I have never been able to appreciate pure spirits, wine or beer. While experts rave about the subtle taste of apples in wine, or the clean taste of vodka, the best I can do is to tell that wine is wine and vodka is vodka.
Cocktails are an entirely different story. Since they’re mixed drinks, it’s easier to differentiate flavours within it and decide whether it is a good cocktail or a bad one. I suppose it’s also because I’m familiar with the ingredients used in cocktails, which allows me to taste them more easily.
Whisky, a distilled drink made from fermented grains. There are many different varieties to this, from single to blended malt whiskies, and blended whiskey. Whiskies are also identified by their countries of origin, for instance, American Whisky, Japanese Whisky and Irish Whisky. If that’s not confusing enough, scotch is the name given to whiskies from Scotland while bourbon is whiskey from the U.S.A.
Whisky is not something I’d count myself a fan of, especially not when it’s handed to me neat. In fact, the only whisky I actually liked (on the rocks, of course) was Nikka Whisky, a Japanese whisky that was smooth enough for me to drink without feeling like my throat was being peeled off. For other whiskies, I would dilute them to the best of my abilities, pouring mixers and topping off with enough ice to fill half the glass. No surprise I could never tell the difference between a Monkey Shoulder and a Johnny Walker.
I was recently given a glass of Lagavulin Whisky, neat, because it was apparently too good to be had on the rocks or with a mixer. Gamely taking a sip, I felt my mouth fill with an intense smokiness. And that got me thinking about how whiskies must have subtle but distinctive tastes, only that I was always too distracted to actually think about it.
So what exactly does one look out for when it comes to tasting whisky?
Appearance. Generally, the darker the whisky, the older it is. Whisky gets its colour from the oak barrels that it is kept in, and keeping it longer will result in a more intense colour. This also means that whisky contains what I am going to call ‘the essence of oak’. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that the oldest whiskies are the best, as an excess of ‘the essence of oak’ could mar the taste of the grains. Also, not all dark whiskies are old. Some may have had caramel added to darken them.
Smell. The nose smells what the tongue tastes. Unfortunately whisky has a strong alcoholic smell, so this part might be difficult to execute. In any case, smell it and try to understand the scent. You may want to swirl the glass a bit to open up the scent. Some words that might come to mind are ‘vanilla’, ‘spice’, ‘oak’ and ‘grains’.
Taste. A few helpful tips I found on this aspect are that firstly, it’s perfectly fine to dilute your whisky with a few drops of chilled water to taste it better. In fact, you may be able to bring out the whisky’s aroma better that way. Secondly, whisky tastes best at room temperature. Thirdly, don’t gulp. Take a small sip, even smaller than the one you would take for wine. Roll the whisky around your tongue and think about the flavours you taste, and whether it is sharp or silky. After swallowing (and I do hope this doesn’t involve any choking), think about whether the taste lingers or if it disappears fast. What you are looking for is a balance of flavours: sweetness, acidity, oak and such.
That pretty much covers it, for a beginner at least. Once you’ve mastered these steps, you’re ready to start learning about the intricate flavours and aromas that you might come across and be on your way to sounding somewhat knowledgeable about whiskies.
that.interval 