How To Drink Whiskey: 5 Techniques to Taste Like a Pro

1
00:00:05,680 –> 00:00:10,800
Hello, hello everyone I am Suzanne. I’m the 
founder of The Crafty Cask and we are all about  

2
00:00:10,800 –> 00:00:16,080
celebrating and supporting craft alcohol makers. 
And my name is Evan. I’m a certified sommelier,  

3
00:00:16,080 –> 00:00:22,080
a certified cider professional, and whiskey 
enthusiast. And as part of our corporate events  

4
00:00:22,080 –> 00:00:29,520
that we do a ton of, gosh we did seven this week 
I think, we teach whiskey tasting techniques quite  

5
00:00:29,520 –> 00:00:34,800
a bit and so we thought we would share our 
whiskey tasting techniques with all of you!  

6
00:00:34,800 –> 00:00:42,320
So, we’re going to walk you through the five steps 
to whiskey tasting techniques and grab your dram  

7
00:00:42,320 –> 00:00:48,560
and let’s get going! So, these are techniques 
that can be applied to pretty much beverage  

8
00:00:48,560 –> 00:00:53,680
tasting across a lot of different categories. 
There’s a few variations that we’ll talk about  

9
00:00:53,680 –> 00:01:03,920
with regard to whiskey and spirits tastings more 
generally, but basically there’s Sight, Swirl,  

10
00:01:05,040 –> 00:01:13,680
Sniff, Sip and Savor none of these are done 
exclusive to others – you go back and forth  

11
00:01:13,680 –> 00:01:21,840
between them. But initially the visual inspection 
of, you know a spirit or in this case a whiskey,  

12
00:01:22,480 –> 00:01:30,240
is going to tell you a little bit about the grain 
characteristic and the aging that might have  

13
00:01:30,240 –> 00:01:35,120
gone into the whiskey as well as the barrels 
that were used to age the whiskey. Right,  

14
00:01:35,120 –> 00:01:40,720
so not surprisingly the darker the whiskey likely 
the longer it’s spent in a barrel. The lighter  

15
00:01:40,720 –> 00:01:45,120
the whiskey likely the less time it’s spent in a 
barrel. Now, that’s not a hundred percent accurate  

16
00:01:45,120 –> 00:01:49,680
all the time of course – there are always 
exceptions and variations based on the grains  

17
00:01:49,680 –> 00:01:54,000
they’re using and things of that nature, but 
that’s definitely one thing to kind of glean  

18
00:01:54,000 –> 00:01:58,800
a little insight on when you’re taking a look at 
your whiskey before you take the next step. The  

19
00:01:58,800 –> 00:02:05,200
darker the whiskey maybe the longer or the more 
charred and the deeper the toast on the barrel has  

20
00:02:06,160 –> 00:02:12,400
it is and the lighter the less. One other 
thing you’re looking for when you’re looking at  

21
00:02:12,960 –> 00:02:19,440
your spirit for this first step here is how clear 
it is or if there’s any cloudiness to it. Now  

22
00:02:20,000 –> 00:02:24,000
this is something that we like to spend a little 
bit of time on because a lot of people if they see  

23
00:02:24,000 –> 00:02:28,880
a cloudy spirit something that isn’t 
perfectly pristine and crystal clear  

24
00:02:28,880 –> 00:02:34,320
they think that maybe that doesn’t mean it’s good 
quality, but in fact a lot of craft makers – which  

25
00:02:34,320 –> 00:02:39,600
you know we are all about at The Crafty Cask – 
a lot of craft makers choose to non-chill filter  

26
00:02:40,240 –> 00:02:46,080
their spirits. And if you don’t chill filter your 
spirits it will indeed have some cloudiness in  

27
00:02:46,080 –> 00:02:50,960
it at certain temperatures or you may at certain 
temperatures see things kind of start to fall out  

28
00:02:50,960 –> 00:02:56,400
of solution. That is NOT a bad thing because when 
you think about filtration the more you filter  

29
00:02:56,400 –> 00:03:05,200
something the less kind of flavor, mouth feel, 
esters, complexity it’s pulling out of there.  

