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[ShowMe]

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[bourbonv]

Mike T,
That is a pretty ambitous line up you have there. If your college friend is an inexperienced bourbon drinker it my be too much for him. I would suggest you do no more than five product. Start with the lowest proof / least flavorful and work your way up in flavor and proof. If you find one that is a bit hot, let it breath a while and come back to it in ten or fifteen minutes.

When doing your tasting don't try to rush yourself. Take your time with each product and do go back for comparison tasting when you think you have found similar tastes in products. Use your eyes to determine color. Use your nose to determine aromas. I like to nose all five of the ones I taste before I even start to drink. Take a drink and let it flow over the toungue to get a full taste before swallowing and note the taste and the after taste or finish. Don't worry if he doesn't find much in your first tasting. It will come with experience. It took me a couple of weeks in the quality control lab at U D to get past the basics of caramel and vanilla on the good side and must on the bad side and I did this every day.

Write down your notes and share them with us by posting them in the reviews section.

Mike Veach

[bunghole]

Mike T - all of the bourbons on your list are 'sour mash' so don't let that bother you.

Four major areas of note when learning how to taste straight bourbon whiskey are:

1) Barrel tones - oak; char(good-sweet), smoke, or soot (bad)

2) Candy tones - vanilla; caramel, toffe, butterscotch, coffee, coco, to name a few.

3) Spice tones - pepper; allspice, mint, clove, nutmeg are all major players.

4) Fruit tones - apples, pears, various berries, apricots, citrus types, and dark fruits such as currants, rasins, dates, and plums.

Those are just some of the more common aromas/flavors you might find in a complex bourbon. The barrel and candy tones are the easiest to detect. Specialzed glassware such as the Glencarin glass makes nosing and tasting easier.

Linn