Developing Powerful Techniques for Best Spirit Evaluation
Developing Powerful Techniques for Best Spirit Evaluation
Few ever discuss techniques when it comes to spirit evaluation. Here, we will touch on the powerful effect of developing a sound, methodical approach to accurate and repeatable evaluations.
Smell is the most underappreciated and neglected sense we have. As we humans evolve, we become less dependent on the natural survival mechanisms of the senses. The ability to locate food and water, and detection of danger or enemies is not as crucial today as it was with Cro-Magnon and Neanderthals of our species, and accordingly the acuity of our sight, smell, and taste sensory perceptions have deteriorated.
The Need for Technique in Evaluation
We spend big bucks on wine, beer, and spirits, and those efforts can be transformed into deeper satisfaction, appreciation, and understanding with a little practice. We pay for it, why not get full benefit by turning it into a deeper experience? Honing the basic tools of smell and taste enhances personal satisfaction. Seems like hard work at first, but routinely established, becomes second nature, and progressively expands into an exciting Zen-like journey into sensory perception.
Flavor perception is much more than the singular, stark, shallow impression of an aroma or taste, it’s all about how it got there, the accompanying aromas, the terroir, the methods, the fruits and grains. Most importantly, it is the collective efforts of many to produce a distinctive personal satisfaction for the drinker. Learn, read, educate, smell, taste, evaluate, appreciate, and unify all these steps into a single process.
Background: Human Olfactory in Perspective
Human superiority in smell? Not by a longshot. However, we have developed a hedonistic appreciation for many things in life. Among these are beer, wine, and spirits. Well-seasoned and well-prepared cuisine is included, and an occasional good cigar or pipe tobacco completes the list. Likewise, improving appreciation of each depends on how well we develop our sense of smell. As previously discussed, remember that smell is 90% of flavor. Awareness is one of the powerful techniques of evaluation.
Developing our Smell-ability
How are top evaluators able to detect so many different aromas from their first sniff of that special rum? Practice, practice, practice. Many self-styled evaluator “experts” deal in BS and flowery descriptions and would rather write prose. Truly accomplished sniffers are the poster children of olfactory self-development. They practice constant reiteration and focus on expanding their personal smell-library. Olfactory self-development is similar to the isosceles triangle, also known as Euclid’s Bridge of Asses. Those who do not embrace and practice olfactory self- development will always be the balking donkey never to cross the bridge to understanding. Equally important, many worthwhile books and articles exist (google developing olfactory). Also, some basic yet powerful techniques of evaluation are provided here for serious consideration:
Techniques: Isolated Evaluations
Pour three or four (no more for a single sitting) glasses of similar wine or spirits in exactly the same vessel (more on choosing a dependable glass will be covered in a later presentation). Sit in a dimly lit, comfortable room, ventilated but no strong air currents, no distracting noise, music or conversation. Smell, taste, compare, and take notes.
For this educational test, it’s okay to know what is in each glass and one can learn what to expect from these wines or spirits to make informed buying decisions. Review notes, repeat on a different day, three times, focusing on aroma and taste. Compare notes from each trial. Then, and here is where you check your development, blind a fourth trial. The goal is to check ability to identify the sample. Repeat blind to ensure confidence in identification, and until you get it right. This is one method used by accomplished sniffers to improve wine/spirit identification.
Techniques: Mouthfeel Identification
Develop your mouth feel identification capabilities: Taste food or drink with nose pinched or plugged, separating smell from taste. Try blindfolded tasting of different beverages to note differences. Water, milk, energy drink, and light wines have more similarities than differences when the olfactory is not in play. The governing balance of mouthfeel is expressed in our general equation: Flavor = Aroma (90%) + Taste (5%) + Mouthfeel (5%). This exercise can help to identify and embed mouthfeels and different levels of taste intensity into one’s smell-library.
Techniques: Expanding the Smell Library
Total undistracted focus and attention must be given to EVERYTHING tasted and smelled. Repeatedly smell the coffee, toast, fish market and produce, every single cuisine dish, flowers and forest, gas station, racetrack, barnyard, and doctor’s office. Focus on every smell everywhere. Always smell everything that goes into the mouth, pausing to appreciate subtle characteristics of each smell.
Find and examine what words others are using to describe their evaluation. The importance of being like-minded in the methods, process, descriptions, and vocabulary cannot be underestimated in spirit evaluation. There is a developing “universal” language among good evaluators, using the right words for descriptors is key. For example, mango is simply mango, not the mangos from the west coast of Kauai with the early morning dew. Moreover, one should stay away from the prose writers.
Techniques: Embedding Flavors into your Memory
Try to imagine each smell, and whatever the visual picture, associate it with the smell. In addition, take note of your emotions. Ask yourself out loud what emotion you are feeling with certain smells, and repeatedly associate it and the visual picture you develop with that smell. Smell isn’t just that first sniff, it is much, much more complex, inextricably intertwined with memory and the other human senses. If a certain smell triggers the hair on your forearm to “stand up,” note it as a characteristic of that smell. Getting the whole picture is important to building your smell-library. The total profile of specific wines or spirits is important to perceiving differences in vineyard, vintage, mash bill (grain content), method.
More Techniques
Procedures: Completely fill the olfactory cavity with long, light sniffs, not strong inhalations. Slow and focused as though trying to cover every single air space in the olfactory cavity.
Other aids to olfactory enhancement: Exercise stimulates all the senses. Zinc and B12 can defeat hyposmia (impaired sense of smell). Oysters, lentils, sunflower seeds, and pecans all provide zinc.
• Avoid overindulging in foods that stimulate mucous production, smoking, drugs and too much alcohol impair sense of smell. Repeatedly indulging in a single cultural style of cuisine, say heavily spiced and hot, can have an effect on variety and perception of smell. Change the menu, try new things. Explore.
Be Inquisitive: Don’t be afraid to ask the chef if you need to know a certain aroma. Chefs generally love to discuss prep and seasoning, the blend of flavors, emotions, and visual pictures which they created for your enjoyment.
See a good ENT doctor if you think you have a smell issue. Get a reliable referral if at all possible.
Educate Yourself on Issues that Affect Flavor
For example: Read about the climate problems of the April 2020 Bordeaux hailstorm, and which vineyards it will affect. Read about the new distillery opening in Speyside, what their equipment is and why they are using it. Discover which casks are used in your favorite barrel aged stout. Read about the spirits, wines, and beers you are using in evaluations to understand what each distiller, vintner and brewer is doing to create an experience for you.
How Does Taste Fit into the Flavor Equation?
We have four basic types of tastebuds. Each does something different. Remembering that taste is only 5% of the flavor equation is creates a proper perspective and balance of taste, mouthfeel, olfactory. Confusing mouthfeel with taste is common. Confusing Aroma with taste is even more common. Notice how you describe things. Correct and discipline yourself to standardize how you perform evaluations, including your own thought processes. Diligence is rewarded with respect.
Summary
In the first presentation we explained the aroma path through the olfactory. Herein, we have lightly touched on flavor and mouthfeel. In addition, we have given you a few powerful techniques which will raise your bar of spirits evaluation excellence. Best of Luck as you explore the wonderful world of spirits and relate your experiences to others. See how NEAT glass design can help build your smell-abilities. Read our peer review journal paper for more science.
