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How do you weigh a bourbon / rye ?

Unread postPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 4:24 pm
by The Whiskey Viking
For me evaluating a bourbon / rye really brakes down into 3 parts:

Colour
Nose
Taste

I would say that they roughly account for 1/3 each of my overall evaluation. Sometimes I’ll pass by my liquor cabinet take out a bottle of Stagg or Pappy and just enjoy the deep colour – I don’t even need a sip – and the bottles last longer that way as well. :lol:
Am I a one off? :roll:

Thomas

Unread postPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 4:42 pm
by bourbonv
For me color is only about 10% of what I look for in a bourbon or rye. I would place about 30% in the nose, 40% in the taste and 20% in the finish. Even so if the nose or finish is really bad, it can destroy my opinion of the product.

Mike Veach

Unread postPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 4:48 pm
by The Whiskey Viking
bourbonv wrote:Even so if the nose or finish is really bad, it can destroy my opinion of the product.

Mike Veach


I think you're totaly right. However you weigh the different aspects, even one of them being off, can have a big impact.

Thomas

Unread postPosted: Tue Dec 07, 2004 5:38 pm
by Mark
I agree with you guys but I would change a few percentages... I'd put 10% into color, 25% into the nose, 40% taste, 25% finish. Very similar to Mike's but I just place a bit more on the finish and a bit less on the nose. I'm bad, I can't sit around sniffing it, I just have to drink it! :lol: :wink:

Unread postPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:27 am
by TrueBarrel
I don't really judge on color at all - it is whatever it is and really has no effect on the taste or my enjoyment of the bourbon. I try to discern nose, taste and finish as component parts but don't necessarily judge them as such; I ultimately judge a bourbon by whole, rather than breaking it down into separate weighted components, although I realize this is not the norm of professional tasters or the methodology behind most ratings.

Unread postPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:58 am
by Chris
Even without making color a part of your 'rating' of the bourbon, color still plays a part sometimes.. For me, i get excited at the look of some bourbons in the glass even before tasting.. For a long time I would get excited when i saw a dark bourbon, but that barrel of BT changed my mind.. lots of taste and light in color..

Unread postPosted: Wed Dec 08, 2004 3:41 pm
by TrueBarrel
Chris wrote:Even without making color a part of your 'rating' of the bourbon, color still plays a part sometimes.. For me, i get excited at the look of some bourbons in the glass even before tasting.. For a long time I would get excited when i saw a dark bourbon, but that barrel of BT changed my mind.. lots of taste and light in color..


I totally agree. In my above post I should have said it has no "negative" effect on my taste or enjoyment of bourbon. All other things (i.e. nose, taste and finish) being equal, I wouldn't rate one bourbon higher solely on color.