finding a lot more icky flavors in things I used to like

[raquel]

I've grown to like whiskey more and more over the years, but lately I think I like it a lot less.

I got alcohol poisoning when I was 19 after an evening of Colonel Lee 100-proof and sour mix, so I didn't drink whiskey again for 3 years. Then I drank Jack & Coke now and then, then tried some Maker's Mark and liked it pretty well. My brother used to drink a lot of Evan Williams Black so I would drink that when we hung out. One time I got Jim Beam Black because I liked the glasses that came with it at The Party Source in Kentucky, and I really liked that. I eventually started keeping Evan Williams and Jim Beam Black around, and I would get something else now and then when I was at the liquor store.

Now I have a lot of different things around, but I've started to notice things I really hate about stuff I used to like (or at least used to think was drinkable). I just notice an icky taste with a lot of stuff -- mostly on the back of my tongue. After I've been sipping at something for a few minutes, it starts to build up and I really can't enjoy it anymore. I really notice this with just about every whiskey these days, but it's much worse with some things.

I never used to think there was anything wrong with Maker's Mark, but now I get a bit of a bitter wheaty thing on my tongue that I don't like, so I can't drink too much of it. I used to think Buffalo Trace was great -- the first thing I liked more than Jim Beam Black. But now it tastes pretty bad to me. Part of that is because I started getting Eagle Rare, and when I try regular Buffalo Trace it tastes like Eagle Rare gone bad -- no smell, no flavor, and just sitting on the back of my tongue kinda building up a funky flavor the more sips I take. The Eagle Rare is probably my favorite bourbon, but I still notice something on the back of my tongue after a glass that makes me not want to drink more than about a shot worth.

I don't really notice this as much with Four Roses Small Batch, which is my 2nd favorite bourbon, but the Four Roses has a sort of sweetness and a lot of different flavors going on and it doesn't really taste like a real bourbon to me in the same way other things do.

I don't know. I like Wild Turkey 101 now more than I used to. I like Rare Breed more, but since it's more expensive than Eagle Rare I'm not going to bother getting it. I even notice a bit of a bad flavor with Jim Beam Black that I never used to. I'm starting to just drink ginger ale and plain Canadian Club because there's nothing wrong with that.

Things are totally backwards with rye. I taste WT Rye and think that bright fruity floral flavor (or however you'd describe it) is great, but there's something a little funky in there, too, if I don't put it on a lot of ice, and I do like regular WT a little better. I like the flavor of Jim Beam Rye a lot, but I can always pick out a bit of a murky watered-down funk to it. But I like WT Rye and Jim Beam Rye both a lot more than things that are supposed to be better. Rittenhouse 100 has a really smooth finish, has a lot of flavor, and I can tell it's trying to be something great, but it smells bad and tastes worse to me. Coke covers up all the bad parts but I can still taste the good parts, so it's really the best thing I've ever put in Coke, but I feel kinda ridiculous mixing Coke with something that everybody else thinks is so great. Sazerac is the worst, though. It has a bad banana smell and a worse banana-gone-bad flavor. And I like bananas, but Sazerac is terrible. I used to be able to drink it even though I thought the banana was weird, but now I can't stomach it even mixed with Coke. The only Rye I can say that I really like more than plain WT 101 is Russel's Reserve Rye. It smells wonderful -- better than anything else I can think of, and it's great in Manhattans, but there's nothing magical about the flavor by itself. It doesn't even really seem all that rye-ish. I mostly put it in dry Manhattans, though.

I just feel bad that I used to love regular Buffalo Trace and plain Four Roses (the yellow label), but now I don't like either of them. The Four Roses is OK, but it tastes a bit off. Part of that is missing the other flavors in the Small Batch, but part of it is just a really watered down mediocre flavor. And I'm certainly not one of those people who thinks 80-proof isn't enough, but Jim Beam Rye and Four Roses do taste watered down in a different way, kinda like they're missing flavor and cut with dirty water.

Crown Royal is something I used to like but now I think is kinda bad. Tastes like a bad attempt at making Canadian whiskey taste like bourbon. Glenlivet 12 is something I used to think was really good. I remember thinking it had a really clean taste and a lot of light floral flavors going on, and now I think it's awful.

