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Showing posts with label Tasting. Show all posts

Toast The Macallan Sydney 2017

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Toast The Macallan Sydney 2017



I have a confession to make; my reasons for getting into whisky blogging were not entirely altruistic. The potential to be invited to sweet whisky events and perhaps imbibe even sweeter whisky – for free – was indeed a driving factor. Well, now that your image of me as a selfless writer is well and truly shattered, I am happy to report I recently received my first invite to such a whisky event and did indeed enjoy not only free whisky (including a full-size bottle as a parting gift) but also free food!...Tick and tick.


But this isn’t a post about how to get free whisky, it is an account of how The Macallan put on a whisky event and why they really are one of the best in the business for engaging with their target market. This was my second Macallan-focussed tasting event, but Toast The Macallan Australia is on a different level to your average whisky tasting night. Held at the Roslyn Packer Theatre (previously the Sydney Theatre), in the heart of Sydney, Edrington (owner of the Macallan brand) selected and decked out a stunning location.

The Richard Wherrett Studio with its wooden floorboards, high ceiling and beautiful bare brick walls dating back more that 100 years to the building’s warehouse beginnings, provided a perfect setting for fine dining and whisky tasting. Toast The Macallan has been held in South-East Asia previously but has only recently arrived in Australia; coinciding with the release onto the Australian market of The Macallan Double Oak 12 Years Old single malt whisky. The format follows a three-course fine dining meal, expertly paired with a selection of Macallan whiskies. In the case of the Sydney event, the food was curated by Australian chef James Viles of Bowral’s two hatted Biota Dining and I can report it was one of the best things I have ever tasted and not just because it was free.

Unfortunately for me, I had underestimated the effect of the Vivid Festival on Sydney traffic and arrived late, missing out on the canapés but still managing to grab a cocktail on my way into the venue. Canapés on offer included dried pear cigars filled with sheep’s milk blue cheese, charcoal bark with whipped roe cream, fermented garlic and clay-cooked beetroot tartare and duck ham with endive and goat's cheese. All of the canapés were delicious, apparently – I was particularly disappointed to have missed out on the duck ham. Accompanying the canapés were two whisky cocktails, an Old Fashioned made with The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old and the only one I got to try, a cocktail of The Macallan Fine Oak 12 Years Old, Oloroso sherry, tonic and lemon thyme which was very tasty and refreshing.

Our host for the evening was The Macallan Brand Ambassador, Sietse Offringa, son of Hans Offringa, professional whisky writer and author of more than 20 books. Sietse was brought up surrounded by whisky and developed a love and appreciation for the brown spirit from an early age. It was a pleasure to listen to Sietse (the most Scottish sounding Dutchman you are likely to find) introduce us to a selection of The Macallan range, which included The Macallan Fine Oak 12 Years Old, Double Cask 12 Years Old and The Macallan Rare Cask.

The star whisky of the evening was The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old single malt, new to the Australian market and now readily available.

I was lucky enough to receive a bottle of this whisky and will write a full review in due time. The ‘Double Cask’ in the name comes from the use of both ex-sherry European and American oak casks, each bringing unique flavour profiles that are expertly combined to produce the final whisky. I did not bother critically comparing the three whiskies on the night, preferring instead to simply enjoy them, but I did enjoy The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old the most of the three.

Toast The Macallan would not have been the same without the amazing three-course meal provided by James Viles; it was enough for me to add visiting Biota Dining in Bowral to my bucket list and was expertly paired with the selection of whiskies. Entrée was smoked kingfish loin, with lime, and white radish and kelp oil served with charcoal corn, and citrus and wild fennel salad. The use of wildflowers paired well with the floral characteristics of the Fine Oak 12 Years Old and the citrus and fennel were most definitely present in the Double Cask 12 Years Old.

The main was a glazed beef rib that fell apart and almost dissolved in the mouth. It was served with chestnut crème and rappe stem. Raw chestnuts were also passed around which I thought tasted a bit like raw coconut.

The beef was complemented beautifully with a dish of wild mushrooms with what I believe was a smoked cream. The richness of this course paired very well with the richer flavours and silky texture of The Macallan Rare Cask.

Dessert was an amazing honey crème with toasted rye grains and artichoke ice cream topped with a thin crunchy bark made from the water left over from cooking the rye grain. The ice cream was frozen with liquid nitrogen immediately prior to serving and together with the crunchy popcorn-like rye grains and honey crème was simply delicious and a perfect way to end the evening.

