In a whisky bar in my city. Currently nosing a Glengoyne 25. It’s £45 a dram in here but I am celebrating something...Not an daily drinker for me or anything, lol. Will update on my findings. The 21 was always a firm favourite for me before it got too pricy (they also sneakily changed from first fill to second or refill). Hope this meets expectations 🥃 👍
A wonderful way to celebrate! Glengoyne is a distillery that I haven't had in quite a while. IMHO there's nothing wrong with paying above the odds for a one off special dram. In fact I feel it's a more sensible way to do it than paying who knows how much for a whole bottle that may eventually lose its novelty. Hope you enjoyed it 👍
I always have a big glass of water besides my glencairn. A dry mouth causes flavour to be muted, and swishing a bit of water around your mouth helps to keep your pallette nice and fresh. I have started chewing whisky recently. Especially if it's got a low ABV or I haven't tried it before.
Excellent advice. Water alongside whisky is very important for tasting as well as looking after your health. Particularly your throat. I used to be a proper chewer but mainly just move it around now (a swiller?). I hadn't thought about it before but yes, I find myself chewing more with lower strength whisky. Definitely helps. And if you're really struggling to get those flavours out then you can always resort to sucking air through the whisky in your mouth (the slurper?). Good way to lose friends if they're not slurpers too though 🤣
@@FEWGEE1 it's basically rapid, in mouth, aeration. Gets all those flavours releasing. I tried it after seeing James Hoffman do it when tasting coffee. It does work well but sounds awful 🤣
Very well done! I only disagree on two points, being a longtime cigar aficionado and a wine lover, I really enjoy the pairing of alcohol with tobacco and food… a good cheese with a deep red wine is sublime, as well as a hand rolled cigar with a single malt or bourbon? Cheers
Port with a cheese board? Yes please! I'm not saying never mix food and alcohol, it's just not the best way to analyse a malt that's new to you 🤓 But when you're just seeking to enjoy something familiar then why not! My alcohol of choice to accompany food is usually a good beer though. Whisky before / after. Cheers 🥃
Such great Video again, cheers!👌 Totally agree with taking notes even if it seems silly. It is very difficult to remember something particular if you try many stauff but so easy just to read it back. I am missing a lot of more detailed notes from the past. Loved the second part of the video as well! Since i recently got into the Wine/Fortified/Dessertwine topic, would love to see more of it🍷
Thanks Marton. Especially for sticking to the end. Sherry, especially fino to Amontillado is definitely something I want to explore more. Rum too. Both can offer great value. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock sure man, I always stay 😉 i could also recommend you the virgin style marsala, it is s bit more punchy and less pretty but still sweet. Eventhough I love the sweeter side of the fortified/dessert wines (aged tawny, tokaji, cream sherry, even px), i am still struggling with the rums and bourbons that is available around me. I just dont really reach for them even if i have some🤷🏻♂️ but im happy to listen to your journey with them maybe i find there something i could like. 🥃
Great video, WL! Lots of useful ideas here for both the inexperienced and experienced drinker. Regarding getting the most out of an evening's whisky tasting, I find it best to avoid any strong salty or savoury foods shortly before starting (crisps or salted peanuts or heavily spiced olives and feta cheeses) as it plays havoc with my palate. Your tip on taking small sips and leaving it on your tongue for maybe 10 seconds before swirling, is a well tried and tested procedure and I certainly benefit from it regularly. Finally, on a completely different point, don't worry about wine bottles with a metal screw cap: they're actually much more reliable in the longterm for cellaring as cork is a natural product and it can break down after a few years, leaving many bottles of wine in your cellar "corked" - and ready to be tipped down the sink (on average one bottle per dozen). There's a silly and unfair snobbishness about the idea that only "cheap plonk" is bottled with a Kelvin screw cap; it's high time that was debunked. Many thanks for your many excellent tips. Cheers.