I just don't like that I'm picking up this horrible flavor on the back of my tongue about 45 seconds into drinking a lot of things I used to like. I like WT 101, but I don't think it's great. The reason I can say I like it is not so much that I think it tastes good; it's more that I don't think there's anything really bad about WT 101, and I do think there's something really bad about most stuff, so WT 101 becomes pretty good by default.

I'm kinda concerned! Maybe I just don't like whiskey anymore.

I just tried some Berhneim, which I always liked a lot for its sort of clean simple taste. It still tastes pretty good to me, so maybe I'll be OK.

I've been on different medications for the last few years to try to stabilize my hormones (no, I'm not menopausal), but I don't think I can blame that. Even when I was taking Prometrium (which really raised my progesterone levels and made my sense of smell and taste much more sensitive) I don't remember having a whiskey aversion. Now the medication I'm on has everything stabilized, even though I do have higher estrogen levels than most women. Who knows!

[OscarV]

Sounds like to me that now you just like the good stuff.

Nothing wrong with that.

[ratcheer]

I seem to hear a common thread through your long post. The ones you used to like are either wheat flavored or low-rye flavored bourbons. The ones you are preferring now are either the high-rye flavored bourbons or straight rye whiskeys.

So, why don't you try some of the "higher end" bourbons of the type you like, such as Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve or Blanton's? Also, there are higher end straight ryes, such as Sazerac. Maybe some of these would give you the quality you are looking for with the flavor you now like.

Just lay off the scotch.

Tim

[sailor22]

Several things come to mind after reading your post;

Medication can alter your palate in many subtle ways, and those are some big time drugs you mentioned. Don't be so quick to minimize it's effect. Have any other flavors changed? - like fruit or cheese or any delicate foods you cook?

Have you changed your toothpaste or mouthwash? Perhaps started using a different mouthwash after more meals?

A simple and effective palate cleaner is black tea and french bread, Try that and revisit the juice that seems off. I can only speak for myself but that resets my tasternator nicely.

Also you didn't mention how you currently drink the juice you listed - over ice? neat? in coke? with water? drinking or sipping or doing shots? Have you changed the way you imbibe? Any change in the above could be a contributing factor.

[jburlowski]

Is your sense of taste changed for other foods (besides whiskey)? If so, I'd check with your doctor.

A quick Google search shows that estrogen levels can affect your sense of tatste.

Otherwise it could be just one of those phases of changing preferences that we all go through....

[ebo]

I seem to hear a common thread through your long post. The ones you used to like are either wheat flavored or low-rye flavored bourbons. The ones you are preferring now are either the high-rye flavored bourbons or straight rye whiskeys.

So, why don't you try some of the "higher end" bourbons of the type you like, such as Wild Turkey Russell's Reserve or Blanton's? Also, there are higher end straight ryes, such as Sazerac. Maybe some of these would give you the quality you are looking for with the flavor you now like.

Just lay off the scotch.

Tim

Or, give it a try. :grin:

[IronHead]

You mentioned that you were taking meds for hormone therapy. I read an article about the sense of smell some time ago that stated that a woman's sense of smell is greatly affected by hormone levels. Since taste is so closely related to the sense of smell perhaps changing hormone levels is the culprit.

Then again, senses change, tastes change. I used to swear by Maker's Mark and Woodford reserve until I joined this site and started exploring so many other bourbons. Now Woodford tastes like I am drinking bourbon while I have a penny in my mouth and Maker's tastes very flat and thin to me.

[raquel]

Several things come to mind after reading your post;

Medication can alter your palate in many subtle ways, and those are some big time drugs you mentioned. Don't be so quick to minimize it's effect. Have any other flavors changed? - like fruit or cheese or any delicate foods you cook?

I haven't noticed anything. When I was taking some more big-time drugs like Prometrium, I did notice that my sense of smell was much more sensitive and things tasted a little different, but I really don't know of anything different now.

Have you changed your toothpaste or mouthwash? Perhaps started using a different mouthwash after more meals?

No...

Also you didn't mention how you currently drink the juice you listed - over ice? neat? in coke? with water? drinking or sipping or doing shots? Have you changed the way you imbibe? Any change in the above could be a contributing factor.

I usually drink whiskey in a little glass with one ice cube and let it melt a little bit first, but when I'm trying something new I always try it neat and with a little water. I just don't like drinking warm stuff as well, but when I'm trying to focus on the flavor a lot I don't add ice.

[B.B. Babington]

and people like different things on different days. next month, try the same one and you may think completely different about it.