How to Host A Whiskey Blind Tasting

Whiskey is made everywhere these days. And while the styles and flavor characteristics of each region are overlapping more and more, it’s still fun to compare whiskey from around the world. It’s even more fun to host an Around the World whiskey tasting, especially if it’s a blind tasting. Here’s how to do it.

Blind tastings are one of my favorite ways to do whiskey tastings because they remove all the stigma and reputation of a label or region, leaving only the whiskey to tell the story. It’s easy to get caught up in a brand or type, thinking one is better than the other for whatever reason, but blind tastings remove everything but your senses. And it’s always a surprise learning what you truly like!

How to Host an Around the World Whiskey Blind Tasting

There are two ways to do an Around the World whiskey blind tasting. One is to go off of the typical characteristics of each region and pick whiskeys that reflect those assumptions. The other is to throw those assumptions on their head and pick whiskeys that challenge the usual characteristics.

If your goal is for guests to guess each region correctly, staying along typical whiskey characteristics is easier. But if you want to challenge your guests and expand what they think each region represents, picking unusual whiskeys is the way to go. Here’s how to host an Around the World whiskey blind tasting the easy way and the hard way.

Note: Whiskied Wanderlust uses the American spelling of “whiskey” unless specifically referring to Scotch, Canadian, Japanese, or those spelled “whisky,” so both spellings are used throughout this article.

How to Do A Whiskey Blind Tasting

First off, some logistics for whiskey tasting. You’ll need 5-7 bottles of whiskey (see suggestions below). Any more kills your palate and makes deciphering nuisances difficult. Get a whiskey glass (preferably Glencairns glasses) for each person, or if you can, enough for each whiskey to have its own. That allows guests to compare and contrast, going back to previous pours.

Don’t forget water for cleansing palates, water droppers (these work great) for tasting, plus pens and paper for notes. If you want to go all out, create tasting maps and notecards. And it never hurts to have snacks like cheese or nuts to help balance the alcohol.

Want to host and participate in the blind tasting? Here’s how to trick yourself into not knowing which whiskey is which. Get identical tumblers or carafes for each whiskey to pour out of. Using tape, mark the bottom of the bottles with a number, then mark the tumbler or carafe with the same number. Pour the amount of whiskey you’ll need for the tasting in each tumbler and have your guests pick the order to pour. Just make sure you keep the tumblers in tasting order so you can decipher which whiskey was which at the end.

Around the World Whiskey Blind Tasting #1 :: Typical Characteristics (Easy Route)

Any regions of whiskey works for an Around the World blind tasting, but I chose the five main whiskey-producing regions (with a second pour from Scotland since the regions differ so much). I picked American, Canadian, Irish, Japanese, and two Scotches (one peated, one unpeated).

For the easy route, I picked whiskeys that stayed true to the typical characteristics of each region. So, for example, bourbon for American and a light blend for Japanese. Obviously there is much more to American whiskey than bourbon (hello American single malts!) but this is easier to guess. Here’s what we tasted.

Bourbon was the obvious choice for American whiskey, so I picked Michter’s US*1 Bourbon, a classic bourbon. Other options are Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve, or Jack Daniels (the charcoal filtering would be a huge hint!). When I think of Canadian whisky, I think rye. So we tasted Lot40 Rye, a 100% rye from Hiram Walker Distillery. Crown Royal or Pendleton would also work.

For Irish, I picked the light and floral Connaught Ballyhoo! because it perfectly represents that light taste famously associated with the region. Jameson is another obvious choice, as is Red Breast. To me, Japanese whisky means single malts but for many people the Japanese are kings of the blend. So I picked the Suntory Tokii Royal, a light blend that’s easy to drink. Suntory Toki or Akashi would also work.

Since Scotch flavors vary so drastically, I picked a peated and a non-peated whisky. For the peated, a dead ringer is Laphroaig 10, with the unmistakable medicinally peaty notes. (Ardbeg or Lagavulin would also work.) The unpeated dram was Aberlour 16, an easy-to-pick sherry bomb scotch. Tullibardine 228 Burgundy cask and Glendronach 12 are other fruity options.

Around the World Whiskey Blind Tasting #2 :: Unusual Characterstics (Hard Route)

So what if you want to challenge your guests during an Around the World Whiskey Blind Tasting? In that case, play off those assumptions and throw them on their heads with whiskey not normally associated with each region. I wanted this to be difficult, so I purposely picked whiskeys that could easily be categorized in another region or fall under another category.

The American whiskey was High West Campfire, a blend of bourbon, rye, and peated scotch heavy on the smokiness. Westland American Single Malt would also work, or any rye finished in wine (like Dad’s Hat Port Rye). The Canadian category is tough because not many people associate Canadian whisky with a particular flavor so not many distillers are challenging it. You could still do Lot40 Rye or try the Stalk and Barrel Single Malt, a single barrel from Ontario’s Still Waters Distillery. (A Canadian single malt is sure to stump your guests!)

Many people don’t think of wine-finished Irish whiskey, so I picked Hyde No. 5 Aras Cask, a beautifully floral burgundy-finished Irish whiskey. Teeling Single Malt (aged in 5 different casks) was my second choice, or Glendalough 13 Year Mizunara cask. Similarly, something peated or wine-finished in the Japanese category throws off the usual perception that Japanese whisky means light blends. Go for Miyagikyo, a slightly peated and sherry-aged single malt, or Yoichi, another sherried single malt heavier on the peat.

Along those same lines, for the peated Scotch pick a whisky with lower peat on the palate, like Bunnahabhain 12, a chocolately single malt, or Laphroaig Cairdeas, aged in Fino Sherry Casks. For unpeated, Clynelish 14 might be mistaken for a bourbon with its heavy bourbon notes, while Aberfeldy 12 or Glenkinchie might hint to an Irish whiskey with its lightness.

Blind Tasting Whiskey

As fun as it is to guess all the right whiskeys in an Around the World whiskey tasting or even stump your friends entirely, the real point is to expand whiskey knowledge and palates. I thought for sure I’d be able to guess all the whiskeys in the easy tasting — after all, I picked them! — but even I didn’t get them all right. And that’s the fun! It challenged my assumptions and made me realize I need to work more on my deciphering techniques.

It’s one of the many things I love about whiskey: there’s always something more to learn and always something else to taste. I’d love to hear how your own whiskey tasting went, so let me know in the comments!

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Related :: Scotch Regions Tasting Class, A Whiskey and S’mores Pairing Party, and Pairing Whiskey and Chocolate Cake

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