30
00:03:05,200 –> 00:03:10,480
So, while we’re all very well trained to think 
like bigger is better – so filtered five times,  

31
00:03:10,480 –> 00:03:15,680
filtered ten times – right a lot of us think that 
is better, but that’s not necessarily true when it  

32
00:03:15,680 –> 00:03:20,160
comes to craft spirits. So, if you see something 
that’s a little cloudy or things are falling out  

33
00:03:20,160 –> 00:03:24,160
of solution a little bit don’t be scared, that 
might actually mean that there is more flavor and  

34
00:03:24,160 –> 00:03:29,200
more complexity and more kind of nuance and mouth 
feel in that whiskey than those that are super  

35
00:03:29,200 –> 00:03:34,960
pristine and filtered very heavily and crystal 
clear. Very true, very true. Next step there,  

36
00:03:36,720 –> 00:03:41,520
swirling the whiskey in your glass. 
This is something that you don’t want  

37
00:03:41,520 –> 00:03:45,360
to necessarily be too vigorous with, 
yeah with spirits in particular yeah,  

38
00:03:46,960 –> 00:03:52,240
but moving the the liquid around the glass is 
going to be exposing more of the surface area of  

39
00:03:52,240 –> 00:03:58,640
it to the surrounding environment and it’s going 
to be releasing more of the volatile aromatics so  

40
00:03:58,640 –> 00:04:03,920
that when you get to the next step, sniff, there’s 
more there for your nose to pick up on. It just  

41
00:04:03,920 –> 00:04:09,520
kind of intensifies the smelling of the of 
the spirit. Now, we’ll give you a quick watch  

42
00:04:09,520 –> 00:04:14,960
out here as we get to this next step if you’re 
familiar with tasting wine and we all stick our  

43
00:04:14,960 –> 00:04:20,560
nose deep into that glass as Evan has taught 
us to do in his wine tasting techniques video,  

44
00:04:20,560 –> 00:04:25,680
slow your roll, slow your roll a little bit. You 
want to do this a little bit more slowly because  

45
00:04:25,680 –> 00:04:30,160
it’s high proof. Yeah so, if you stick your nose 
deep in there you’re gonna burn your nose out  

46
00:04:30,160 –> 00:04:34,320
a little bit and not be able to smell much else 
after that. So we have a couple of techniques when  

47
00:04:34,320 –> 00:04:40,480
it comes to nosing your whiskey. Yeah, so with 
with nosing spirits and and whiskey in particular  

48
00:04:42,320 –> 00:04:46,960
it’s important to kind of gradually 
introduce the spirit to your nose.  

49
00:04:47,600 –> 00:04:52,320
I start with this spirit down here at my 
chest and I just kind of slowly raise it up  

50
00:04:53,840 –> 00:05:01,600
sniffing as I go and I find that about the point 
that the glass reaches where my chin is I start to  

51
00:05:03,040 –> 00:05:13,040
perceive it and that’s where you want to start to 
slow down. You don’t have to like stay there but  

52
00:05:13,040 –> 00:05:20,880
just be conscientious and slowly introduce it 
from that point because as Suzanne was saying  

53
00:05:22,080 –> 00:05:29,200
you can very quickly and readily kind of knock 
your olfactory out with a high proof – you know  

54
00:05:29,200 –> 00:05:35,920
high alcohol content – spirit that will shut your 
olfactory down. And it’s nice to notice what that  

55
00:05:35,920 –> 00:05:40,320
first note is that you are smelling so as you’re 
bringing it up and you don’t smell anything,  

56
00:05:40,320 –> 00:05:42,720
you don’t smell anything, and all of a sudden 
you’re like, “Oh I do smell something,”  

57
00:05:43,600 –> 00:05:48,480
pausing for a minute to say what is that and for 
me right now I’m smelling very like grainy, almost  

58
00:05:48,480 –> 00:05:54,000
like oatmeal, like cooked grains a little bit for 
that very first note. Now I know there’s probably  

59
00:05:54,000 –> 00:05:58,480
more in there for me to smell and there’s a few 
different techniques for us to help us get there  

60
00:05:58,480 –> 00:06:04,720
after that first kind of notice of what you’re 
smelling. So, as you begin to acclimate your  

61
00:06:04,720 –> 00:06:11,280
nose to the spirit there’s a few things that you 
can play around with that will help you pick up on  

62
00:06:12,160 –> 00:06:18,720
different elements of the spirit and they relate 
to different components of the process of making  

63
00:06:18,720 –> 00:06:27,760
your whiskey. There are aromas that are kind of 
more volatile and they’re escaping the glass.  