Toast The Macallan was a truly enjoyable and engaging night of fine whisky and fine dining.

The Macallan sets a very high bar when it comes to hosting events such as this and there is no doubt why they have positioned themselves as a premium luxury brand among Scotch whisky. But that said, both the Fine Oak 12 Years Old and the new to Australia Double Cask 12 Years Old are quite reasonably priced at around A$110. I encourage you to give them a try and to jump at the chance to attend any future events hosted by The Macallan; you will not be disappointed.


My opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way, neither was I paid for this article. However, my attendance at this event was arranged by the Porter Novelli PR agency and I did receive a free bottle of The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old single malt on leaving…Score!
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Destination Cellars Whisky Tasting Events - Nov 2016

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Destination Cellars Whisky Tasting Events - Nov 2016



Last month I attended the final two Destination Cellars whisky tasting events for the year.

Westland American Single Malts, Benromach Organic & Port Askaig 100 Proof

Our host for the first evening was Ian McKinlay, Managing Director of Alba Whisky. Ian began with a product that demonstrates some of the things I love about whisky, it has an interesting story and takes considerable effort to produce. When the Benromach Organic was launched in 2006, it was the first single malt whisky in the world to be certified organic. Gaining official organic certification is no easy task and in the case of Benromach, the Speyside distillery had to meet the requirements of the UK Soil Association. Certifying the ingredients and distilling process was relatively straight forward but when the auditors asked what happens after the spirit is distilled, they were not too pleased with the answer. As is normal practice, the spirit would be aged in used barrels, previously filled with either (non-organically certified) bourbon or sherry and constructed from oak of uncertified origin. To overcome this, Benromach had to use virgin (unused) American oak barrels, made of timber sourced from a free-growth forest in Missouri, USA. The result I am glad to say, was worth the effort. The Benromach Organic was a pale amber in colour, having been aged for five years in the custom-made sustainable virgin oak barrels. The nose was delightfully fresh and creamy with a hint of spice. It was smooth on the palate and tasted of sweet malt and pepper. The finish was medium length with fading spices. I really enjoyed this one.

Next up was three American single malt whiskies from the Seattle-based Westland Distillery in the north-west corner of the USA. First up was the flagship Westland American Oak. I actually purchased a bottle of this whiskey, so I will save the notes for my full impressions. Next was the Westland Sherry Wood single malt, aged only 2.5 years in ex-sherry casks. All three Westland single malts are aged 2.5 years and would not be able to be called ‘Whisky’ if produced in Scotland, which has a minimum age requirement of 3 years. But many factors contribute to how quickly whisky matures such as barrel size, average temperature, humidity, fluctuations in barometric pressure and agitation. The Westland distillery can be found in Seattle, however, their bond store (where the barrels of whisky are taken to age) is located in the port city of Hoquiam, some 100km to the south-west. Hoquiam has lower average temperatures to Seattle, but less snowfall and twice the annual rain levels.

The Westland Sherry Wood single malt was dark gold in colour, belying its young age. The nose was subtle and hard for me to pick up much with the small sample I had. The palate was pleasant but unremarkable, once again hindered by only having a small sample; I would have liked to have spent some more time with this one. The finish was what really gave away the whisky’s age, it was very short, with slight spices on the tongue fading away quickly once swallowed.

Last from Westland was their peated expression. The Westland Peated single malt poured light golden straw in colour, much lighter than the Sherry Wood. The nose was only slightly smoky, which given its age suggest it was not peated a great deal. Westland uses a combination of five different malts and only one of those is peated for this expression with peat sourced from Inverness, Scotland. There are plans in place to use locally sourced peat in the future. On tasting it was difficult to identify any dominant flavours and like the Sherry Wood, the finish was quite short.

The final whisky for tasting on the night was the Port Askaig 100 Proof. Port Askaig is made with undisclosed Islay single malts and the 100 Proof expression is a NAS (no age statement) whisky, bottled at 57.1% ABV. The colour was extremely pale, close to clear in fact, meaning it was either very young and/or aged in very lightly charred or seasoned casks. The nose was smoky but there was something else there that smelt quite strange and I could not put my finger on it with the single sample. The whisky had a nice oily mouthfeel with a rush of spices. The finish lingered for a medium length and consisted of fading spice. A good, if not a little odd, peated single malt. Thanks to Ian McKinlay and his lovely wife Noreen for a very enjoyable evening.