Thanks Russell. It always makes me cringe a little when you pay to do a whisky tasting and they encourage you to pair the whisky with food. Bowmore did it when I did their tasting tour a few years ago and I left the food until the end. Sure some food goes well with the right alcohol but most of those people are probably trying to see what the whisky is like! You're right that corks can cause plenty of problems. I'm not cellaring a lot of wine though. Just a couple of bottles of good Barolo that I'm keeping for a special occasion 🙂 Cheers
Good stuff WL. You covered quite a bit on how to drink your whisky. I tend to switch up between tulip (copita), glencairns for scotch/irish and tumblers for all my bourbons. I ended up concluding that different whisk(e)ys need different glass. You also need to consider when and how much water you need to add to the type of drink you are having. Hydration is also very important. One last point would be when to drink what type of whisk(e)y, especially before/after meal. The most important thing to remember is drink not to get drunk but to savor and to enjoy.
Couldn't agree more on drinking to savour rather than to get drunk. Very good point on different glasses suiting different whiskies as well. I do almost always prefer a glenclairn or tulip for the kind of whiskies I prefer but those big curved tumblers that Bruichladdich use at their distillery really opened my eyes to a tumblers ability to smooth out a fiery dram 👍
@@WhiskyLock Agreed on glencairns and tulips for the scotches and irish etc. and the tumblers are the right match for the bourbons as sometimes you want a solid block of ice for some proofy bourbons and tumblers are perfect for that.
I was taking notes from the Whiskytube early on. Actually, more like a shopping list. But I should write down tasting notes. The thing I can never remember is which whisky takes water and how much water. Sherry and the wines are key on this journey. I don't know how you can comment on sherried whisky without trying the sherry. And they are so affordable. I think I got 5 bottles of sherry for the price of one 15 year scotch.
WhiskyTube can be a very expensive thing when you inevitably end up with a shopping list 😉 Agree that an education in sherry is essential to appreciate whisky. I've been writing up a sherry shopping list lately. It's so cheap as you say, so why not!
@@WhiskyLock Malt Activist just interviewed a sherry bodega owner. I found his Manzanilla in my travels. Good stuff. I think it's better than mass marketed but almost as inexpensive. Wish I could find a fino, Palo Cortado and a PX I could rely on to be of similar quality and not $100 a bottle. Most sherry I have I can only deal with one dram and no more.
@@jackthepickledhound that was a great interview from Malt Activist. I intend to look for some sherry from that Bodega. Honestly most of the good sherry I've had so far has been stuff that I've randomly found and there's been a fair bit of luck involved! Time for me to get organised about it.
Great video! I have to admit I don't bother either taking or reading tasting notes. I do pick quite a bit flavor in my whisky, but I'm not that good with descriptors. Plus I don't have idea what "tarry rope" smells or tastes like, same for "maltyness", "coastal tangyness", "heather honey", etc. :) I have perfect idea what strawberries taste like, but yet I have never had a single whisky that tastes like strawberry nor have I had strawberries that taste like whisky :) I can tell if a whisky is "fruity" , however I can't think of a single fruit to point my finger at. Same goes with "floral", "earthy", etc. I suppose it is because if the taste just "reminds of this or that" for me is not good enough to call it so. In all fairness I highly doubt that tasters who take notes do really sense all those flavors. It's more likely they like to think of "tarry ropes" or "guava jam" when they taste whisky. Instead, I like to have my whisky, or other quality spirits, while relaxing and enjoying. I'm perfectly able to distinguish this from that dram, I just don't bother associating what I smell and taste with something else in particular. Oh, and I love to "chew" my whisky. First I hold it at the front then slowly pass it to the sides and the back of the mouth, while pressing it against the palate. No swishing and slurping though :) Cheers!
Thanks Nickolay. Always interesting to hear how other people are doing it. You raise an important point that any tasting note is only useful to other people if they're familiar with that thing. And that all whisky enthusiasts, if they do decide to take notes, should try to use descriptors that they're familiar with, no matter what others are saying. Interesting that you mention 'maltiness' because I think that's one that really requires experience rather than familiarity. By that I mean to know what strawberry notes in a whisky refer to you need to have eaten strawberries. But maltiness is more integral to the whisky and you can't easily experience it elsewhere. For me it's that sweet, cerealy, distilled spirit note. Present in most good single malt that isn't dominated by cask or peat. Usually missing from grain whiskies. Although without a doubt other people will describe it differently to me. Which in itself is all part of the fun!