64
00:06:27,760 –> 00:06:34,720
And there are aromas that are heavier and they sit 
basically just right on the surface of the liquid.  

65
00:06:35,840 –> 00:06:40,480
The more volatile ones tend to come from the 
source material – you know if you’re drinking  

66
00:06:40,480 –> 00:06:44,320
bourbon that’s primarily corn, if you’re 
drinking rye that’s primarily rye – with a  

67
00:06:44,320 –> 00:06:48,640
lot of whiskies it’s bourbon. And so notice, he 
said the more volatile ones kind of come out of  

68
00:06:48,640 –> 00:06:53,520
the glass a little more quickly and when I first 
was bringing this up the first thing I noticed was  

69
00:06:53,520 –> 00:06:59,040
graininess oatmeal – right that that’s coming 
from that source material. That first thing  

70
00:06:59,040 –> 00:07:04,320
that I noticed when it’s further away from my nose 
and I’m not kind of as deeply focused on it yet.  

71
00:07:06,000 –> 00:07:13,760
So, one of the ways to more readily perceive 
those types of aromas is playing with the way  

72
00:07:13,760 –> 00:07:23,360
that you smell. So, the more volatile aromas need 
to be essentially kind of triggered in your nose  

73
00:07:24,400 –> 00:07:29,840
rapid fire and one of the ways to do 
that is breathing in and out rapidly  

74
00:07:31,600 –> 00:07:35,360
kind of like a dog would sniff. Yeah, exactly kind 
of like a dog sniff. So, you know when you, if you  

75
00:07:35,360 –> 00:07:39,760
have a dog, and they kind of sniff all around? 
One of the reasons they’re doing that. And you’ll  

76
00:07:39,760 –> 00:07:45,840
notice – so if you listen and see Evan’s glass 
a little bit right now it’s steaming up a tiny  

77
00:07:45,840 –> 00:07:51,200
tiny bit. And so dogs, when they’re sniffing like 
that those quick bursts – they’re sniffing in and  

78
00:07:51,200 –> 00:07:55,200
sniffing out, sniffing in and sniffing out – what 
they’re doing is they’re adding humidity because  

79
00:07:55,200 –> 00:07:59,680
if they add humidity to things it helps them find 
whatever they’re looking for when they’re smelling  

80
00:07:59,680 –> 00:08:03,840
and it’s the same thing with whiskey. So don’t 
be gun shy if you steam up your glass a little  

81
00:08:03,840 –> 00:08:09,680
bit while you’re doing these little dog sniffing 
techniques because by adding humidity into your  

82
00:08:09,680 –> 00:08:14,000
glass it’s going to help you find those types of 
aromas a little bit more easily. Yeah very true  

83
00:08:14,640 –> 00:08:21,600
moisture is a really important component to 
your perception of things for better for worse.  

84
00:08:21,600 –> 00:08:28,480
You know if you’ve ever spent a summer in Arizona 
and then by contrast spent a summer in Florida,  

85
00:08:29,040 –> 00:08:35,920
uh things smell a bit more ripe when 
there’s humidity in the air! Yes,  

86
00:08:35,920 –> 00:08:41,680
for sure so the moisture content that you you 
know contribute by exhaling into the glass  

87
00:08:41,680 –> 00:08:48,320
while you’re smelling it can be very helpful, 
yeah. Conversely, the aromas that are heavier  

88
00:08:48,320 –> 00:08:54,560
and are not just kind of like leaping out of 
the glass, a fun technique and way to be able  

89
00:08:54,560 –> 00:09:02,240
to smell them is tilt that glass on its side and 
try and bring the liquid kind of right to the edge  

90
00:09:03,280 –> 00:09:07,840
of the rim of the glass. And then 
carefully, slowly raise it to your nose  

91
00:09:09,600 –> 00:09:13,200
and then go ahead. Well, I was gonna say what 
you want to think about as you’re looking at this  

92
00:09:13,200 –> 00:09:18,640
visual of what Evan is doing is if you’re familiar 
with dry ice at all and those vapors kind of fall  