Hyde Irish Whiskey

The last Destination Cellars tasting event for the year was hosted by Scott Farrow of Wonderland Drinks and covered five Irish whiskies from the Hyde portfolio. Hyde do not distill their own spirit (sourced from the Cooley Distillery) but rather operate as an Independent Bottler under their own label. Hyde age the spirit in first fill ex-bourbon casks before finishing the whiskey in either Oloroso sherry, dark Caribbean rum or Burgundy red wine casks in County Cork, Ireland. All Hyde whiskies are bottled at 46% ABV and are non-chill filtered.


The first whiskey of the evening was the Hyde No.5 The Aras Cask Irish Whiskey. This is a single grain Irish whiskey that has been matured for 6 years and finished in Burgundy red wine casks. It was light gold in colour and I found it to have a fresh, somewhat powdery nose that released sweet berry fruit notes with the addition of water. On tasting, it was light and sweet with flavours of grapes and berries. There was little to no spice or heat. The finish was short but sweet.

Next was the first of two dark Caribbean Rum finished whiskies. The Hyde No.4 President’s Cask Irish Whiskey is a single malt aged for 6 Years before being finished in ex-rum casks. Light gold in appearance, like the Hyde No.5, the whiskey smelt of sponge cake and banana bread, with notes of sweet raisins and sultanas. It tasted sweet with obvious rum flavours and a peppery spice building as it warmed in the mouth. The finish was medium length with fading spice concentrating on the end of the tongue.

The third whiskey for the evening was another single grain whiskey, this time, Hyde No.3 The Aras Cask Irish Whiskey which is aged for 6 years exclusively in ex-bourbon casks. The No.3 had a golden colour, slightly darker than the first two whiskies. The nose was subtle with hints of vanilla and nuts. The taste was anything but subtle however, with strong bourbon flavours, a result of using corn to make the spirit and maturing it in first fill ex-bourbon casks. As expected, it tasted sweet but with little spice. The addition of water cuts the spiciness ever further. The finish was medium length.

The fourth whiskey from Hyde was a special offering since it is now sold-out worldwide. The Hyde No.2 President’s Cask Irish Whiskey is finished in dark Caribbean rum casks like the No.4, but is aged for 10 years rather than six. This was my favourite Hyde whiskey on the night, purely because it was so different to any whisky I had tried before. Similar in colour to the No.3, the nose was of sweet tropical fruits, mostly pineapple. On tasting, it was lovely and smooth with hints of citrus and chocolate. The finish was medium to long in length with lingering spices tingling the tongue. Quite unique although almost impossible to find now.

The last Irish whiskey on offer was the Hyde No.1 President’s Cask Irish Whisky, aged for 10 years and finished in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Golden in colour like the No.3 and No.2, the nose was subtle with hints of citrus, dried fruits and chocolate. On tasting is was smooth with some of the dried fruits coming through with some sweet caramel. The finish was medium to long length with an initial burst of spice before fading.

Heartwood Dare to be Different

The last whisky on the night was a special thank you from Todd Morrison of Destination Cellars. Having convinced a friend of mine to buy his first bottle of the now sold-out Heartwood Dare to be Different, Todd saved his only other bottle to share with us on the night. Bottled at a whopping 65.5% ABV, the Dare to be Different is not for the faint-hearted but for the seasoned whisky drinker, it is amazing! This was only the second time I had tasted this expression and I wish I had bought that other bottle for myself. Heartwood is a Tasmanian independent bottler famous for very high ABV cask strength and very limited release bottlings. Aged in Heartwood owner Tim Duckett’s Kingston bond store with a few extra days ‘cooking’ in the hot room, Dare to be Different stretched to only 330 bottles and sold out very quickly. This is a huge whisky, bottled from a single ex-Oloroso sherry cask filled with peated spirit from Tasmania’s iconic Lark Distillery. Dark amber in colour, the nose was rich and creamy with notes of dried fruits, raisins, sultanas and apricot. It has a sumptuous, thick and oily mouthfeel, flooded with spiced Christmas cake and dark chocolate flavours. The finish is long with slowly fading spices concentrated along the centre of the tongue. Alas, I only got a single pour of this beauty but I do have a full bottle of Heartwood We are Cousins at home.