@@WhiskyLock Oh, I see. Thanks for the clarification😄 Apparently maltiness is what malt whisky should taste like first and foremost and what sets it apart from grain, bourbon, grain heavy blends. In this case, I'm perfectly aware of it😄 It is why malt whisky is my favorite distilled spirit drink. BTW, when my beloved wife gave birth to our second son two months ago, I bought some 12 yo, cask strength armagnac to treat my colleagues at tje office. Although it is nothing like malt whisky, it blew my mind and became my second favorite distilled spirit drink. Now I'm looking forward to taste some 15, 20, 30 armagnac which also costs far less than whisky of similar age. Cheers!
@@Nikolay_Nikolov Nice, I've always liked the Armagnac that I've had but I really need to try more. It does seem cheap compared to Scotch but then everything does 🤣 Congrats on the new arrival 🙂
If I go out I bring my Horst old mike or at Kareoke night..grab the mike....I chew it with gusto....I sure grew up in different times.. I quit going to bars before the smoking ban and here in Cambodia...there is NO ban on smoking.... I drink my single malts at home alone...listening to tunes... I may work on my shopping list while drinking...of the next bottles I am going to buy...
Hi Jeff. When i recorded that video I was thinking; I bet there are still places with bars filled with tobacco smoke! Massively a thing of the past in England now. Home drinking seems to have less stigma these days. Probably because nobody can afford to go to pubs anymore... Can't say I'm sad about it. Cheers 🥃
Great video. Thanks for this. I have not a long history of tasting, but I've bought a lot of different bottles (over 200 as of now) and I also bought some samples. I have now just to go all that good stuff :-). I'm also trying to write down my thoughts and opinions on the whisky I'm tasting... But slowly and surely I will be able to taste all this...
Sounds like you've set yourself up to have a great whisky journey 🙂 an enviable position! Great that you'll end up with a really nice library of notes to refer to as well. I wish I had kept notes for those first few years. Slainte! 🥃
Thanks for an excellent video, really! There’s a lot of good advice in it and I would recommend every whisky enthusiast to watch it. I commented on one of your other videos a couple of weeks ago, thanking you in particular for comparing three whiskies side by side (Laphroaig 18 etc). I my opinion, reviews based on comparison between two or more whiskies are more informative than a review of just one, because the viewer then gets a “point of reference”. (It’s easy for someone to say that a certain Laphroaig is peaty, medicinal, and briny - but the question is if it is more or less so than, for example, the standard 10 YO.) So, as a viewer I usually prefer comparisons to just single-bottle reviews. But here’s my question. You emphasize the importance of having no distractions on your palete when trying whisky, which makes perfect sense. But what about having had a good sip of a rich, punchy, smoky whisky just a minute before you try your whisky (that may or may not be equally rich, punchy and smoky as the first one)? Isn’t that a distraction on your palete, if anything? I ask this myself, as I usually blind taste three whiskies side by side, and fear that my opinion about “B” and “C” might be negatively affected by the fact that I just had a sip of the very punchy whisky “A”. I often try them in reverse order the second time to mitigate this “risk”. Or is distraction from other whiskies less of a problem given that they on some fundamental level belong to the same kind of flavor (as opposed to tooth paste, kimchi, or orange juice)? Even if you might not be a flavor scientist, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Thank you Erik. It's an interesting conundrum and I think it depends on how you're tasting a whisky and what your intent is. As weird as that sounds! Direct comparison is definitely a distraction for your palate. If you're trying to judge a whisky objectively (ha...) then that's probably a bad thing. If you're trying to coax out the differences between expressions, and especially batches, then that method of subtractive tasting becomes incredibly useful. You have to always keep your baseline in mind though. Or else you run the risk of say, producing tasting notes for three batches of Laphroaig 10CS and not even mentioning smokiness. Not because they're not smoky but because the really interesting differences are much more subtle than "is it peaty?". Not describing the smokiness wouldn't be helpful to the viewer though. Or to yourself when going back to your notes. Tasting whisky and making meaningful notes is certainly much harder than it seems. Sometimes it feels like describing colour to the blind... Just my thoughts! Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Thanks a lot for your thoughts! I think what you write about intent is key. That is, what do I want to accomplish with this test, besides just having a good time enjoying my whisky? If I want to experience fine differences between whiskies, well, then it’s hard to avoid the fact that my palete might be affected by the other whisky or whiskies. That might even help/enable me to sense those differences. But if I want to paint a complete picture of a whisky (in “absolute” and not in “relative” terms), then I probably don’t want my palete to be affected by other whisky.
