I have often wondered whether human taste buds are affected by “outside factors”, both actual and psychological. I recall once drinking a wine in Cyprus that tasted absolutely magic in a sunny, open-air restaurant above the Med. I brought two bottles home but, drinking them indoors under leaden British skies, they did not taste remotely as good.
I wonder, therefore, if whiskies can be similarly affected. Single malt A may taste better than B on some days, but on other days the opposite is true. It just depends on the circumstances and convivial atmosphere, or lack of it.
It is also true that people’s taste buds react differently. I cannot count the wine or whisky tastings I have been to where one appellation controlee or single malt gets a rave review from Jimmy but is dismissed as dire and near-undrinkable by Jenny.
That, I suspect, is why panels of several experts are picked to nose, taste and choose the year’s best wines and whiskies. One expert’s palate, however good, may taste things differently compared to those of other experts, but they should be able to reach some consensus at the end of the day.
I have commented before that the one taste factor that can sharply divide opinions is peat. I like peaty single malts but have friends who can barely thole them. I also tend to like blends with a touch of peat, such as Black Bottle and Johnny Walker Red Label. However, whiskies where all you taste is peat and smoke don’t rate with me, although I know some people who rave about them.
Hence I have unalloyed admiration for the industry’s top blenders. I once attended a short blending course and my submission ended up far down the list of also-rans. The winner, incidentally, mixed only two of the six whiskies we were given, proving I suppose that less is sometimes better than more.
The most awkward situation is when someone from abroad says: “A friend asked me to bring back a single malt from Scotland. What do you recommend?” You swither between a safe-bet big name like Glen Fiddich or Glenmorangie or an obscure malt barely known outside Scotland. Hence my reply tends to be: “Whatever is the best deal at duty-free.”
