Whisky Revealed: Assessing a Whisky with Fielden
Welcome to the latest Summerton ClubWHISKY REVEALED
Learning about whisky from the experts...
Ian Wisniewski (food, drink and travel writer, broadcaster and all-round whisky expert) poses the question for industry experts, Chico Rosa and Charlie Echlin (Fielden Master Distiller and Sales Director):
Comparing first sip to second, third and subsequent sips, at what point do you assess a malt? Is your tasting note based on one sip or is it based on a composite of a few sips, as each sip can be subtle or significantly different is this the right thing to do? Should tasting notes stipulate which sip they are based on as conditions on the palate are different for each sip (not just acclimatising to alcohol, but also build of residual sweetness for example), plus the brain can process the information of subsequent sips more readily as there is already a memory bank from the first sip.
Chico first…
“Some interesting thoughts though. Our tasting notes are a reflection of several sips, tasting environments and moods.
If I taste bananas in the second sip, but only berries in the first sip, I wouldn’t say the whisky tastes of berries only.
First, second, eleventh sip, first, second day, third week, always finding something new, deconstructing a whisky, composing it back and try to connect my feelings to the wider crowd.
Smell and taste will be always different and subjective.”
Meet the experts
Charlie Echlin and Chico Rosa, Fielden
And now Charlie…
“I think along the same lines as Chico – flavour notes and tasting is in itself quite reductive (though nonetheless worthwhile) and so looking for the definitive sip is tricky – it is much more about the relationship with the spirit (whether it be 10 sips or 1). Ideally a spirit is judged on several occasions – I often delineate if I truly KNOW a malt based on if I have owned a full bottle and gone back to it at my leisure / in my own time – the composition of lots of heterogenous moments (or sips!) forms the final opinion.”