Damn good video,👍. The question is what is moderation? Now I generally have three at times four days a week without alcohol, when I drink then around 1 to 3 drams an evening. My favourite glas is actually a copita glass. Also I do like a nice port wine and sometimes red wine. Slàinte.
Thanks David. Great question that probably has no single answer. In the UK we're now told that no amount of alcohol carries zero risk but not to exceed half a bottle of 40% per week (was a full bottle per week until recently). That's what a doctor would say but I wonder how many follow their own advice? Sounds to me like what you're doing is pretty responsible but at the end of the day we're all big boys and girls and have to make that judgement ourselves 👍
12:46 well, if I know your palate and your taste, and how they are different than mine, then your tasting notes would be really helpful actually. For example Serge from whiskyfun doesn't like sherry maturation, especially if it is overly sweet. But I do. And he gives an OK mark for a sherry whisky, but not great, I know that this whisky has quality, and has the profile I am looking for.
That's a good point. It's all down to being familiar with that person's tastes and how they describe their experience. Perhaps consistency should be the thing to look for in a good whisky critic.
@@WhiskyLock helas i don't have a refencepoint on Japanese whisky, it was the first time i had one. Fot a long time i only drank Jameson, Bushmills, Chivas or Glenmorangie. Just about a year ago i started to get more into whisky
I like to think that us whisky folk generally aren't. You get the feeling that most of us are reasonably responsible 'happy drunks'. But then I guess nobody plans to have their life affected by substance abuse issues. Stay safe, stay responsible 💪
Great idea. I am taking notes.
Good one
In a whisky bar in my city. Currently nosing a Glengoyne 25. It’s £45 a dram in here but I am celebrating something...Not an daily drinker for me or anything, lol. Will update on my findings. The 21 was always a firm favourite for me before it got too pricy (they also sneakily changed from first fill to second or refill).
Hope this meets expectations 🥃 👍
A wonderful way to celebrate! Glengoyne is a distillery that I haven't had in quite a while.
IMHO there's nothing wrong with paying above the odds for a one off special dram. In fact I feel it's a more sensible way to do it than paying who knows how much for a whole bottle that may eventually lose its novelty. Hope you enjoyed it 👍
Love this instructive video. Well done! And kudos for the ‘wet dog note’ comment 😉
Thanks Wouter! Wet dog can be an interesting bit of character in a whisky. Just not in all whisky please 😉
I always have a big glass of water besides my glencairn. A dry mouth causes flavour to be muted, and swishing a bit of water around your mouth helps to keep your pallette nice and fresh.
I have started chewing whisky recently. Especially if it's got a low ABV or I haven't tried it before.
Excellent advice. Water alongside whisky is very important for tasting as well as looking after your health. Particularly your throat.
I used to be a proper chewer but mainly just move it around now (a swiller?). I hadn't thought about it before but yes, I find myself chewing more with lower strength whisky. Definitely helps.
And if you're really struggling to get those flavours out then you can always resort to sucking air through the whisky in your mouth (the slurper?). Good way to lose friends if they're not slurpers too though 🤣
@@WhiskyLockI've never tried the air sucking slurper method lol. I'll give it a go later!
@@FEWGEE1 it's basically rapid, in mouth, aeration. Gets all those flavours releasing. I tried it after seeing James Hoffman do it when tasting coffee. It does work well but sounds awful 🤣
👍🏻
I always learn something from your shows.
