Weekend project: Improve my nosing skills.  It’s very frustrating to nose a complex bourbon or Scotch that others have described as having complex and specific aromas and flavors, only to smell….only 1 or 2 basic aromas, like vanilla or peat smoke.  I’ve come to the realization that my nose and palate are one-dimensional and rudimentary when compared to other people.  A lot of this has to do with not having exposure to a broad range of culinary flavors and experiences (i.e. I probably couldn’t tell you what a clove looks like or smells like), or at least not having them committed to recent olfactory memory.  

I’ve always wanted to buy a whisky or wine aroma nosing kit, but they’re rather expensive.  The 54-scent Master Kit from Le Nez Du Vin is $399.  The 24-scent kit will run you $229.  The 24-aroma Aroma Nosing Kit from Whisky Nosing Academy is a lot more relevant for me, but is still pricey at $225.  Maybe I’ll splurge on something like this when I’m a big baller, shot caller.

Until then, it will be a fun project to develop my own aroma standards by collecting the primary aromas found in whiskies from around the world and putting my nose through a quick crash course.  I’ve always been better at cramming content into my short-term memory than collecting knowledge in my long-term memory anyways.  So this weekend I’ll hit up Berkeley Bowl with a shopping list.  

Here are the 25 aromas, commonly used to describe whisky, that I’ll smell this weekend:

Spices:

Black pepper (freshly ground black pepper)

Clove (2-3 whole cloves)

Nutmeg (one whole nutmeg to grate)

Cinnamon (powdered)

Nuts:

Almonds (crushed)

Candy & Baking:

Toffee (crushed)

Vanilla (whole pods or extract)

Caramel (1 chunk of caramel candy)

Honey (a tablespoon from the bottle I have at home)

Chocolate (one teaspoon of shaved chocolate)

Coffee (1/8 teaspoon of ground coffee)

Cocoa (powdered)

Brown sugar (a tablespoon)

Butterscotch (how does one buy butterscotch?)

Fruits:

Cherry (two crushed ripe cherries)

Pear (sliced)

Apple (sliced)

Orange zest 

Orange (peeled meat of orange)

Cantaloupe (cubed)

Raisin (keep it real with Sun-Maid!)

Other:

Green grass (5-6 crushed blades collected from the backyard)

Smokey oak (one drop of liquid smoke, available at many supermarket spice sections)

Tobacco (one pinch of cigarette tobacco)

Sherry (a small pour)

After collecting all of my ingredients, I’ll prep and place them in wine glasses and cover them with coasters to collect the flavors.  I plan to give each of the 25 aromas a lengthy smell and try to commit it to memory.  After the first go-around, I’ll pick up a glass by random and try to identify it.

At the end, I might also pick a couple of more-complex whiskies and see if I can more easily dissect the aromas and flavors.

Check back next week for some notes on the process and my learnings from it!

  1. bayareaspirits posted this