing the whisky, the clarity and the viscosity of the whisky.
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Your Nose: Yes, the nose is the most important part of assessing whisky. The nose is the road for perfecting the test; in fact, tasting is simply a confirmation of what your nose has already told you. Give the whisky a swirl to release the aromas and then carefully bring it to your nose. You don’t have to shove your nose into anything.
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The Palate: After you have enjoyed the delicate aromas, it’s time to confirm the information. For this, pay attention to the feel of the whisky in your mouth. Is it soft and rolling, or hot and immediate? Is it drying, or refreshing and lively? You will be able to pick up any sweetness or lack of it too. Your palate will even let you know how structured your whiskey is!
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Water: If you prefer whisky with water, when tasting whiskey, adding a drop or two of water is simply a way of gleaning more information. Water opens up the whisky, revealing the intricate workings of the dram’s flavour, which helps you to identify the constituent parts more easily. Lastly, enjoy your whisky with your friends, or loved ones. It might enhance the taste more!