Cheers 🥃
Thank you John. High praise indeed! Cheers 🥃
Very well done! I only disagree on two points, being a longtime cigar aficionado and a wine lover, I really enjoy the pairing of alcohol with tobacco and food… a good cheese with a deep red wine is sublime, as well as a hand rolled cigar with a single malt or bourbon? Cheers
Port with a cheese board? Yes please! I'm not saying never mix food and alcohol, it's just not the best way to analyse a malt that's new to you 🤓 But when you're just seeking to enjoy something familiar then why not! My alcohol of choice to accompany food is usually a good beer though. Whisky before / after. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Agreed
Such great Video again, cheers!👌 Totally agree with taking notes even if it seems silly. It is very difficult to remember something particular if you try many stauff but so easy just to read it back. I am missing a lot of more detailed notes from the past. Loved the second part of the video as well! Since i recently got into the Wine/Fortified/Dessertwine topic, would love to see more of it🍷
Thanks Marton. Especially for sticking to the end. Sherry, especially fino to Amontillado is definitely something I want to explore more. Rum too. Both can offer great value. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock sure man, I always stay 😉 i could also recommend you the virgin style marsala, it is s bit more punchy and less pretty but still sweet. Eventhough I love the sweeter side of the fortified/dessert wines (aged tawny, tokaji, cream sherry, even px), i am still struggling with the rums and bourbons that is available around me. I just dont really reach for them even if i have some🤷🏻♂️ but im happy to listen to your journey with them maybe i find there something i could like. 🥃
Great video, WL! Lots of useful ideas here for both the inexperienced and experienced drinker. Regarding getting the most out of an evening's whisky tasting, I find it best to avoid any strong salty or savoury foods shortly before starting (crisps or salted peanuts or heavily spiced olives and feta cheeses) as it plays havoc with my palate. Your tip on taking small sips and leaving it on your tongue for maybe 10 seconds before swirling, is a well tried and tested procedure and I certainly benefit from it regularly. Finally, on a completely different point, don't worry about wine bottles with a metal screw cap: they're actually much more reliable in the longterm for cellaring as cork is a natural product and it can break down after a few years, leaving many bottles of wine in your cellar "corked" - and ready to be tipped down the sink (on average one bottle per dozen). There's a silly and unfair snobbishness about the idea that only "cheap plonk" is bottled with a Kelvin screw cap; it's high time that was debunked. Many thanks for your many excellent tips. Cheers.
Thanks Russell. It always makes me cringe a little when you pay to do a whisky tasting and they encourage you to pair the whisky with food. Bowmore did it when I did their tasting tour a few years ago and I left the food until the end. Sure some food goes well with the right alcohol but most of those people are probably trying to see what the whisky is like!
You're right that corks can cause plenty of problems. I'm not cellaring a lot of wine though. Just a couple of bottles of good Barolo that I'm keeping for a special occasion 🙂 Cheers
An interesting and honest video, really enjoyed it and picked up a useful tip or two. Cheers 🥃🥃
Thanks Nick!
🙂👍🏻🥃😁
Good stuff WL. You covered quite a bit on how to drink your whisky. I tend to switch up between tulip (copita), glencairns for scotch/irish and tumblers for all my bourbons. I ended up concluding that different whisk(e)ys need different glass. You also need to consider when and how much water you need to add to the type of drink you are having. Hydration is also very important. One last point would be when to drink what type of whisk(e)y, especially before/after meal. The most important thing to remember is drink not to get drunk but to savor and to enjoy.
Couldn't agree more on drinking to savour rather than to get drunk. Very good point on different glasses suiting different whiskies as well. I do almost always prefer a glenclairn or tulip for the kind of whiskies I prefer but those big curved tumblers that Bruichladdich use at their distillery really opened my eyes to a tumblers ability to smooth out a fiery dram 👍
@@WhiskyLock Agreed on glencairns and tulips for the scotches and irish etc. and the tumblers are the right match for the bourbons as sometimes you want a solid block of ice for some proofy bourbons and tumblers are perfect for that.
I was taking notes from the Whiskytube early on. Actually, more like a shopping list. But I should write down tasting notes. The thing I can never remember is which whisky takes water and how much water.
Sherry and the wines are key on this journey. I don't know how you can comment on sherried whisky without trying the sherry. And they are so affordable. I think I got 5 bottles of sherry for the price of one 15 year scotch.
WhiskyTube can be a very expensive thing when you inevitably end up with a shopping list 😉
Agree that an education in sherry is essential to appreciate whisky. I've been writing up a sherry shopping list lately. It's so cheap as you say, so why not!
@@WhiskyLock Malt Activist just interviewed a sherry bodega owner. I found his Manzanilla in my travels. Good stuff.
I think it's better than mass marketed but almost as inexpensive. Wish I could find a fino, Palo Cortado and a PX I could rely on to be of similar quality and not $100 a bottle.
Most sherry I have I can only deal with one dram and no more.
@@jackthepickledhound that was a great interview from Malt Activist. I intend to look for some sherry from that Bodega. Honestly most of the good sherry I've had so far has been stuff that I've randomly found and there's been a fair bit of luck involved! Time for me to get organised about it.
