Blind testing whisky...audio correlations

I like my whisky, and understand the basic physics involved with tasting in terms of what happens when you add water, allow time for 'opening up' or oxidation, know what chill-filtering and caramel color additives do and have domoe a bit of testing of these things ion a relatively contyrolled manner. I considfer myself to have a good palate,m for what that's worth .

Well for the first time last night I decided to do a blind test of 5 whiskies just for fun, to see if I could identify them. They were:

Ardbeg 10
Lagavulin 10 Cask strength
Caol Ila Cask strength
Bruichladdich Classic Laddie
Woodford Reserve

I approximated a similar dilution to calm down the Cask strength samples, and allowed them to breathe for 15 minutes.

I got the Woodford Reserve straight away, as expected, since it's so different. I was pretty sure about the Classic Laddie since it wasn't peated, but I was quite surprised that it wasn't dead obvious. The three peaty Islays were a hopeless loss, I couldn't identify them without feeling like I was completely guessing.

I was rather taken aback by this, I was SURE I'd get them all, especially seeing I knew the set I was identifying. But it was quite the reverse. And yet I was left with an overriding misgiving that somehow something wasn't right...in some sense I absolutely recognize and appreciate the differences in these whiskies. I even have a visual association with each, which reflect the smell and taste of the whisky and which comes back to me when I enjoy them.

Somehow despite my inability to tell them apart, they are nonetheless entirely distinct in my appreciation for them.

Sound familiar?

 

Absolutely. Memory is very faulty, especially non-visual memory. I'm pretty sure I could pick out an HD650 or an HD800 out of a lineup, but I know I would probably make some embarassing mistakes if you expanded the field even amongst headphones I am pretty familiar with.

Have to set up your tests carefully, though. I tried to do a blind test of 15 different whiskeys once. After the 8th finger, they all tasted great and no different from each other. After the 15th, I passed out.

 

High alcoholic beverages shock your tastebuds enough that after the first sip, they started tasting very different.

If you're super familiar with all of the Islay scotch, I bet you could identify them if they were your first of the day.