Guidelines for Whiskey Impressions

Welcome and thanks for taking part in this little experiment. The entire concept is informal and just for fun. As such, I am not interested in imposing strict guidelines, formatting, or rules for your feedback on any given whiskey but I do feel we each should provide feedback on the major facets of whiskey evaluation - appearance, smell, taste, finish, and general thoughts. As for how much to write, that is entirely up to you. Write as much or as little as you feel the whiskey deserves.

Write-ups should not be considered reviews per se, but rather a summary of your experiences with the whiskey. Feel free to wax poetic, speak as abstract or as specific as you want. Most importantly, have fun with it all - these write-ups should be fun and not a chore.

While no one should tell you how to drink your whiskey, pardon me while I do just that. Considering the nature of this experiment, I think at a minimum the first few sips should be neat. After that, feel free to drink the whiskey any way you desire. I think all input is valuable and entertaining. If you find a particular whiskey terrible neat and still terrible after adding water, what about adding a mixer (cola, ginger ale, etc). Write about how the experience changed, could you still taste the whiskey through a mixer?

One thing that has helped me is tasting two different whiskies side by side. If after your first sip of the mystery whiskey you feel you have a similar or favorite whiskey on your shelf, pour a bit and taste the two side by side sharing your notes comparing and contrasting the known to the mystery.

For inspiration, a bourbon review site - Breaking Bourbon - published their review checklist. The checklist features a handy standardized color chart as well as a table of contrasts that might help in putting adjectives to whiskey. Check it out here: http://www.breakingbourbon.com/bourbon-tasting.html

Regarding the common whiskey evaluation facets, try to record a few words for each:
Appearance - Color in the glass, legs on the side of the glass.

Smell - How the did the whiskey smell? Was the alcohol punch persistent? Overbearing? Did any particular smell aside from the alcohol jump out at you. Did the smell remind you of anything - another whiskey you have had in the past, Home Depot's lumber aisles, chocolate cake, nail polish remover, vanilla extract?

Taste - Was the alcohol painful/tingling/burning on the tongue? Did it mellow with subsequent sips or did the alcohol remain assertive. And just as with the smell - did any particular taste jump out at you? Did the taste remind you of anything you have experienced in the past?

Finish - How long after a sip could you still feel the whiskey in the mouth. Was the finish enjoyable. Did any new flavors emerge?

General Thoughts - How did you taste the whiskey - neat, with ice, something else? Is this whiskey high proof (50% or higher) or low proof (under 50%)? Did you like this whiskey? Would you buy a bottle of this whiskey? What kind of whiskey do you think this is? Do you have any guess as to who made the whiskey? Feel free to state anything you want about the whiskey.

My intention is to send out a wide variety of whiskey styles throughout this experiment. Your input will be posted on this blog anonymously. To allow user input trends to be observable however, I will assign each person a permanent, lovingly-selected code name pulled from the greatest television show to ever grace a living room - Magnum P. I. After the first whiskey reveal is posted, I am sure you will be able to determine your code name as I will copy and paste your comments directly.

One final note - as the months continue, should you feel that you do not like a particular style of whiskey, just let me know directly. This whole thing should be fun and if you feel you don't like say Scotch, then you can sit out a Scotch month. Don't worry, your sample will not go to waste, I currently have a 'wait-list' of people who want to play along, so your undesired sample will be sent to a loving home for a out-of-the-bullpen save.