@@jackthepickledhound i just shopping in Tesco Northern Ireland at last weekend and i seen Fino & PX in small bottles 15% abv for £6.50 🤠😁🥃🙋♂️
Great video!
I have to admit I don't bother either taking or reading tasting notes. I do pick quite a bit flavor in my whisky, but I'm not that good with descriptors. Plus I don't have idea what "tarry rope" smells or tastes like, same for "maltyness", "coastal tangyness", "heather honey", etc. :) I have perfect idea what strawberries taste like, but yet I have never had a single whisky that tastes like strawberry nor have I had strawberries that taste like whisky :) I can tell if a whisky is "fruity" , however I can't think of a single fruit to point my finger at. Same goes with "floral", "earthy", etc. I suppose it is because if the taste just "reminds of this or that" for me is not good enough to call it so.
In all fairness I highly doubt that tasters who take notes do really sense all those flavors. It's more likely they like to think of "tarry ropes" or "guava jam" when they taste whisky. Instead, I like to have my whisky, or other quality spirits, while relaxing and enjoying. I'm perfectly able to distinguish this from that dram, I just don't bother associating what I smell and taste with something else in particular. Oh, and I love to "chew" my whisky. First I hold it at the front then slowly pass it to the sides and the back of the mouth, while pressing it against the palate. No swishing and slurping though :)
Cheers!
Thanks Nickolay. Always interesting to hear how other people are doing it. You raise an important point that any tasting note is only useful to other people if they're familiar with that thing. And that all whisky enthusiasts, if they do decide to take notes, should try to use descriptors that they're familiar with, no matter what others are saying.
Interesting that you mention 'maltiness' because I think that's one that really requires experience rather than familiarity. By that I mean to know what strawberry notes in a whisky refer to you need to have eaten strawberries. But maltiness is more integral to the whisky and you can't easily experience it elsewhere. For me it's that sweet, cerealy, distilled spirit note. Present in most good single malt that isn't dominated by cask or peat. Usually missing from grain whiskies. Although without a doubt other people will describe it differently to me. Which in itself is all part of the fun!
@@WhiskyLock Oh, I see. Thanks for the clarification😄 Apparently maltiness is what malt whisky should taste like first and foremost and what sets it apart from grain, bourbon, grain heavy blends. In this case, I'm perfectly aware of it😄 It is why malt whisky is my favorite distilled spirit drink.
BTW, when my beloved wife gave birth to our second son two months ago, I bought some 12 yo, cask strength armagnac to treat my colleagues at tje office. Although it is nothing like malt whisky, it blew my mind and became my second favorite distilled spirit drink. Now I'm looking forward to taste some 15, 20, 30 armagnac which also costs far less than whisky of similar age.
Cheers!
@@Nikolay_Nikolov Nice, I've always liked the Armagnac that I've had but I really need to try more. It does seem cheap compared to Scotch but then everything does 🤣 Congrats on the new arrival 🙂
If I go out I bring my Horst old mike or at Kareoke night..grab the mike....I chew it with gusto....I sure grew up in different times..
I quit going to bars before the smoking ban and here in Cambodia...there is NO ban on smoking....
I drink my single malts at home alone...listening to tunes...
I may work on my shopping list while drinking...of the next bottles I am going to buy...
Hi Jeff. When i recorded that video I was thinking; I bet there are still places with bars filled with tobacco smoke! Massively a thing of the past in England now.
Home drinking seems to have less stigma these days. Probably because nobody can afford to go to pubs anymore... Can't say I'm sad about it. Cheers 🥃
Great video. Thanks for this. I have not a long history of tasting, but I've bought a lot of different bottles (over 200 as of now) and I also bought some samples. I have now just to go all that good stuff :-). I'm also trying to write down my thoughts and opinions on the whisky I'm tasting... But slowly and surely I will be able to taste all this...