Thanks to Ian, Scott and Todd for another pair of great whisky tasting evenings. If you are ever in Hobart, be sure to track down Destination Cellars and have a chat to Todd while admiring his impressive whisky selection on offer.
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Destination Cellars Whisky Tasting Events - Oct 2016

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Destination Cellars Whisky Tasting Events - Oct 2016

Last month I attended a pair of whisky tasting events organised by Todd Morrison of Destination Cellars, Hobart, Tasmania.

Standard versus Cask Strength Expressions


The first event was held at T-42 on the Hobart waterfront and was hosted by Ivan Myers, Director of World of Whisky in Sydney. There were six whiskies on offer, two from Speyside distillery BenRiach, two from Tomatin in the Scottish Highlands and two from highly awarded Taiwanese distillery Karvalan. The theme of this tasting was to compare a standard diluted strength expression with a cask strength expression from the same distillery.

BenRiach 10 Year Old (43% ABV) was the first whisky tasted. It smelt quite fruity with a faint scent of roasted nuts. There was a strong impression of crème caramel and some vanilla. The fruitiness continued when tasted, however, overall it tasted quite light. The finish was spicy on the tongue but not particularly lengthy.

The higher alcohol pairing was the BenRiach Cask Strength (57.2% ABV). This expression was noticeably spicier on the nose, with hints of cloves and dried fruit. The cask strength had an oilier mouthfeel to the 10 Year Old and was more spicy than fruity. The finish was spicy and long, concentrating at the back of the mouth, where the nasal passage connects to the throat.

The next two whiskies were from the Tomatin distillery. The Tomatin 12 Year Old (43% ABV) was first with a floral nose and strong sherry and fruitcake notes. It tasted light with hard to pinpoint flavours; butter menthol being the only one I could put my finger on. The finish was relatively short and peppery.

Next was the Tomatin Cask Strength (57.5% ABV). Considering the alcohol content, I was surprised just how inactive this whisky was on the nose. It was very hard to detect anything but a faint floral aroma and I wasn’t expecting much in the flavour department. Wow! I could not have been more wrong. I think I was too shocked by the spectacular flavour, to concentrate on exactly what I was tasting. Superb, and my favourite dram of the night. Highly recommended.

The last pair of whiskies were from Taiwanese distillery Kavalan. The Kavalan Ex-Bourbon Cask (46% ABV) was my first sample of anything from this unique and highly decorated distillery. Strong tropical fruit aromas of banana and melon. Very smooth to drink, with a short finish.

The cask strength offering was the Kavalan Solist Bourbon (58% ABV). The nose was of light tropical fruit with a spicy scent of clove. On tasting, it was spicy with vanilla and opened nicely with a little water. The finish was medium length and concentrated at the top of the mouth.

We were also very lucky to get to try the award winning ($700 a bottle) Kavalan Solist Amontillado Sherry Single Cask Strength, rated as the World’s Best Single Cask Malt Whisky in the 2016 World Whiskies Awards.

I would have preferred to have tried this earlier in the night rather than after all the previous whiskies, but nevertheless, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The nose was quite light and with water opened to reveal tropical fruit and fizzy sherbet. I sampled too little to nail down all the flavours but I did notice spicy cinnamon followed by a long dry finish. A perfect way to cap off a great night of whisky tasting.

New World Whisky Distillery


The second whisky tasting evening was hosted by Todd Morrison at Destination Cellars and featured a selection of New World Whisky Distillery’s Starward Single Malts, experimental New World Projects expressions and gin. New World Whisky is an Australian distillery based in Melbourne. They recently relocated from a repurposed aircraft hanger in Essendon to a new site in Port Melbourne. New World Whisky pride themselves on making high-quality products at reasonable prices from only the best locally sourced barley and hand-picked exotic barrels such as ex-Australian Apera (sherry) and ex-wine barrels from South Australia.
There was something refreshingly different about the Starward Wine Cask Edition and I am proud to call it an excellent example of a truly Australian single malt whisky 

First up was the Starward Wine Cask Edition Single Malt (41% ABV), recently named Best Australian Single Malt at the 2016 World Whiskies Awards. This whisky is matured exclusively in ex-Australian red wine barrels sourced from an undisclosed South Australian winery. The nose was sweet and fruity, delicate, with notes of strawberry. The sweetness continued on the palate with flavours of sweet summer berries followed by a medium-length finish that ended in a slightly bitter aftertaste. Although this was the first whisky tasted on the night, it turned out to also be my favourite. There was something refreshingly different about the Starward Wine Cask Edition and I am proud to call it an excellent example of a truly Australian single malt whisky.

