About the flavours in whisky...

[Rankles]

I was reading up on what flavours whisky... and reading Michael Jacksons guide I kind of understood this...

These flavours we pick out are generally not actually what they taste like, but combinations of what was previously housed in the barrels, the location of the dostillery and th malt quality etc along with a dozen other factors that create particles of flavour which taste like real fruits and fragrances?

Is that right?

[Deactivated Member]

These flavours we pick out are generally not actually what they taste like....

Uh...yeah...it's kind of complicated. Just what is inherent to the malt, and what is songs from the wood, is what it's all about. But you know, the flavours you pick out are what it tastes like....

[Bullie]

If I don't remember this wrong, about 80% of the nose and taste in whisky derives from the casks. So the casks has a high impact on the final product. That's one of the reasons we like to see what casks are used on the lables.

But as TattieHeid is writing,

the flavours you pick out are what it tastes like....

[Rankles]

Heh yeah I mean, bad phrasing on my part but what i mean is you can get a hint of strawberries when that whisky has never seen a setrawberry.

[Drrich1965]

[quote="Rankles"]Heh yeah I mean, bad phrasing on my part but what i mean is you can get a hint of strawberries when that whisky has never seen a setrawberry.[/quote

From my limited experience, the purpose of tasting notes are to help communicate the exereicne of nosing/tasting whiky to others,and to ourselves. Nobody will experince a whisky exactly the same way; depending upon my mood and other factors in my life, I expericne the same whisky differently myself.

At first, I felt frustrated that I did not pick up the smells and tastes that others seemed to. Or, I just discounted their experiences as being "over the top." Now, I just try to focus on the enjoymnet of the drink, and allow the smells and tastes to come to me; I don't stress what I am or am not picking up...

Or at least that is what I TRY to do.....

Just my thoughts..

Rich

[sku]

Heh yeah I mean, bad phrasing on my part but what i mean is you can get a hint of strawberries when that whisky has never seen a setrawberry.

Isn't Glenmorangie coming out with a strawberry wood finish?

[Bullie]

Heh yeah I mean, bad phrasing on my part but what i mean is you can get a hint of strawberries when that whisky has never seen a setrawberry.

Yes you can have several different fruity notes, such as apples, pears and strawberries (and many others) in a whisky. This comes from esters (alcoholic strings) and other chemical reactions in the alcohol while distilling and from the reaction between the wood in the casks and the whisky.

[Aidan]

Heh yeah I mean, bad phrasing on my part but what i mean is you can get a hint of strawberries when that whisky has never seen a setrawberry.

Yeah, look at the tasting notes on this website under "Whiskies" - they're never the same. There are some constants - like smoke, phenols, pear drops, vanilla, sherry, aniseed - but the rest are in the minds of the tasters.

I'd agree what Rich as to say about tasting. Never expect to taste old boots from a whisky.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

As Aidan said there can be certian basic flavour profiles to a whiskey and many more others which come and go due to your form (state of mind ) setting and even where you are in a bottling (i.e. start, middle or end of a bottle).

Don't get too caught up in what flavours are in such and such whiskey as the next time you taste it it will be different. Just enjoy it and have fun trying to identify differences.

Sometimes I feel trying to figure out the whisky can take from the experience and I just drink it and enjoy.

[Scotty Mc]

There are however, loads of other factors that produce the taste/smells.

For instance the length of time the spirit is in contact with the copper of the still, the esthers that are released etc.

It really is a bit of a minefield

[Deactivated Member]

Heh yeah I mean, bad phrasing on my part but what i mean is you can get a hint of strawberries when that whisky has never seen a setrawberry.

Yes you can have several different fruity notes, such as apples, pears and strawberries (and many others) in a whisky. This comes from esters (alcoholic strings) and other chemical reactions in the alcohol while distilling and from the reaction between the wood in the casks and the whisky.

And if I have not been misled, or have not simply misunderstood, these esters are identical or similar to such in the referenced fruit, the result of various chemical processes. Or maybe someone will tell me I'm hunting for polyps again.

[maverick]

I think that taste is not an objective thing and that is why reviews differ so much. As with much other things, like cigars for example, drinking whiskey is a personal experience. Taste and smell can also trigger memories from the past making you brain sense things others don't. When I drink Ardbeg 10 there is something in the nose that reminds me of a plum spirit my grandfather use to make which I would be surprised if anyone else would pick up.