93
00:09:18,640 –> 00:09:25,600
over the edge of whatever container they’re in 
that’s the same idea. These kind of heavier aromas  

94
00:09:25,600 –> 00:09:31,760
are kind of wafting down and you’re catching them 
essentially in your nose as they’re coming by  

95
00:09:31,760 –> 00:09:36,640
that’s why this technique is so helpful. And 
you look like a cool person who knows what  

96
00:09:36,640 –> 00:09:39,440
you’re doing your friends will be like, “what 
are you doing?” and then you’ll explain to them  

97
00:09:39,440 –> 00:09:45,280
and then you’re like, “I know all about how to 
nose whiskey!” So, by doing this you’re able to  

98
00:09:45,280 –> 00:09:51,680
get your nose really close to the surface of 
the liquid where those heavier aromatics sit.

99
00:09:53,760 –> 00:09:59,040
And then if you, again, vary the way that you 
smell things and in this case you want to do  

100
00:09:59,040 –> 00:10:06,920
a long slow sustained inhalation – your yoga 
breath if you will or your meditation breath –

101
00:10:11,520 –> 00:10:18,880
the heavy odorants that sit right on the surface 
that aren’t as volatile need a more sustained  

102
00:10:18,880 –> 00:10:25,440
presence in your olfactory in order for your nose 
to perceive them. They have to be there kind of  

103
00:10:26,720 –> 00:10:31,840
in perpetuity for a little while as opposed to 
like multiple triggers when you’re doing those  

104
00:10:32,640 –> 00:10:36,320
those dog sniffs. Yeah, and it’s interesting 
because when I do this – in this whiskey – so  

105
00:10:36,320 –> 00:10:41,120
originally and when I did those kind of smaller 
sniffs I was getting the graininess in this. Now,  

106
00:10:41,120 –> 00:10:45,920
I’m getting some coffee kind of notes and some 
like almost chicory and like caramel kind of  

107
00:10:45,920 –> 00:10:52,560
notes off of that. So, not surprisingly, when you 
think about it – when maybe when I say it – but  

108
00:10:52,560 –> 00:10:59,280
these brighter more volatile lighter 
aromas that your nose picks up better when  

109
00:10:59,280 –> 00:11:04,720
it’s further away from the spirit. And when 
you’re doing those multiple repeated inhalations  

110
00:11:06,240 –> 00:11:15,520
are described more readily with like adjectives 
that are more floral, citrus, brighter, lighter,  

111
00:11:15,520 –> 00:11:23,920
grain cereal. Yeah, and then by contrast those 
heavier aromas are things like coffee, molasses,  

112
00:11:24,640 –> 00:11:29,440
chocolate, leather, tobacco – and can you guess 
where those are coming from? So if the previous  

113
00:11:29,440 –> 00:11:34,480
ones we were talking about are coming from the 
source material these other ones that need a  

114
00:11:34,480 –> 00:11:39,680
little bit of a longer more sustained inhale 
in order to find are coming more from kind of  

115
00:11:39,680 –> 00:11:45,840
the aging process, or you know the barrel, things 
of that nature. So, if you know and this is often  

116
00:11:45,840 –> 00:11:50,560
you know this kind of goes to a lot of people 
think like the older the whiskey the better,  

117
00:11:50,560 –> 00:11:56,720
right? That’s a very common kind of belief out 
there – but the older the whiskey the more you’re  

118
00:11:56,720 –> 00:12:01,520
going to get those vanilla caramel coffee 
chicory kind of heavier notes to it because  

119
00:12:01,520 –> 00:12:07,200
it’s in the barrel longer. Whereas if you really 
like those kind of floral, grainy, citrus notes  

120
00:12:07,200 –> 00:12:10,720
to your whiskey you actually might prefer a 
younger whiskey because it doesn’t have as  

121
00:12:10,720 –> 00:12:16,320
much barrel aging. So being able to identify with 
your nose a little bit like what’s going on there  

122
00:12:16,320 –> 00:12:22,240
gives you some clues as to what, you know, what’s 
happening with that particular whiskey and if it’s  

123
00:12:22,240 –> 00:12:30,960
gonna fit your flavor profile. Very true, very 
true. Next step, take a sip! And when you do so  

124
00:12:31,760 –> 00:12:34,960
it’s important that you leave the 
spirit in your mouth for a little while.  

