by bunghole » Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:49 am
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