2 ms·

I saw a very clear illustration of this at a blind whiskey tasting I attended recently. We tried a selection ranging from the standard cheapo stuff all the way

I saw a very clear illustration of this at a blind whiskey tasting I attended recently. We tried a selection ranging from the standard cheapo stuff all the way up to one that as $150/bottle. It turned out that the cheapest two whiskeys did tend to get rated the lowest - though interestingly enough most people rated the less popular brand markedly higher than the more popular one. Beyond that though, everything was all mixed. I didn't grind any numbers, but at a glance I didn't recognize any correlation between price and how well people rated it. There weren't even really any clear favorites; everyone had their own taste. The only really interesting thing there was that absolutely nobody had picked the $150 whiskey as their favorite.

matwood 14y ago
I remember Mythbusters doing something like this with vodka. An expert came in and IIRC they were able to rank the various vodkas very effectively. For me vodka (and tequila for that matter) is similar to wine. The cheap stuff I can tell is cheap because it really does taste bad. Once you're into any of the premiums it is all mostly good so it's harder to tell the difference in price bands. I can almost always pick out Grey Goose though because it has a subtle sweetness vodkas like Kettle and Belvedere to not have.
- bunderbunder 14y ago
  Vodka's a bit different because what makes it good is being as close to nothing but alcohol and water as possible. That gives you as objective of a thing to look for as you're ever going to get in this sort of thing. With whiskey, on the other hand, the picture's a bit muddier. There's a lot of different stuff that contributes to the flavor, which means there's a whole lot of room for stylistic variation and personal preference.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
cglace 14y ago
Thats interesting because I can definitely tell the difference between the ages of scotches and other whiskeys. I also can't stand the taste of cheap whiskeys for anything other than mixing. Were the people at the whiskey tasting regular whiskey drinkers? Just wondering because it took me awhile to appreciate a good aged whiskey.
- bunderbunder 14y ago
  There were a lot of folks, so I'm sure the mix of whiskey experience varied. For my part, it was my first blind tasting and it felt like a completely different experience to me. I was actually pretty surprised to find out how I rated certain ones relative to each other when I didn't know what I was drinking. One of the ones I rated the highest is one I wouldn't have given the time of day if I had had a chance to see the label before tasting it. I have to be honest with myself; I can only take that as a humbling reminder that all too often what we're tasting is a lot more than just the contents of the bottle.

matwood 14y ago

I remember Mythbusters doing something like this with vodka. An expert came in and IIRC they were able to rank the various vodkas very effectively. For me vodka (and tequila for that matter) is similar to wine. The cheap stuff I can tell is cheap because it really does taste bad. Once you're into any of the premiums it is all mostly good so it's harder to tell the difference in price bands. I can almost always pick out Grey Goose though because it has a subtle sweetness vodkas like Kettle and Belvedere to not have.

bunderbunder 14y ago
Vodka's a bit different because what makes it good is being as close to nothing but alcohol and water as possible. That gives you as objective of a thing to look for as you're ever going to get in this sort of thing. With whiskey, on the other hand, the picture's a bit muddier. There's a lot of different stuff that contributes to the flavor, which means there's a whole lot of room for stylistic variation and personal preference.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

cglace 14y ago

Thats interesting because I can definitely tell the difference between the ages of scotches and other whiskeys. I also can't stand the taste of cheap whiskeys for anything other than mixing. Were the people at the whiskey tasting regular whiskey drinkers? Just wondering because it took me awhile to appreciate a good aged whiskey.

bunderbunder 14y ago
There were a lot of folks, so I'm sure the mix of whiskey experience varied. For my part, it was my first blind tasting and it felt like a completely different experience to me. I was actually pretty surprised to find out how I rated certain ones relative to each other when I didn't know what I was drinking. One of the ones I rated the highest is one I wouldn't have given the time of day if I had had a chance to see the label before tasting it. I have to be honest with myself; I can only take that as a humbling reminder that all too often what we're tasting is a lot more than just the contents of the bottle.