125
00:12:36,800 –> 00:12:41,040
You know the initial impact that 
is is going on when you take a sip  

126
00:12:42,080 –> 00:12:48,400
is just kind of a shock to your palate and you 
don’t really truly get to taste the whiskey  

127
00:12:49,680 –> 00:12:59,600
until four to five seconds pass. And even 
then we would both, I think, advise that  

128
00:12:59,600 –> 00:13:04,720
you try not to pass judgment or decide one way 
or another whether or not you like the whiskey  

129
00:13:04,720 –> 00:13:09,520
on that first sip. Never trust your first 
sip! That is one of my cardinal rules  

130
00:13:09,520 –> 00:13:14,480
never trust your first sip, never trust your 
first bite because really, like Evan was saying,  

131
00:13:14,480 –> 00:13:20,240
that first sip is – especially with spirits, 
especially with high proof spirits like this – it  

132
00:13:20,240 –> 00:13:25,360
is really just your mouth being like “whoa 
alcohol! Like what’s happening, right?” And  

133
00:13:25,360 –> 00:13:32,160
so it’s really, it’s reactionary. It’s hard to 
assess it properly, yeah. So, after you do that  

134
00:13:32,720 –> 00:13:38,080
and if you can – if you can manage this it’s kind 
of a challenge but – I often try to encourage  

135
00:13:38,080 –> 00:13:43,840
people to think of their first sip as essentially 
like a primer coat. Yeah you’re seasoning  

136
00:13:43,840 –> 00:13:50,240
your palate, you’re not really tasting 
and enjoying and evaluating just yet.  

137
00:13:50,960 –> 00:13:57,200
On the second sip do that again leave it in 
your mouth do what Suzanne was doing and kind of  

138
00:13:57,920 –> 00:14:02,160
move it around a little bit, yeah. Yeah there’s 
a difference here – you don’t want to do like the  

139
00:14:02,160 –> 00:14:06,800
Listerine swish, right? Remember those commercials 
where they were like like doing like really crazy,  

140
00:14:06,800 –> 00:14:09,840
because that’s going to aerate it and what that’s 
going to do is it’s going to make that alcohol  

141
00:14:09,840 –> 00:14:15,360
burn increase a little bit just like with that 
mouthwash you know it burns a lot. You really want  

142
00:14:15,360 –> 00:14:20,560
to like chew it more and you want to the, the idea 
is you want to get it to touch every part of your  

143
00:14:20,560 –> 00:14:24,480
mouth. The front of your gums, the sides of your 
cheeks, the roof of your mouth, underneath your  

144
00:14:24,480 –> 00:14:30,240
tongue because you’re trying to get your entire 
mouth acclimated so it’s not a fast swishing it’s  

145
00:14:30,240 –> 00:14:34,960
more of a chewing. And actually in Kentucky 
I believe they do call this the Kentucky chew  

146
00:14:34,960 –> 00:14:40,720
when you’re tasting bourbon. And so but we really 
recommend this for all types of alcohol for your  

147
00:14:40,720 –> 00:14:46,000
first and maybe even second sip. Yeah, i’ll take 
that sip and I’ll kind of gently use my tongue  

148
00:14:46,000 –> 00:14:51,360
to push it up into the roof of my mouth and let 
it kind of cascade down my cheeks and pool up  

149
00:14:51,360 –> 00:14:57,840
between my cheeks and my gums and then squish it 
into the inside of my mouth underneath my tongue  

150
00:14:58,400 –> 00:15:03,440
and then kind of roll it forward and back and 
then swallow it it takes like four to five  

151
00:15:03,440 –> 00:15:09,840
seconds but it really kind of – for four to five 
seconds to be clear not 45 seconds! Just because,  

152
00:15:10,560 –> 00:15:13,600
because we do want to say this is 
high proof, so if it starts to feel  

153
00:15:13,600 –> 00:15:18,320
burny in your mouth you’ve done it long enough 
because you don’t also don’t want to burn out  

154
00:15:18,320 –> 00:15:22,960
your palate you don’t want to like completely 
destroy your mouth so it’s relatively quick  

155
00:15:24,000 –> 00:15:33,680
but important .On that note, and that’s a really 
good introduction, there’s a really important role  

