Gillman
05-15-2005, 20:00
I was reading about the durian fruit in Alan Davidson's magisterial, "The Oxford Companion To Food". The durian, which is native to Malaysia, is known for its unusual scent and flavor, ones many find repellant but which appeal no less to many others especially in its home territory. It appears too that some people like the taste of the durian but not its odor. Here is a quotation from the durian entry in the book mentioned: "Some have found that while the smell repels them, the flavour attracts. A strange synergistic effect causes the components of the smell to combine with the unsmelled but tasted substances to produce the characteristic rich, aromatic flavour".
This got me thinking that maybe some whiskeys taste better than they smell. While there are few whiskeys the bouquet of which I find less than pleasant, I'll cite Gentleman Jack as an example. Its nose has a pronounced character I find hard to describe but which I'll call pungent. I have some Gentleman Jack at home (I used it for my blending experiments) so I drank some neat without nosing it first. Most experienced bourbon tasters nose their whiskey and it can be a pleasant part of the imbibing experience. I gave up that part and just swallowed the whiskey. To my surprise I found it very good, much better than when I inhale the aroma before drinking it. In fact there seemed little of the characteristic aroma in the taste. The taste itself was very full, nutty, rich - tasty. I believe this may be an example of the synergistic effect noted by Davidson. In no way of course do I suggest that the aroma of any of the Jack Daniels' whiskeys is anywhere near as objectionable as the scent of the durian is said by many to be, reading about this strange fruit simply gave me the idea that the synergistic phenomenon noted by Davidson might be applicable to alcoholic drinks including whiskey. Maybe one of the reasons for Jack's fame is that it tastes quite a bit better than its aroma and if the synergy idea is true you can't have one without the other..
Gary
This got me thinking that maybe some whiskeys taste better than they smell. While there are few whiskeys the bouquet of which I find less than pleasant, I'll cite Gentleman Jack as an example. Its nose has a pronounced character I find hard to describe but which I'll call pungent. I have some Gentleman Jack at home (I used it for my blending experiments) so I drank some neat without nosing it first. Most experienced bourbon tasters nose their whiskey and it can be a pleasant part of the imbibing experience. I gave up that part and just swallowed the whiskey. To my surprise I found it very good, much better than when I inhale the aroma before drinking it. In fact there seemed little of the characteristic aroma in the taste. The taste itself was very full, nutty, rich - tasty. I believe this may be an example of the synergistic effect noted by Davidson. In no way of course do I suggest that the aroma of any of the Jack Daniels' whiskeys is anywhere near as objectionable as the scent of the durian is said by many to be, reading about this strange fruit simply gave me the idea that the synergistic phenomenon noted by Davidson might be applicable to alcoholic drinks including whiskey. Maybe one of the reasons for Jack's fame is that it tastes quite a bit better than its aroma and if the synergy idea is true you can't have one without the other..
Gary