Nosing whisky

 

When we had the whisky talk with Marc he focused on learning to smell to assist in recognising the "nose" of a whisky. This stuck with us and we are now focused on smelling as much as we can. We're even playing around with a special tasting focused on the concept.

Credit

We have realised that nosing is part talent and part skill. Some are born with the talent and they are able to make a living of this, while the rest of us need to master the skill.

When most of us pick up a glass of whisky we get a deep whiff of alcohol. We need to learn to take that second breath and to pick up the scents underneath the alcohol. We received a very good tip to "taste with your mouth open" allowing you to breathe in the smell and help you to identify the smell.

A nose can detect over 35 000 different smells and can recognise a smell when diluted to one part in a million. Your tongue picks up four tastes - salt, sweet, bitter and sour. So let's give the schnoze some credit here!

Let's accept that the nose of a whisky is up for interpreation. I may smell caramelised sugar and you may smell burnt toffee - similar? It all depends on your experience of the smell before. It's important to find a common ground. If I smell sugar and you smell wood, we're missing something.

To smell whisky, make sure you use a glass that enhances this experience. You're looking for a tulip shaped glass as opposed to the standard tumbler. The shape helps channel the aromas.

Then, get your nose into the glass and take a good long breathe. For beginners, it's recommended to start with one short breathe to get used to the alcohol. The second breathe is the deep one where you try to pick up the aromas. But the first few breathes are important

Identify the first notes - maybe smoky? toffee? caramel? The nose links to the brain, so it is important to concentrate and to get your thinker involved. The nose will pick up the scent but the brain needs to name it.

If you're new at this, don't overthink the smells. Trust your first instinct. If you smell toast it's ok to say toast. We're not asking for burnt toast or buttery toast. That will come in time. If it smells like Christmas to you, think about what that means. Do you think or roaring fires (smoky) or do you associate Christmas with spice (cloves, cinnamon) or mince pies (stewed fruit)?

The easy notes are the obvious ones - look for them when you're starting out - peat, smoke, fuit, vanilla, oak.
Once you're comfortable with these you can look more specific aromas within this range.

Enjoy learning about smells, the scents, the aromas that lie within whisky.

 

 

 



If you have tips for beginners, please share them here