156
00:15:33,680 –> 00:15:41,600
that saliva plays in tasting things. Yeah, it 
not only acts as a conduit to transmit flavors  

157
00:15:41,600 –> 00:15:45,120
from whatever you put in your mouth 
to your, you know, your taste buds  

158
00:15:45,120 –> 00:15:51,760
but it also acts as a protective layer and coating 
to the inside of your mouth and it’s a really  

159
00:15:51,760 –> 00:15:58,240
vital component of digestion. So, incorporating 
your saliva to anything that you put in your mouth  

160
00:15:59,360 –> 00:16:04,800
is highly advised -both for the enjoyment of 
it and the you know consumption of it. Yes  

161
00:16:06,480 –> 00:16:14,880
and you know, in particular, with things like 
spirits or anything that’s high acid or spicy  

162
00:16:15,520 –> 00:16:19,760
saliva is going to act as like a buffer and it’s 
going to protect your mouth essentially. Yeah.  

163
00:16:19,760 –> 00:16:24,720
Yeah, and so actually if especially if you’re 
new to whiskey tasting where you don’t drink  

164
00:16:24,720 –> 00:16:29,200
spirits straight very often it can be a good 
idea to kind of get that saliva flowing in  

165
00:16:29,200 –> 00:16:33,360
your mouth a little bit before you take it, 
before you take that first sip yeah that will  

166
00:16:33,360 –> 00:16:39,600
help protect your mouth a little bit and get you 
prepared for it take use of that – let the saliva  

167
00:16:39,600 –> 00:16:45,840
mix with the with the whiskey and as you 
swish it around see how the flavors that  

168
00:16:45,840 –> 00:16:51,520
you might have expected from the way receiving 
it from when you were smelling it yeah how they  

169
00:16:51,520 –> 00:16:58,480
transmit and and follow. Or perhaps how they 
don’t. And neither of those are a bad thing,  

170
00:16:58,480 –> 00:17:03,440
by the way. Like it can be really fun to smell 
a whiskey and then take a sip of it and be like,  

171
00:17:03,440 –> 00:17:06,640
“oh my gosh that tastes exactly how I thought 
it was gonna taste and i’m really excited about  

172
00:17:06,640 –> 00:17:12,560
that.” But it can also be equally as fun to smell 
something and think maybe you’re not gonna like it  

173
00:17:12,560 –> 00:17:16,800
or maybe you’re really going to like whatever 
and then you take a sip and it totally tastes  

174
00:17:16,800 –> 00:17:20,640
different than what you thought, and those are the 
times when it makes sense to slow down a little  

175
00:17:20,640 –> 00:17:25,040
bit and kind of back up through these steps 
and like pay a little more attention to it.  

176
00:17:26,320 –> 00:17:34,400
Yeah, a couple other things you know as you’re as 
you’re experiencing the way the the whiskey tastes  

177
00:17:35,120 –> 00:17:41,600
paying attention to the the tactile sensations 
that you’re experiencing on top of what you’re  

178
00:17:41,600 –> 00:17:48,880
tasting. So the drying sensation, the heat 
from the alcohol, anything else other than  

179
00:17:48,880 –> 00:17:55,520
like actual taste perceptions are important 
to make note of not only for like determining  

180
00:17:55,520 –> 00:18:05,040
whether or not you like them or not but 
really as they connect to your ability to  

181
00:18:06,400 –> 00:18:12,000
going forward describing what you like and being 
able to ask for something. Like “I want something  

182
00:18:12,000 –> 00:18:17,360
that has like a little bit of like astringency 
and you know something that’s been barrel aged  

183
00:18:17,360 –> 00:18:24,800
for a long time in heavily charred barrels” it’s 
going to give you like a kind of like a drying  

184
00:18:24,800 –> 00:18:30,160
sensation on the inside of your mouth and some 
people really like that and some people don’t, but  

185
00:18:30,160 –> 00:18:34,800
it’s a person, it’s a personal preference. So, and 
on that note it’s also important you know we’re  

186
00:18:34,800 –> 00:18:41,040
big believers in never saying anything like, “I 
only like bourbon or I don’t like rye” or you know  

187
00:18:42,080 –> 00:18:47,440
or vice versa, right? Like we’re big believers 
of never completely opting out of a category of  