Sounds like you've set yourself up to have a great whisky journey 🙂 an enviable position! Great that you'll end up with a really nice library of notes to refer to as well. I wish I had kept notes for those first few years. Slainte! 🥃
14:13 scared the crap outa' me!! haha
Ha sorry, think I bumped the mic stand 😬
Thanks for an excellent video, really! There’s a lot of good advice in it and I would recommend every whisky enthusiast to watch it. I commented on one of your other videos a couple of weeks ago, thanking you in particular for comparing three whiskies side by side (Laphroaig 18 etc). I my opinion, reviews based on comparison between two or more whiskies are more informative than a review of just one, because the viewer then gets a “point of reference”. (It’s easy for someone to say that a certain Laphroaig is peaty, medicinal, and briny - but the question is if it is more or less so than, for example, the standard 10 YO.) So, as a viewer I usually prefer comparisons to just single-bottle reviews. But here’s my question. You emphasize the importance of having no distractions on your palete when trying whisky, which makes perfect sense. But what about having had a good sip of a rich, punchy, smoky whisky just a minute before you try your whisky (that may or may not be equally rich, punchy and smoky as the first one)? Isn’t that a distraction on your palete, if anything? I ask this myself, as I usually blind taste three whiskies side by side, and fear that my opinion about “B” and “C” might be negatively affected by the fact that I just had a sip of the very punchy whisky “A”. I often try them in reverse order the second time to mitigate this “risk”. Or is distraction from other whiskies less of a problem given that they on some fundamental level belong to the same kind of flavor (as opposed to tooth paste, kimchi, or orange juice)? Even if you might not be a flavor scientist, I would be very interested to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Thank you Erik. It's an interesting conundrum and I think it depends on how you're tasting a whisky and what your intent is. As weird as that sounds!
Direct comparison is definitely a distraction for your palate. If you're trying to judge a whisky objectively (ha...) then that's probably a bad thing. If you're trying to coax out the differences between expressions, and especially batches, then that method of subtractive tasting becomes incredibly useful.
You have to always keep your baseline in mind though. Or else you run the risk of say, producing tasting notes for three batches of Laphroaig 10CS and not even mentioning smokiness. Not because they're not smoky but because the really interesting differences are much more subtle than "is it peaty?".
Not describing the smokiness wouldn't be helpful to the viewer though. Or to yourself when going back to your notes. Tasting whisky and making meaningful notes is certainly much harder than it seems. Sometimes it feels like describing colour to the blind...
Just my thoughts! Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Thanks a lot for your thoughts! I think what you write about intent is key. That is, what do I want to accomplish with this test, besides just having a good time enjoying my whisky? If I want to experience fine differences between whiskies, well, then it’s hard to avoid the fact that my palete might be affected by the other whisky or whiskies. That might even help/enable me to sense those differences. But if I want to paint a complete picture of a whisky (in “absolute” and not in “relative” terms), then I probably don’t want my palete to be affected by other whisky.
Damn good video,👍. The question is what is moderation? Now I generally have three at times four days a week without alcohol, when I drink then around 1 to 3 drams an evening. My favourite glas is actually a copita glass. Also I do like a nice port wine and sometimes red wine. Slàinte.
Thanks David. Great question that probably has no single answer. In the UK we're now told that no amount of alcohol carries zero risk but not to exceed half a bottle of 40% per week (was a full bottle per week until recently).
That's what a doctor would say but I wonder how many follow their own advice?
Sounds to me like what you're doing is pretty responsible but at the end of the day we're all big boys and girls and have to make that judgement ourselves 👍
12:46 well, if I know your palate and your taste, and how they are different than mine, then your tasting notes would be really helpful actually. For example Serge from whiskyfun doesn't like sherry maturation, especially if it is overly sweet. But I do. And he gives an OK mark for a sherry whisky, but not great, I know that this whisky has quality, and has the profile I am looking for.
That's a good point. It's all down to being familiar with that person's tastes and how they describe their experience. Perhaps consistency should be the thing to look for in a good whisky critic.
" What is this glass you speak off Obi Wan ? " ;-)
While i was very excited to taste it I experienced no taste what so ever on a Nikka.
IMHO Japanese whisky is nowhere near as good as it was...
@@WhiskyLock helas i don't have a refencepoint on Japanese whisky, it was the first time i had one. Fot a long time i only drank Jameson, Bushmills, Chivas or Glenmorangie. Just about a year ago i started to get more into whisky
Well, I'm not harming others
I like to think that us whisky folk generally aren't. You get the feeling that most of us are reasonably responsible 'happy drunks'. But then I guess nobody plans to have their life affected by substance abuse issues. Stay safe, stay responsible 💪