NFW: Tasting — Taste can tell us everything! Well, not really…
To enjoy a dram of whisky, all we have to do is taste it as we like, but if we want to do an organoleptic analysis, some precautions must be taken.
We usually consider taste to be the sense of choice capable of revealing to us the aromas of a whisky. Not so. The tongue’s sensors are certainly less effective than olfactory receptors.
In fact, what we perceive in the mouth is limited to only five values: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Sweet is perceived on the tip of the tongue, bitter and sour on the back, and salty on the sides. Umami is a perception unknown to us, of bitter seaweed broth, resulting from the presence of glutamate and typical of oriental cuisine. All aromas are actually always perceived by the sense of smell, which is posteriorly connected to the mouth. The aromas in whisky, for example, evaporate and return to the nose via the retronasal route due to the higher temperature of the oral cavity.
The mouth can also provide us with other information. First of all, a tactile one, which can reveal to us the body and oiliness of the distillate, or the presence of tannins, which set the teeth on edge. And then, importantly for an alcoholic product, it can convey to us the sensation of warmth.
A whisky, and even more so a Cask Strength whisky, can create problems for the most consummate taster. One cannot take a 57% whisky and gobble it down as if it were nothing. The olfactory and taste sensors would be instantly annihilated and we would not be able to smell and taste anything but the heat.
Usually, therefore, natural water is added to the glass to lower the alcohol content. But if for the sense of smell, as we have seen, it is sufficient to add a few drops, for the taste the situation is different. Generally, the alcohol content is lowered to 20%. For a 40% whisky, therefore, one would add as much water as whisky there is in the glass. For a cask-strength whisky, you have to add even more.
This is what a professional taster does, but we are not professionals, we want to enjoy our whisky, and since once the strength has been reduced we cannot go back to the glass with started with, we suggest a different approach for our tasting.
First, we drink some water, to prepare the mouth. Then we take another sip of water, but we don’t swallow it, we hold it in our mouth. At this point we take a sip of whisky, which will be added to the water already in the mouth, hold it in for about ten seconds and then swallow. We then make a note of the information received. In this way, we lowered the strength of the whisky without losing our original glass.
It is a very good method, which we can always use when faced with a new whisky. Through the retronasal route, we should smell aromas similar to those perceived through the nose. Thanks to the temperature of the mouth everything becomes easier, and what was previously a generic fruit scent can become the taste of a specific fruit. What was hidden can be revealed. Please never say that whisky is sweet or salty to the nose, only the tongue can tell that.
And another thing it can tell us is what kind of cask was used to mature the whisky. An ex-bourbon cask, for example, has a strong presence of vanillin and little tannin, so the tip of the tongue will be stimulated in particular. An ex-sherry cask, on the other hand, has a high component of spice and tannin, and will mostly stimulate the back of the tongue. To understand which area is more stimulated, just hold the liquid in your mouth for about ten seconds before swallowing. If the taste memory will be more on the tip it is likely that we are dealing with an ex-bourbon, while if it will be more on the back it will more likely be an ex-sherry. Try it for yourself! If the sensation is more in the middle, it could be ex-wine, but here we enter too complex a territory.
Finally, we can analyse the finish. After swallowing the whisky, it is possible to calculate in seconds how long the taste sensations last until they disappear. A short finish (2–3 seconds) will give us less emotion than a long one (up to 20 seconds). Moreover, in the finale, flavours can change, evolve and convey something new. It is up to you to determine what you like best if a stable or changing final!
Now that we know how the senses are involved in the tasting of a whisky, let us move on to another very important aspect: what is the best glass for a good whisky?
The perfect subject for a separate article. Don’t miss it.
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NFWhisky is a whisky culture eco-system dedicated to the facilitation of producing fine and unique whisky and bringing it to the world through NFTs.
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