188
00:18:47,440 –> 00:18:54,000
alcohol because we really do feel like the better 
you can learn about your own palate the better you  

189
00:18:54,000 –> 00:18:58,960
can assess and use some of these techniques to 
say, “this is what I like about this whiskey,  

190
00:18:58,960 –> 00:19:04,320
this is what I don’t like about this whisky” 
will help you then explain to bartenders,  

191
00:19:04,320 –> 00:19:10,320
bottle shop owners, distillers, whatever, and say 
to them this is what i really love in my whiskey  

192
00:19:10,320 –> 00:19:15,280
without having to categorize yourself as a rye 
enthusiast or a bourbon enthusiast. And really  

193
00:19:15,280 –> 00:19:19,440
because you might be surprised – you might think 
you’re a bourbon drinker and you might explain  

194
00:19:19,440 –> 00:19:22,960
to someone what you’re looking for in a whiskey 
what you really love about whiskey and they might  

195
00:19:22,960 –> 00:19:27,360
say you know what you should try this rye and 
you might love that rye but you wouldn’t have  

196
00:19:27,360 –> 00:19:30,720
never asked for it because you don’t think 
you like rye you think you like bourbon.  

197
00:19:30,720 –> 00:19:35,600
And that’s why it’s so important to really take 
a little time with this and not just say I don’t  

198
00:19:35,600 –> 00:19:40,320
like this whiskey but understand what don’t you 
like about this whiskey is there anything at all  

199
00:19:40,320 –> 00:19:43,680
that you do like about this whiskey and that’s 
what these techniques can really help you do.  

200
00:19:46,160 –> 00:19:50,160
And then our last step but not least after you 
taste it a couple of times – remember don’t ever  

201
00:19:50,160 –> 00:19:57,520
trust your first sip – swallow, savor, sip 
spit. And this is a step – and at this point  

202
00:19:58,400 –> 00:20:05,600
you’re paying attention to how the impressions of 
the spirit when it was in your mouth when you were  

203
00:20:05,600 –> 00:20:15,760
smelling it linger. How long they persist. The 
finish of a spirit , it’s often referred to as  

204
00:20:16,480 –> 00:20:21,920
is a really good indicator of the overall quality. 
And something that continues to be enjoyable on  

205
00:20:21,920 –> 00:20:26,720
your palate, you know in your olfactory, once 
you’ve taken that sip you’ve swished it around,  

206
00:20:26,720 –> 00:20:30,960
you’ve swallowed it, and you’ve set the glass 
down, it’s going to be there for a little while  

207
00:20:30,960 –> 00:20:38,640
for better for worse. And hopefully for better 
– and that’s what we’re looking to promote and  

208
00:20:38,640 –> 00:20:47,280
advocate for. Paying attention to that is an 
important step as well, yeah. And if you swallow  

209
00:20:47,280 –> 00:20:52,080
it down and you find yourself 30 seconds later 
kind of being like, “hmm there’s kind of like  

210
00:20:52,080 –> 00:20:55,280
a weird bitterness in my mouth or there’s 
something going on there that I don’t like  

211
00:20:56,080 –> 00:20:59,520
that’s what Evan was saying before, we’re like 
something’s out of balance a little bit and so  

212
00:21:00,240 –> 00:21:06,160
pay attention to that, right. Because being 
able to differentiate between this is a quality  

213
00:21:06,160 –> 00:21:10,720
product but I don’t like it because of these 
things, this is what I don’t like about it  

214
00:21:11,280 –> 00:21:16,880
versus you know like just saying like I don’t like 
it and not being able to acknowledge that it’s a  

215
00:21:16,880 –> 00:21:20,960
good quality product and it’s made well and i 
can appreciate that – that’s what makes you a  

216
00:21:20,960 –> 00:21:24,960
great taster, right? To be able to differentiate 
what you like versus what’s good quality and  

217
00:21:24,960 –> 00:21:30,000
what’s well made and being able to appreciate and 
give kudos to the maker for making a beautiful  

218
00:21:30,000 –> 00:21:35,280
product even if it doesn’t perfectly fit your 
flavor profile. And again, being able to decide  

219
00:21:35,840 –> 00:21:39,360
what your flavor profile is and how you can find 
more of those delicious whiskeys that you have.  

