Scotch Tasting

By Maltmannie

Part art, part science, it’s no wonder us non-whisky experts sometimes feel a little out of our depth when confronted with scotch tasting. And scotch tasting isn’t just the taste, like a meal might be – instead you will be greeted with an aroma (nose) that could include scents like marzipan and charcoal. So there’s no one expert-sounding comment that you can throw out in your scotch tasting that will see you through. But here are a couple of the stages most tasters use.

Appearance

Scotch tasting is like wine tasting in this respect: from pale straw to a green (no this is serious) tinge. This aspect of scotch tasting will inform your later flavour-savourings, as it tells you if the malt has matured where and for how long. Colouring can also be added to produce a repeatable product – so the colour can be ‘faked’.

Aroma (undiluted)

Sniff the malt, gingerly, as you swirl it in the glass – this will alert you immediately to the initial elements in the malt’s perfume that will broaden your scotch tasting experience. You may get palate burn from the strong aromas – perfumiers use coffee or cocoa beans to rebalance their nose senses between tastings – you might find this a useful trick. Following on from this, you will also rate the aroma (dilute) and mouth-feel.

Primary taste in scotch tasting

Scotch tasting is one way to remind yourself that your tongue does indeed have different regions which can register differing aspects of one food or drink. What is the initial taste sensation – sweet? And does it change as it travels across to the back of your mouth – hint, most whiskies do this.