palate

[HDNB]

i go to buddy's birthday party last night, and of course i take him a bottle of my best UJ to help erase the memory of turning 40. (with the instruction he got it from a "friend of a friend")

so he pours a couple on ice and as we are having a sip his uncle walks by. so he offers him a sip to see what he thinks. this guy is maybe 70 yrs old or so...he didn't see the pour or the bottle... there was like 20 birthday bottles there so it could have been any of the 10-25yr old scotches there.

he take a cautious sip, rolls it around, has a little grin and then takes a big gulp... and says "damn that's fine, really smooth shine... who made it?"

buddy glances at me and says to uncle: "whaddya mean shine?"

uncle says this is so smooth and it tastes halfway between scotch and bourbon it has to be custom made...

buddy says "yeah i got it from a friend of a friend!"

i am now a) pretty stoked about my product and b) wondering how anybody has a palate this good... can anybody else do this?

what kind of tips and tricks could develop these skills?

[moosemilk]

I'd say somebody who has made it themselves perhaps. Good for you, HDNB! Isn't that the best to get great compliments? My FIL is am avid whiskey drinker. He now prefers mine to his own. It's nice making to your own taste, but it's really great when you get compliments like that!

[DAD300]

Congrats...if you've gone from commercial to "custom," yes I believe you will soon know the dif.

Drink your own long enough...then have a commercial drink at a bar! You'll know it.

[moosemilk]

I've been working in bars for over 20 years (how I never became a heavy drinker I don't know). After doing my first few runs, and smelling and making cuts, I walked into the bar one day and noticed the smell of heads! Bar has been around over 20 years, much booze spilled and tables turned so no wonder the lingering scent. Even still, being able to smell heads and stale beer. I was amazed.

[Halfbaked]

Congrats HDNB. I bet you were grinin from ear to ear. I hate to tell you but by the grin on your face you are hooked. We call it a lifffer.

[HDNB]

Congrats...if you've gone from commercial to "custom," yes I believe you will soon know the dif.

Drink your own long enough...then have a commercial drink at a bar! You'll know it.

i know i'm lovin whats coming off, i'm making some pretty broad cuts and keeping only the best...i think i've got heads figured out from where the burn is on the tongue (tip of, and two strips on top, but to the sides) and tails (bitter at back-middle of tongue and on the "roof" of mouth towards the back) and of course the smell, sight and feel of tails is pretty obvious...

but i think i'd be lost in a blind taste test..except for Oban, i can get that at 10 paces...

i guess i'll just have to keep practicing!

oh yeah, my 165lbs of malted grains just landed...so i'm in for a whole new treat

[Prairiepiss]

It's a good feeling ain't it? Congrats.

Anyone with a few taste buds should be able to tell the difference. Since store bought crap is well just that. Crap. LOL
I can't hardly drink any store bought stuff anymore. Well nothing I can afford anyway. LOL

[Scribbler]

I'm with HDNB: I am certainly hoping to get to the point of noticing and appreciating the difference...


Prairies:
By "store bought crap" do you mean just the really cheap stuff, or ALL/MOST store bought? Would you put Bushmllls Irish whisky in that category? How about something like crown royale or Canadian club rye?

It's a little unnerving to think that in a few years with patience and learning I could be making something to compare favourably with those!!

Congratulations HD on that original compliment!!! Satisfaction!!!

[Prairiepiss]

The one time I tried bushmills was way before I started this. And I'm not a big Irish whiskey fan. So I can't say on that one.

To me store bought crap would be mid shelf down. CR and CC are mid shelf. If you ask me. I lost all respect. What little I had for Crown Royal. When they put out that maple crap. That stuff makes me gag just opening the bottle.

Big name doesn't mean good booze. It just means they have a good marketing department. With a lot of money to back it.

Before I started this hobby. I was a die hard Jim Beam fan. I can't touch the stuff now. Last time I had some. I did puke. And it wasn't because I drank to much. It was right after I had a drink.

It doesn't take long for your palate to change. Once you figure out what heads and tails are.

I started this hobby to make something I would love. And I have yet to find it. Because each time I think I'm going to make it over that bar. The bar gets raised. Just a little more.

[HDNB]

tasted some "white owl" it's marketed as a "premium aged white whiskey"

obviously they have never heard of cuts. must have came off of a continuous still or something it tasted of heads, tails and whatever else the swept up off the floor. i actually poured it out...(i know, alcohol abuse)...but it was undrinkable. reminded me of white owl cigar butts.

been a long time since i had a bushmills, but you should be able to blow that away.

i still love Oban but at 100 a bottle i'm hard pressed to find a reason to buy it these days.