How To Taste Spirits Properly

Tasting spirits is a learnable skill and the technique is simple. Most people's first attempts are defeated by alcohol strength overwhelming the senses before anything else registers.

The glass

Use a glass that narrows toward the rim — a tulip shape or a copita. It concentrates aromatic compounds toward your nose. A tumbler disperses them, which is why it is a pleasant drinking glass and a poor tasting one.

Pour a small measure. A large pour in a tasting glass presents more alcohol vapour and makes the exercise harder.

Nosing without ambush

Bring the glass gradually toward your nose with your mouth slightly open, and stop where the aroma is present without burning. Approaching too closely at high strength saturates the receptors and blunts everything afterwards.

Take short sniffs rather than a deep inhalation. Move the glass away, then return — perception refreshes.

Water

A few drops of still water reduce strength and change the aromatic profile, frequently opening aromas hidden by alcohol. This is not adulteration; it is standard practice among professionals.

Add a little at a time. Water cannot be removed.

Tasting

Take a small sip and let it cover the whole mouth before swallowing. The first sip largely acclimatises the palate; the second is the informative one.

Note the texture as well as the flavour, and the finish — what remains, and for how long.

Comparison teaches faster than description

Perception improves fastest by comparison. Two related spirits side by side reveal differences that neither alone would.

Practicalities

Taste before eating rather than after. Have water and something plain to eat available. Work from lighter to heavier and lower strength to higher.

And be sceptical of tasting notes, including your own. The vocabulary is a way of remembering an impression, not a chemical analysis, and there is no wrong answer about what a smell reminds you of.