Whisky Beginners Series: Fullproof Flavour Guide

Not all whisky is created equal, with a wide range of flavours developed through the malting, distillation, maturation, and finishing processes, making it a complex and varied spirit. This Flavour guide gives you a brief overview of the many flavours found in whisky and where they come from.

Key Note: Tasting whisky is personal; your senses guide you, making your discoveries unique and never wrong. This Blog is a guide, not a rule!

To Peat, or not to Peat...

The type of fuel used during the kilning of malted barley determines if a whisky is peated. Phenols from peat smoke attach to the wet barley, with the peat type, regime, and exposure duration affecting the phenol PPM (parts per million).

Some distilleries use ex-Islay casks to mature or finish their whisky, imparting some wonderful smokiness to the whisky without overpowering it. A great place to start if you are newer to whisky.

I Need a Little Time...

Fermentation is a crucial stage where flavours are imparted to the spirit. Yeast is added to the Wort (a sugary liquid of water and ground barley) to metabolise sugars and release ethanol. Lasting from 48-hours to over 90-hours, with longer duration creating a sweeter, fruitier spirit.

Copper Contact

The distillation phase involves heating and cooling the liquid in a copper still, which cleans the spirit and removing harsher flavours. Different Stills and Still shapes affect reflux:

More Reflux (more copper contact) = a lighter, refined spirit

Less Reflux = a heavier, denser, oilier spirit.

The Stills at M&H Distillery in Tel Aviv, Israel

Making The Cut

In the final distillation stage, the master distiller skilfully captures the heart of the spirit, which contains the desired flavours that will be matured into whisky.

Time To Grow Up

The new-make spirit, which captures the master distiller's desired characteristics, needs to mature in Oak Casks for 3-years to become whisky. Maturation adds desirable flavours, removes unwanted ones, and allows interaction with the environment. Factors like cask size, wood type, surrounding geography and climate all influence this interaction. Distilleries may also finish whiskies by maturing them in one cask and then transferring to another for 6-18 months to add extra flavours or a different finish. The cask type and previous inhabitant will provide different flavours:

• American Oak - vanilla, toffee, honey, spice and nuts

• European Oak - caramel, wood, dried fruits and spice.

• Bourbon - Vanilla, cream and caramel

• Port - Dried fruit, sweet and spice

• Sherry - dark fruits, sweet spice and nuts

• Wine - Citrus and tropical fruits, tannins and sweetness

Cask Storage for maturing whisky

New World of Whisky Recommendations

Below are some of our favourite whiskies we definitely recommend you try:

• Peated Whisky - Mackmyra Mando Diao

• Soft Smoke Whisky - M&H Elements Peated Cask

• Light and Fruity whisky - Starward Left-field

• Bourbon Cask - The Cardrona Growing Wings Single Cask Release - Old Forester

• Port Cask - The Lakes Colheita Cask Finish

• Sherry Cask - The Cask of Lindores Sherry Butt

• Wine Cask - The Lakes Orange Wine Cask

• STR Cask - The Cask of Lindores STR Wine Barrique

SHOP NOW

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The Flavour Nest

Every whisky on The Whisky Nest will have a profile and for a full description of each flavour profile check out our Flavour Nest Post.