Having a Whiskey tasting for newbies - Help

Different people have very different tastes. I never do a tasting with new people without first asking all the people present what they have tried and what they like and do not like. If pleasing your guests is your aim, knowing about their tastes and about their tasting experience will help. Even after you get some information though, you will still get surprised now and then about what they do and do not like. Some new whisky tasters will enjoy steppinig up to stronger flavours. Others will not.

Suggestion: Include some simple no-frills whiskies that your buddies can drink on the rocks or whatever without causing you to feel any sense of waste, loss, or offense.

Suggestion: Lay out the bottles (physically or on a list) in order of increasing flavor and strength. Your buddies can stop "climbing the mountain" when they reach their limit of enjoyment.

Suggestion: Offer a quick (QUICK!) note about what they might appreciate about each one you offer. (That's Knappogue Castle. I think it's kinda dry.") It helps newbies to have a quick, obvious "thing" to look for when trying something for the first time. And you don't want to knock them over the head with lists of esoteric tasting notes or distillery histories.

Suggestion: Accept in advance that some of your friends will dislike some of your whiskies. Have some other stuff around too that you know they like -- beer or whatever.

Suggestion: Make sure "Whisky Night" is a known plan -- not a surprise. :)

Got to say it's a bit silly to expect whiskey newbies to appreciate an 128 proof bourbon. Even my response would probably be "Oh, that is really strong", I can't drink Bookers or Knob Creek SB without a bit of water.

Seconding OlJas' suggestions. Perhaps go with a few affordable choices that offer a glimpse of the standard flavours (peat/sherry/salt/etc), but still in the 80 proof range.

Long term - look ahead to the next session and set up your buddies for enjoyment and success.

Ease them into this new realm and maintain some structure or perhaps a theme. Word of caution, don't try to win them over in one session. Newbies often identify smooth as good; perhaps you could play to that and have something thick and buttery/creamy for an opener...then take them down the path.
Give them a chance to develop their whisky IQ and perhaps, in time, they'll be inviting you to share one of their favorites. I like all of @OlJas suggestions, especially for saving face (and top shelf juice) by having an out with some mainstream mixers. Best of Luck

A few friends and myself have been meeting everyother month since Sept of last year. We were all new the world of whisky. We started out with bourbon whiskey and have progressed to the more delicate Scotches.

Our first gathering had Buffalo Trace, Weller 12 , and Eagle Rare 10 on the table. I spent time with my guest and taught them how to use a Glencairn whisky glass. I included crackers and bottled water to clean the palate between samplings. I gave each guy a binder for their notes and a Glencairn to take home.

So far, we have had four gatherings and sampled around fourteen whiskies. The feedback from the others has been great. One member donated a Michael Jackson Single Malt Guide and some watch glass covers to the group.

Be patient with your friends. Make sure they don't burn their nose off. Let them know that there are no wrong answers and encourage them to feed off eachother's discoveries.

Have fun and let us know how it goes.

I second all of OlJas's suggestions, but have a couple that I'll throw in!

The thing that I found with my whisky club, especially our first few meetings is that cask strength, while AWESOME for me, is not awesome for most people. I get a giggle drinking a 70% abv, it scares the hell out of them.

As Oljas also said keep the tasting notes simple, very simple. Smooth, smokey, peaty, dry, etc. While it's fun to tear a whisky apart, so many whisky guys I've met don't have the patience, palate, experience, for whatever reason, more experience I think, when you start tearing the whisky apart it frustrates them when you say cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc and they're left saying spicy. So maybe let them lead on any tasting notes.

Last is if possible budget wise is have a variety of regions and styles. Something peaty and smokey, fruity, floral, etc. You'll be surprised at what sometimes draws in people into a whisky. One of my close friends is a wine guy. He'd tried different bourbons, some Speysides and blends with me, didn't care for any of them. We sit down for dinner and out comes a cask strength, insanely peated Octomore and he falls in love with it. Surprised me like you wouldn't believe, so sometimes being able to have a variety of whiskies can remove people's misconceptions, whatever they might be, about whisky and make them fall in love. Plus it will give you an idea of what they might and might not like.

Also let us know how it goes!!!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I really enjoy talking whiskey with people, so hopefully a couple of my buddies catch the bug.

@paddockjudge

I remember when I first started with Whiskeys and I said to a friend that what is smooth to me might be tasteless to someone else.

This is what I am thinking of serving

Type Brand Irish Red Breast 12yr Irish Powers John Lane Irish Red Breast 12yr Cask Strength

Scotch Costco Maccallan Scotch Ardbeg Uigeadail Scotch ??

Rye High West Rendevous Rye Rye Thomas H. Handy Rye Old Potrero 18th Century Style Rye Whiskey

Bourbon Even Williams Single Barrel 2003 Bourbon Willet Family Reserve Bourbon Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2012 Bourbon Parkers Herritage - Cognac Finished Bourbon ?? - Tom Coyer is bringing

World Nikka Yoichi 15 yr World Amrut Fusion World Suntory Yamazaki 12 yr

Powafo, I suspect your post depended on some formatting that was lost. :) But I'm pretty sure you have a list of candidates in the categories of Irish, Scotch, high rye, Bourbon, and world. Yes?

