nose and taste

[merty]

Hello to everyone,
i have a question for u guys..
as a beginner i find it very difficult to recognise things, i mean i do get the 'fruity' or 'dry' ..and so on
but the specific things as; raisins..or vanilla..i don't recognise them or i'm not able to link them; will this improve with tasting or not?
and are there any 'tricks' to get better at it?

greetings

[C57]

It will get easier.

A couple of "tricks":

1. I have heard it suggested that when you go to the supermarket, you should sniff around the fresh fruit and veg etc. (Could get you arrested!)
Easier is just to take a little time to take a sniff of these things when you use them in the home.

2. Is the Whisky Nosing kit. This is an expensive option but has lots of aromas that would be more difficult to find normally in a pure form.

Best of all - just keep at it! Refer to others' notes and see if you can recognise the things they are picking out - sometimes it's easier if someone has already labelled the aroma for you.
Of course, everyone is sensitive to different aromas, so you may not (probably will not) get all the same things as someone else. But hey, that's what makes this so interesting!

[MacDeffe]

Hi merty and welcome to whiskywhiskywhisky

Each and everyone has different skills in the art of nosing and tasting. I would say my skills aren't very good compared to others, but I trained my skills with a lot of practise

Different people also pick up the same things and describe them differently..I know a person than always describe those whiskies as grassy that I describe as citrus


The first year I drank whisky I had to labels for a whisky, and they were "I like it" and "I like it a lot". But a lot of hard work and practise I now find I am getting better at it.

In Pip Hills whiskybook "Appreciating whisky" there is very good descriptions of how we taste and particular nose (--whiskies)

Our sense have the habit of excluding a constant background smell, then making us able to note the lesser things, so spending some time nosing a whisky may reveal some things to your nose.

Seeking out some "extreme" whiskies might help build up a nosing background, something very sherried (MAcallan) or very "vanilla" (bourbon cask - Glenmorangie)

Macdeffe

[Mr Tattie Heid]

Some people are simply better at this than others. I have a relatively poor nose, I guess--I've never been able to pick out a lot of different things nosing. But there are different techniques you can try. I think it's important not to overwhelm either your nose or your tongue--when tasting, for example, I take only a very small drop of whisky and let it spread over my full tongue. Likewise, you might try diluting to keep your nose from being overwhelmed by alcoholic fumes--try just a few drops of water at a time. Most folks feel this also "opens up" a lot of aromas. (I rarely do this because then I don't want to drink the watered-down whisky!) Proper glassware helps, and another thing you can try is to cover the glass with one hand and give it a vigorous shake. You won't have to get in too close to get a good snootful. And you can try rubbing a few drops in your (clean dry) palms--you're already there if you gave that glass a good enough shake--and smelling your cupped palms. Which reminds me, cool whisky doesn't nose very well, so warming the glass with your hand can help there. Just don't let Richard Paterson see you.

[Yello to Mello]

Your also might just tune into it.

Taste several whiskies in a week or have a couple of drams during a week you may get better.

However, there are some people that will take months off from tasting anything and going back they won't have the precision to sense those "specific things" that they once had. It happens to me every September when I dont have much in the summer.

I think I caught on relatively quick in tasting things in my drinks. I never seen an image staring at those "Magic Eye" books though and those you supposed to eventually get.

[Muddy Mouth]

Taste several whiskies in a week or have a couple of drams during a week you may get better.

This and try different whiskies side by side.

[C57]

I never seen an image staring at those "Magic Eye" books though and those you supposed to eventually get.

Now this is precisely the opposite effect, for me.
With tasting, we're trying to focus in on specific aromas and flavours.

The magic eye bok is a case of getting slightly out of focus so that you're no longer seeing what you know is the pattern that's been drawn. Then your mind can interpret what you're seeing differently. That's how it works for me, anyway.

[Malt-Teaser]

Hi merty,
don't get stressed about trying to identify aromas, a good way to start is to spend quite a bit of time nosing each dram before you taste it, then just relax your mind and let the whisky 'suggest' either flavours or experiences to you.

Malty

[merty]

thanks everybody!