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I'll Drink to That! What is your favorite beverage to have with a cigar? Juice? Cola? Beer? Port? Single Malt Scotch? This room is for the discussion of beverages, especially alcoholic beverages that go well with cigars! |
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11-04-2009, 04:46 PM | #1 |
Herf Meister
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 7,650
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A Scientific Whisky Tasting: Johnnie Walker Black Label
Having been inspired by great whisky-tasters like Doug (jazznut) and others here, I decided to do some tastings of my own, but with a slightly different approach.
Much has been made of the effect of different glassware on the detectable aromas of a whisky, but I swear that different glasses lend different mouth-feels and tastes. I've noticed many times in the past that certain libations just seemed to taste "better" or at least different in a certain type of glass. With that in mind, I decided to conduct a little taste test with three different types of glassware:
Though I call this tasting scientific, I'm not going to get as anal-retentive and analytical as to take exact measures of water used, temperature of the beverage, etc. The Laboratory, pre-pour... In each glass, I poured just a small measure of Johnnie Walker Black Label. The idea is that I will take note of the color, nosing, and taste of the whisky in the three different glasses, first without a small amount of water, and then with a small amount of water added. Considering the small quantities of whisky consumed, just a few little drops of water will do. Between testing glasses, I had a glass of chilled water (not too cold, as I don't want to numb my tongue) as a palate cleanser. Though I thought of it too late, I wished I'd used some coffee beans to sniff on as a nose cleanser between nosings. ...and post-pour In the bottle, JW Black has a very distinctive bronze, burnt-orange, dark amber color to it. In the glass, it lightens down to a honey-hued amber tone. I gave each glass a minute or so to aerate will I made not of the color and prepped the test. Nose (Without Water)
Nose (With Water)
You can see how glassware had very different effects on the taste and especially aroma. It was no real surprize that the rocks glass was a loser in the aroma department, but I admit I was surprized how the snifter only seemed to intensify the alcohol vapors, almost to the point of completely masking any odors beneath it. This test did reconfirm my preferred method of consuming Johnnie Walker Black Label, which is in a snifter without any added water. I admit I don't nose my whisky as much as some, since I get more enjoyment out of the palate and taste, and the snifter provides the best balance between the smoothness of the sherried malts and the smoky dryness of the island malts in the blend. On the other hand, these results do show that the Glencairn was the best glass for probing the aroma, in the case of this whisky. The lesson learned here is: you should definitely try your whiskies in different types of glasses. I'm sure Doug will agree with me. I've had whiskies before that I've absolutely hated in one form of glassware, yet loved in others. Perhaps I'll test some of them in the future. Thanks for reading and happy drinking! |
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