I won't comment on the options within those categories, but you might want to consider the categories themselves a bit more. In particular, I think "Scotch" is too broad, especially given that your candidates appear to be Macallan & Ardbeg! Instead of geographic categories, I suggest taste categories. At least, split out sherried and peated.

For what it's worth, I did a tasting during my St. Patrick's Day party this year. My idea was to establish a couple baseline tastes and then provide an escalation of flavors. "Escalation" mostly means "peatier" for me (I'm not much into sherried malts). I didn't have categoies -- just a list. This was the lineup:

Elijah Craig 12

McClelland's Highland

Knappogue Castle Irish single malt

Glenlivet 15 French Oak

Isle of Jura Prophesy

Talisker 10

A peated Bunnahabhain

A peated Benraich

(If I had had a bottle of Laphroaig or Ardbeg on hand, it would have appeared at the end as "standard peaties" instead of those uncommon peaties that I happened to have.)

Don't waste good whisky on them. They don't deserve it. If they are prone to overwatering or icing, just go with bourbon. It's cheaper. I recommend Elijah Craig or Buffalo Trace. Keep your bottle under $30. That's my advice. For me, its damned painful to watch a friend destroy a great glass of scotch with too much water. I guess it's the cheap skate in me, and also the whisky snob.

@Powafo

This is what I am thinking of serving

Irish: Red Breast 12yr, Powers John Lane, Red Breast 12yr Cask Strength

Scotch: Costco Maccallan 15yr Ardbeg Uigeadail Scotch

Rye: High West Rendevous Rye, Thomas H. Handy, Old Potrero 18th Century Style Rye Whiskey

Bourbon: Even Williams Single Barrel 2003, Willet Family Reserve, Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition 2012, Parkers Herritage - Cognac Finished Bourbon

World: Nikka Yoichi 15 yr, Amrut Fusion, Suntory Yamazaki 12 yr

@Powafo Love the line up! Can I come?! I promise not to say anything like "that's so strong or can I have some water please!?"

Seriously some very nice whiskies in that line up with some of them making me pant in anticipation!

Parkers Herritage - Cognac Finished Bourbon, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Thomas H. Handy, Old Potrero 18th Century Style Rye Whiskey all are super delicious.

One warning though is that the cask strengths might be too much neat for them if they're not big whisky guys or used to handling straight spirits. I find that the guys in my whisky club wince just a wee bit when the cask strengths come out as they are whiskies that need building up to. I'm not saying that I wouldn't serve them, because I would, but I'd expect for the water to come out on those ones.

Let us know how the tasting goes though! We might wind up with some more whisky fiends on Connosr!!

For single malt scotch, you might consider Aberlour 12 non chill filtered, Highland Park 18, and Galileo. That's a nice range. Macallan 15 is so-so. I just had a glass the other day at a bar and wasn't very thrilled with it. Cloyingly sweet on the tongue with a grotty mouth feel, almost like drinking cologne. As for the Uigie, I think it will probably be too much for them if they are newbies, even though it is one of my favorites. The Galileo is not as sophisticated but more accessible to those uninitiated in the fine arts of all things Islay. The Laddie 10 is also quite good to coax friends towards Islay, even though it is not supposed to be peated (but it tastes a little that way to me). My wife likes that one and she's not too crazy about scotch in general and peat in particular. I can also highly recommend the Glengoyne 17. It's only $65 and has a nice balance for the newbie palate. Yes, it is sweet, but it really opens up three dimensionally with a few drops of water and five or ten minutes in the glass. The Glengoyne 17 has a bit more going on than Macallan 15, IMO. Not sure what you pay at Costco, but in Oregon it's cheaper than the Mac 15.

Suggestion from @OlJas are spot on. I just conducted a tasting for newbies a couple weeks ago. Only one in the group was really into bourbon but the others were pretty new. I chose bourbons that spanned wheat, corn, low rye and high rye. These expression were not high proof and with the exception of the corn mashbill (Old Charer Classic 90) all were readily available at the local ABC. In fact, two departed my house and made a beeline for the nearest liquor store. I keep it simple with new folks. I lay out the bottles, provide a little history and tasting notes on each, I keep plenty of water nearby and some protein based snacks like nuts, cheese and crackers to munch on while tasting in order to keep food in their stomach.

I really only pull out the big guns for those that are experienced whiskey drinkers, e.g. cask strength, uber aged, etc. I don't mind sharing my stuff but I don't want to waste good whiskey on someone who's only comment would be "boy, that's strong".

Elmer T Lee Single Barrel is a great bourbon to offer. It's reasonably priced and very accessible palate-wise. A step up from Elijah Craig, et al.

