Tasting whisky blind
Labels, prices and reputations shape what we think we taste. Blind tasting removes them. Here is how to set one up properly at home and what you can learn from it.
Why the label changes what you taste
Expectation is powerful. Tell someone a whisky is 18 years old and expensive and they will usually find more depth in it. Tell them it is a supermarket blend and the same liquid tastes thinner. This is well documented in wine and food sensory research. Anyone who has run a tasting has seen it happen.
Blind tasting is the fix. When you cannot see the bottle, you have to judge the liquid. It is humbling at first. It is also the fastest way to find out what your palate genuinely likes and how good your nose really is.
What you need
You do not need a lab. You need:
- Identical glasses, ideally tulip shaped, one per whisky per person.
- A helper who pours and does not taste with you, or who sets up the flight before you arrive.
- Small labels or a marker to number each glass on its base.
- A measure, so every pour is the same, around 15 to 20 ml.
- Still water, a jug for drinking and a spittoon or cup for anyone who prefers not to swallow.
- A score sheet for each taster.
Three or four whiskies is plenty. More than that and palate fatigue starts to blur the later glasses.
Hide the colour, the strength and the bottles
Colour gives a lot away. A deep amber whisky suggests sherry casks or long ageing, even when caramel colouring is the real reason. If you want a fully blind tasting, use dark glasses, which many tasting suppliers sell, or simply dim the lights.
Strength gives things away too. A cask strength whisky at 58% ABV is obvious next to three at 40%. Either keep all the whiskies at a similar strength or have your helper bring the stronger ones down with water to roughly match. Our guide to tasting past the alcohol burn explains why strength changes perception so much.
The helper pours each whisky into a numbered glass and writes down which number holds which whisky. The order should be random, not in the order the bottles came out of the cupboard. If there is more than one taster, a different random order for each person stops anyone copying their neighbour.
Hide the bottles completely. Even a glimpse of a bottle shape or label colour gives the game away.
Score before you reveal
Each taster noses, tastes and writes notes for every glass before anything is revealed. A simple sheet works well:
- Nose: three aroma words.
- Palate: three flavour words, plus body (light, medium, full).
- Finish: short, medium or long, plus one word on character.
- Score: a simple 1 to 10 for how much you like it.
- Guess: region, cask type or age if you want a challenge.
Then reveal. Compare scores with prices and reputations. The surprises are where the learning is. Our guide to writing whisky tasting notes helps with the vocabulary.
Formats worth trying
Once you have the basic method, change the question:
- Price test: a cheap blend, a mid range single malt and an expensive bottle. Can you rank them by price?
- Triangle test: three glasses, two holding the same whisky. Can you spot the odd one out? Sensory panels use this format to check whether a difference is real.
- Cask test: the same distillery from ex-bourbon and sherry casks.
- Region test: one whisky each from Speyside, Islay and the Highlands.
The triangle test is especially useful if you want to check a claim, such as whether chill filtration or a particular glass really makes a difference to you.
What blind tasting teaches you
Most people learn two things in their first few blind sessions. Their favourite whisky is often not the most expensive one. And they can tell whiskies apart more easily than they can name them.
Both are useful. The first saves money. The second shows where to focus: your nose is already detecting differences, so the work is building vocabulary to describe them. Sensory panels in breweries and distilleries are trained exactly this way, starting with difference tests and moving on to description.
Responsible blind tastings
Blind tastings tend to run long because they are fun. Keep pours small, serve food alongside and make water easy to reach. Spitting is completely normal in professional tastings and nobody should feel awkward doing it. Make sure no one drives home afterwards.
In a warm Indian room, set the glasses out just before tasting and cover them with coasters, so the first glasses do not lose their top notes while the last ones are poured.
Getting your guesses right consistently takes structured practice and feedback. A single blind session usually shows how much of our tasting was the label talking.
Run a three glass blind flight
Your first step: ask a friend to pour three whiskies from your shelf into numbered glasses while you are out of the room. Taste, write notes and score each one before you ask which is which. Note where your favourite blind landed against your favourite with the label on.
Common questions
How many whiskies should be in a blind tasting?
Three or four is ideal. More than that and palate fatigue makes the later glasses hard to judge.
How big should blind tasting pours be?
Around 15 to 20 ml per whisky, all measured to the same volume.
What is a triangle test?
Three glasses where two hold the same whisky. The taster tries to identify the odd one out. Sensory panels use it to check whether a difference is real.