The flagship Starward Single Malt (43% ABV) was next, which is matured in ex-Australian Apera casks. Apera is the agreed name for a ‘sherry’, that does not originate from the Jurez region of Spain, much like how ‘Champagne’ is reserved for only sparkling white or rose wine that originates from the Champagne region of France. The nose was of strong tropical fruit, in particular, banana and melon. On tasting, it remained fruity on the palate and the ‘sherry’ or Apera influence was evident. There was also notes of spice rising above the fruit. The finish was medium length with fading spice.

New World Projects are a range of experimental batches from New World Whisky and are generally either not available to the public or very limited releases. The NWP Project X 3 Year Old White Whisky (42% ABV) is a curious beast. It is as clear as water, but smells and tastes like a whisky. This alchemy has been achieved by charcoal filtering the aged whisky repeatedly until all the barrel tannins are removed. This leaves behind an aged spirit that looks like New Make (freshly distilled unaged spirit). This ‘White Whisky’ was created to challenge the whisky community and I think it achieves that goal. It certainly smells like whisky with a fruity nose and hints of sherry. It tasted very light with a thin mouthfeel, something I guess is to be expected after undergoing so much filtration. The finish was very short and abrupt with a slight spiciness. An interesting experiment indeed.

Next was the NWP Starward Limited Release PX Sherry Cask (48% ABV) which uses hand-selected imported Pedro Ximénez sherry casks. The nose was of cream, dried fruits, fruit cake and pineapple. It has a pleasant, oily mouthfeel (exaggerated perhaps by following the ‘White Whisky’) with sherry notes and fruit. The finish was medium length and spicy.

The last whisky for the night was the NWP First Distillery Last Release Cask Strength (62.3% ABV). The nose was surprisingly mild for a cask strength but opened slightly with water, releasing more detectable vapours. On tasting, there was an explosion of flavour with dried fruit and bitter dark chocolate bursting from a deliciously viscous oily mouthfeel, followed by a wave of spice that lingered for a long finish. Magnificent, but in very limited supply so keep an eye out for any future cask strength releases.

Gin


The next two offerings were gin, which I am embarrassingly unfamiliar with – I am a WhiskyDad after all, not a GinDad.

First was Starward Barrel Aged Korenwijin Gin, which was intensely fragrant with strong juniper and medicinal notes. I struggled to pinpoint flavours but thought I detected something reminiscent of green vegetables. The finish was very short and abrupt and I found it too sweet for my tastes when mixed with tonic water.

The last item of the night was Starward Project 55 ‘Beer Garden Gin’. This gin is a collaboration between New World Whisky Distillery and 3 Ravens Brewery (I love their Smoke Beer). The Beer Garden Gin is made with 3 Ravens 55 American Pale Ale hops, juniper and Australian finger lime peel and released in very limited quantities (400 bottles). I found it to be pleasantly fragrant with strong flavours and a somewhat powdery finish. It was also quite nice with tonic water.

I would like to that both Ivan Myers and Todd Morrison for two very different and enjoyable evenings.
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Appreciating Whisky

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Appreciating Whisky



Tasting whisky is easy, anyone can do it; just put it in your mouth. And what does it taste like? It tastes like whisky of course! Appreciating the flavour of whisky on the other hand, is hard; partly because flavour is a combination of your sense of taste and smell. Equally as hard, is describing why whisky has the complex flavour that it does, even if you cannot perceive it yet.

I'm a beer man. I tried to drink whiskey and Scotch, but I don't get it. It smells like a girl who didn't shower and just splashed a lot of perfume on. ― Mads Mikkelsen 

I call my whisky reviews, Impressions for two reasons:

Whisky tasting is subjective. My tastes almost certainly differ in some way to yours. That’s not to say we cannot like the same whisky, but I bet there are some whiskies that divide our opinions.

Many of the complex flavours found in whisky are impressions of things that are most definitely not in the whisky. Do you really think distillers add sawdust, leather or grass clippings to their whisky? No they don’t, but that does not mean a whisky cannot give the impression of those things when smelt or tasted.