Here's the Sour Mash Manifesto review: sourmashmanifesto.com/2010/06/…

Just a suggestion. When I want friends to try Brandy I first have them sip on some wine. If I am wanting them to try whisky I then have them sip a beer. Whiskey in any form will seem strong to those not used to drinking it... Ease them into the "experience" of whiskey. Teaching the "sip" is crucial! tell them they must sip the whiskey...not drink it. Ask them to take in a a breath through the nose and exhale out when they do sip. This will maginify the tasting notes of the whisky.Teach them how to experience it...not just consume it. My two cents.

@Powafo

Very good stuff, but most of those are really complex and/or strong! And expensive! Especially the old potrero could be scary to some haha, it smells like horseshit (in a good way:) You could impress even the more experienced drinkers with these gems. For newbies I'd serve something different, more accessible whiskies that are easier to analyze. Elijah Craig 12 or Buffalo Trace for the American style, Aberlour 10 for the clear sherrynotes, Glenmorangie for the gentle fruit, Connemara for easy peat, Caol Ila 12 for really smoky peat, Yamazaki 10 to introduce Japan, and/or maybe one older, more complex Scotch to impress them with the difference.

@rigmorole

2nd that, give them more complex stuff when they're ready. I had a whisky tasting with only newbies, they all liked Buffalo Trace, but they hated the Ardbeg 10 so they gave everything to me:)

@scotchguy74

Good one, and let them hold it in their mouths for quite some time. Try playing tennis without having lessons first:p

@Powafo, please have a camera handy and post pictures of their faces when they have just tried the Old Potrero 18th Century...

@Victor That's such a delicious whisky! I've finally found an importer for it to Australia thankfully!

I'll never offer an expensive single malt to a newbie. They likely wouldn't understand what they're tasting and it'd be a waste of money and good whisky. I've started a few off on the journey with Aberlour 10. Most like it enough to take the next step.

We had the Steak and Whiskey event last night and it was a success. A friend of mine helped me put together nice list of the whiskeys, proof, type of whiskey and simple tasting notes. Each person had a copy of the list as we were drinking. I took OIJas advice and served them in order of easiest to drink to hardest. The thought was that once it got too strong for some, then they could simply stop drinking. I was pleasantly surprised when all 8 of my guests made it though the entire list. We got half way though the list in one sitting, took a break and then started playing poker. Every few hands we would sample another whiskey on the list. Great time.

I appreciate everyones input.

Here is what I ended up serving (in order).

Bernhiem Buffalo Trace Russell's Reserve 10-yr Evan Williams Single Barrel 10-yr - 2003 MacCallan 15-yr Amrut Fusion Redbreast 12-yr Power's John Lane 12-yr Angel's Envy High West Double Rye Ardbeg Uigeadail Parker's Heritage Collection - Cognac Finished Four Roses Small Batch Ltd. Ed Redbreast 12-yr Cask Strength Willett Family Reserve 10-yr Thomas H. Handy

What a great line up! Please invite me next time. I was surprised that the Ardbeg was not the last tasting. However, I can see the Handy being last due to its proof.

I was there (helped with the list, which was really fun considering they weren't my whiskeys :) ). This event was outstanding and Powafo was a great host. I'll be hosting one for my newbie friends soon. The suggestions here really were great and very helpful.

@bigtuna, we had the Ardbeg closer to the middle to throw a curveball in there. It really showed that some whiskys can taste dramatically different. We got some strong reactions.

Really happy to hear the tasting went well! Keep us in touch and don't be a stranger with all your whiskey related shenanigans and opinions :)

I did this a few weeks back but admittedly most of the present were already malt-heads.

I disagree with starting your friends with cheap stuff. This happened to me and for a long while I had no interest in trying whisky ever again. It changed with HP12.

I really think you should start with easy, widely available, single malts. Being in the UK I have no experience (yet) of bourbon, but can easily recommend a few entry level malts:

1) Auchentoshan 10 - "A Single Malt for Blend Drinkers"

2) Dalwhinnie 15 - Easy Highlands dram which has got plenty of interesting flavours. (Alternative: Cragganmore 12)

2) Aberlour 10 - Sherry sweetness aplenty here in a step up from (1). (Alternative Cardhu 12)

3) ...and this would be my last unless they really wanted to go on, either Old Pulteney 12 or Highland Park 12, I honestly would not inflict more on newby whisky drinkers. I'd just try and compare the differences, and do something like play a game of cards as you savour the whiskies.

Remind your friends that the "game" here is to look for flavours that the whisky reminds them of, smelling well before sipping, looking at the whisky, trying to find the legs/tears, all things that make you want to drink it.

Finally, I would also have some Dark Chocolate available, and maybe some coffee beans to cleanse the olfactory sense.

Good luck and enjoy!

P.S.: Next time ditch the grill and try preparing a 'Burns Supper' (look this online) it goes tremendously well with scotch whisky.