220
00:21:40,560 –> 00:21:45,040
And you know, as you’re working through some of 
these techniques, we don’t do this every time we  

221
00:21:45,040 –> 00:21:51,040
have a dram of whiskey. Certainly there are some 
times where we just want a whiskey. But we do tend  

222
00:21:51,040 –> 00:21:56,640
to do these techniques when it’s something new 
that we’ve never had before – right, we pause,  

223
00:21:56,640 –> 00:22:00,640
we slow down a little bit, we have a conversation 
about it, we talk about what he’s tasting, what  

224
00:22:00,640 –> 00:22:05,360
I’m tasting. I try to find what he’s smelling and 
tasting, he tries to find what I’m smelling and  

225
00:22:05,360 –> 00:22:10,640
tasting. Or if it is one of those break your neck 
moments – where you smell something you think it’s  

226
00:22:10,640 –> 00:22:15,760
gonna taste like this and it brings you in this 
other direction, then again we pause and we talk  

227
00:22:15,760 –> 00:22:21,280
about that a little bit. So you know, sometimes 
if you happen to be snacking on something,  

228
00:22:22,400 –> 00:22:28,000
that’s a great one, you’re like you take a sip 
of the whiskey and you’re like hey wait a minute  

229
00:22:28,000 –> 00:22:34,640
that’s weird uh let me circle back here. Yeah, 
that’s when it’s worthwhile I think to, yeah,  

230
00:22:35,440 –> 00:22:43,600
remember these techniques, these steps. Again 
– Sight, Swirl, Sniff, Sip, Savor – and really  

231
00:22:44,240 –> 00:22:49,200
the sniff, if we can double down on one of 
them that’s probably the one that we would say  

232
00:22:49,200 –> 00:22:54,800
don’t skip over that .Don’t drink out of the 
bottle don’t drink you know – pour it into a  

233
00:22:54,800 –> 00:22:58,800
glass spend a little time with it. But what 
if it’s Monday? I mean if you need a flask  

234
00:22:58,800 –> 00:23:04,800
and you’re at a thing like, all right, that’s 
a different drinking occasion. But you know  

235
00:23:04,800 –> 00:23:10,560
90%, I think this is the stat – something like 
that 80-90% of what you taste is your nose.  

236
00:23:11,360 –> 00:23:15,200
So, if you’re skipping on that step and you’re 
not spending a little bit of time with your  

237
00:23:15,200 –> 00:23:19,600
nose in the glass you’re missing out on some of 
those beautiful flavors that you paid good money  

238
00:23:19,600 –> 00:23:24,080
to enjoy and you’re not giving it the 
fair shot that it deserves either. So  

239
00:23:24,080 –> 00:23:28,960
spend a little bit time with that. If you need 
some help there are aroma wheels online that you  

240
00:23:28,960 –> 00:23:35,040
can find and those are really helpful to get 
you from grainy to something more specific or  

241
00:23:35,040 –> 00:23:41,120
fruity to something more specific. This is 
lemon, right, and is it preserved lemon,  

242
00:23:41,120 –> 00:23:47,440
is it fresh lemon, is it lemon meringue pie? 
Right – oatmeal or an oat snack bar from  

243
00:23:47,440 –> 00:23:51,920
hidden valley that i grew up on, and oats 
and honey – exactly. And you know it really,  

244
00:23:52,960 –> 00:23:58,800
especially you know when you’re at home and 
you’re drinking, this is a way to take drinking  

245
00:23:58,800 –> 00:24:04,480
to an elevated level and travel a little bit with 
your drink and have an experience with your drink.  

246
00:24:04,480 –> 00:24:08,000
There are times when we just want to pour 
something and watch a Netflix movie and not think  

247
00:24:08,000 –> 00:24:13,360
about it, but you know it allows us to appreciate 
and spend a little bit of quality time with our  

248
00:24:13,360 –> 00:24:18,000
drinks and with each other and really think 
about what we’re drinking and have an even more  

249
00:24:18,000 –> 00:24:23,280
immersive experience. So hopefully these tasting 
techniques help you do just that if you have  

250
00:24:23,280 –> 00:24:31,840
any questions at all always feel free to reach 
out to us or comment below. Otherwise, cheers!

251
00:25:01,200 –> 00:25:01,280
you