But why can you smell or taste something that isn’t there?

Allow me to science the shit out of this. It’s all chemistry and biology. I’m no Chemist or Biologist but here is my scientific dad-explanation, or ‘dadsplanation’. Your senses of taste and smell work by perceiving chemicals in our food, drink and in the air, as flavours and aromas. Taste and smell are interrelated in some complex way I don’t understand, but I do know if I have a blocked nose, things don’t taste the same. Within the cells of your tongue and nose are chemical receptors that distinguish what flavours or aromas these chemicals taste or smell like. Your brain will lump these sensory inputs into groups such as sweet, sour, salty, bitter or savoury plus a few other sensations like spiciness, hotness or coldness, dryness, metallicness and fattiness.

Additionally, your brain has what I like to call a ‘flavour library’ that contains a record of everything you have tasted before and if you are lucky, connects those flavours with a thing. For example, when I taste an orange for the first time, the receptors in my tongue and nose translate the sugars, acids, enzymes and minerals etc within the orange into a flavour profile. From then on, I can recognise the flavour of oranges.

Once you get into whisky flavour, you start to see how complex it really is. Some of the impressions you get from drinking whisky can be explained by science, others are a complete mystery. Lignin is an organic polymer found in the cell walls of wood, when an oak barrel is charred, the Lignin begins to breakdown and continues to do so when the barrel is filled. The breakdown of Lignin produces an organic compound called Vanillin which is the primary component in vanilla bean and is the reason Burbon has vanilla flavours (all Burbon must be aged in first-fill ‘new’ oak barrels. Additionally, acids in the wood breakdown into aromatic esters with familiar aromas such as Ethyl henanoate (which smells like apples) or Ethyl syringate (which smells like figs and tobacco).

I find this really fascinating and these reactions occur throughout the whisky making process like the addition of phenolic compounds from using peat fires to dry the malted barley or the way exposure to copper during distillation removes unwanted sulphur which gives the whisky a meaty or vegetable flavour that can mask some of the more delicate fruity flavours. Then there is Terroir, the aspect that even science cannot fully explain. Everyone agrees that Terroir, which is a set of environmental factors within and around the distillery, affects the flavour of the whisky but no one can actually explain how. This is why you cannot just move a distillery to a new location and expect to produce the same tasting whisky, it just does not work like that.

How do you appreciate whisky rather than just taste it?

Whisky is often described as being ‘complex’ and this true because as you now know the is a lot of science and a little magic going on. Here is my advice to getting the most out of your whisky:

Tasting critically and drinking for enjoyment are two completely different things. If you are drinking for enjoyment, just do exactly that. Drink whatever you want, however you want. If you are tasting critically, come up with your own repeatable routine so as to best compare whiskies on a level playing field. 

First, get past the burning stage. If drinking whisky neat just burns your tongue, then you are not yet ready young Padewan. 

Buy a good nosing glass. Something tulip shaped will provide sufficient oxygenation and also focus all those complex vapours in one place. There are many available but you can’t go wrong with a Glencairn glass which should set you back about $10 each. 

Find a nice quite place to sit. You want to experience your whisky uninterrupted or distracted. Lock the door, turn the TV off, get comfy and focus on your drink. 

Slow down. Take it slow, put you nose to the glass, open and breath in through your mouth, not you nose (you will smell more than just alcohol vapours this way). Take small sips and kind of chew it around your mouth to coat your tongue. Swallow and breath out, taking note of the sensations within your mouth and further down your throat. 

Add a little water. Some people will tell you to always drink whisky neat and never add anything to it, but it's your whisky and if you want to explore it's full flavour profile then try it with a few drops of water as well as neat. You don't have to drink it that way every time but this is tasting critically remember. 

Don’t stress the details. There is already a lot of advice out there for the ‘best’ way to taste whisky but you need to find a method that works for you. Don’t try to match the tasting notes of someone else and consider it a win if your tastebuds align; it’s not. Take actual notes, write down what you smell and taste. Try many whiskies and try each many times (but not in the one session) then compare your notes. Every once in a while, a certain flavour or aroma will jump out at you, put an asterisk (*) next to that one. Over time, the asterisks will become more frequent and eventually you will be able to taste whisky like a Jedi.



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