The Whisky Aroma Wheel is a visual representation of the most common whisky aromas. This wheel is a great companion during whisky tasting. Whether you are a beginner or a whisky connoisseur, the Whisky Aroma Wheel will assist you in the identification process of aromas contained in the complexity of your whisky. In a typical whisky tasting process, you will first need to define which aroma families are present in your whisky (fruits, cereals, peat…). Then, the Whisky Aroma Wheel will help you narrow down the aroma family to a more precise aroma subfamily (citrus, dried fruits, nuts, spices…) to finally the exact aroma itself. You simply need to start from the first inner ring of the whisky aroma wheel and move towards its largest ring, which suggests many aromas that can describe the taste of your whisky.
HOW TO TASTE WHISKY
Here are some practical notes that will help you, first of all, glassware! For assessment always a tulip shape fill till the broadest part of glass yep not a lot needed. To check out the colour and the legs give the glass a swirl, the more legs that form, the higher the ABV. Please note temperature can affect results, so this is an indicator and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, just part of the process admiring the colour and clarity. Colour typically will give you a good indicator of the wood used whether it was American Oak which would typically be lighter in colour than European Oak. Casks that previously held wine in particular, would affect the colour greatly, once again, as it is legal to add caramel for consistent colouring don’t waste too much time on this part of the assessment. Now to the real beauty, the genius of the water of life, the aroma. Place your nose in the glass and draw in air through your mouth, that way avoiding anesthetizing yourself, consider the aromas which will vary from nutty to peaty see wheel above. Once you have completed enjoying the hedonistic allurement of the aromas it time for the taste. Place a small amount of whisky in your mouth, and hold it above your tongue for at least 5 seconds. Then place it beneath your tongue and hold it for 5 more seconds, then allow the magic to happen by putting it back on top of your tongue once more, it would now have turned thick honey-like at that stage you can swallow, slowly waiting for the warmth to reach your tummy, then take in a large breath of air and revel in the breadth and width of flavours, from sweet caramels dark damp forest floor and earthy notes of tar rope and distinctive smoke again see map above. The best part is you get to do this all again this time by adding a teaspoon of water to the whisky you will note how the nose has changed 0ffering far more aromas ,and the palate will change too. By far the best part of all this is YOU and only YOU get to decide which you like the most.
