Trey Manthey Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 David Driscoll seems to be getting a wee bit carried away:http://spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spirits-blog/2012/10/10/2012-flaming-heart-is-here.htmlA masterpiece! I wish all reviews were this grandiose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tucker Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) Quite. I'll offer up this from the SMWSA...Peat smoke drifts from a nearby island across calm waters – the sun is going down after a hot day on the beach – a driftwood fire is now lit on shingle between rock-pools – barbecued pork ribs, langoustines, lobster, then lemon meringue pie for dessert – nose the dram – ginger, Germolene, tobacco, boxing gloves – paint your own picture – Bruce Willis in Pulp Fiction? – taste it now – root beer, ice-cream, bananas, Old Holborn tobacco, liquorice cigarette papers, burnt heather, barley sugars rolled in ash – this whisky evoked all of these for us – now test your own imagination – it’s from the Sound of Islay.Or this gem...We found quite a bit of fruit on the nose – tinned pears, passion fruit and ‘someone peeling tangerines in the a recently painted hospital’ – in addition we enjoyed lavender, orange blossoms, patchouli, burnt paper, smoky bacon and well-kept stables – quite complex all in all. The palate had Elastoplasts and gauze bandages, star anise, walnut fudge, honeysuckle, nutty tobacco and baklava. Water brought freesias and parma violets, creosote and peat fires to the nose, while the palate became sweeter, developing slightly burnt treacle tart, sugar cane and dark chocolate coated marzipan with some coconut to finish.Any of the SMWSA (via Whiskey Apostle) notes are a bit over the top. Edited October 11, 2012 by Tucker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWC Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Peeled tangerines in a recently painted hospital.God almighty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebo Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I've often wondered how any human being could possibly get all that from a glass of whisk(e)y. What a bunch of nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRich Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 No anise? Well I guess Joe and Jimmy aren't getting anywhere near it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny.Applebury Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I've often wondered how any human being could possibly get all that from a glass of whisk(e)y. What a bunch of nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebo Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I agree that the Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting notes describe more than any one person should be able to pick up. That said, the SMWS uses a tasting panel to decide on their whiskies, and it is completely believable that a group of whisky tasters will put together all of those flavors and smells. They probably have a marketing person write the filler words that get you from one flavor descriptor to the next, but you shouldn't doubt that someone in the room said they smelled that oil smoke from a two-stroke engine. Agreed. I just find it ridiculous when I read descriptors like "wet pavement". How the hell does anyone know what wet pavement tastes like? Did they go outside and lick the road? Or, "dried seaweed with a touch of model airplane glue". Really? And one of my all time favorites............. an "old leather chair". Who licks a damn chair to know how it tastes? Just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 And one of my all time favorites............. an "old leather chair". Who licks a damn chair to know how it tastes? Just sayin'. It would depend on who had sat there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RVTsteve Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 David Driscoll seems to be getting a wee bit carried away: http://spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spirits-blog/2012/10/10/2012-flaming-heart-is-here.htmlA masterpiece! I wish all reviews were this grandiose. While he didn't write the notes for the Flaming Heart, it's attributed to Serge Valentine, In the post right after that one titled "When Hyperbole Goes to Far" he writes "While it's fun to wax poetic about booze, I sometimes find the enthusiasm expressed in our descriptions just a bit too over-the-top." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebo Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 It would depend on who had sat there. I got nothin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeltownbbq Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 These notes work for me:1. F*^&ing awesome!2. Damn good3. OK4. Tastes like S#!tany more is BS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Boozer Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 These notes work for me:1. F*^&ing awesome!2. Damn good3. OK4. Tastes like S#!tany more is BSWhat does S#!t taste like? Explain your tasting experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonny.Applebury Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Agreed. I just find it ridiculous when I read descriptors like "wet pavement". How the hell does anyone know what wet pavement tastes like? Did they go outside and lick the road? Or, "dried seaweed with a touch of model airplane glue". Really? And one of my all time favorites............. an "old leather chair". Who licks a damn chair to know how it tastes? Just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeltownbbq Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 What does S#!t taste like? Explain your tasting experience.I knew I set my self up for that question. I'll admit I have no experience with tasting in an oral sense. But I do have had a great deal of olfactory exposure to a wide variety of examples from many sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor22 Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 My favorite is when Hansel used "shoe fly pie" in a description. Still makes me giggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Blacksmith Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 What, you've never had shoe fly pie? And wet pavement.... Is that fresh poured concrete pavement, rain soaked asphalt, or thunderstorm moistened tar? Supertasters want to know! I do have to admit the younger folks who say things taste like excrement or the place it comes from, or other interesting locations/flavors, always makes me laugh. And yes, I have inadvertently tasted some of those items. Mostly due to farming "accidents". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyOldKyDram Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Shoo fly pie is some tasty stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 It's okay to use some imagination in tasting notes. If I think something tastes like dirt, I will say it tastes like dirt, even if I've never tasted dirt. On the other hand, I think using more than five or so descriptors for the smell or taste of a whisky is pointless. Choose the ones which best represent the experience; leave the rest out. Otherwise you lose the essence of it. I think it was our friend Davin who once used about fifteen different descriptors for a whisky, after which he commented that it was not very complex. The worst was a fellow named Dr. Whisky, who said in his review of McLelland Islay that it contained "a touch of dog poo." And it was meant to be a POSITIVE reivew! Once you've detected dog poo in your whisky, you might as well forget about ever enjoying it again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclebunk Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 And one of my all time favorites............. an "old leather chair". Who licks a damn chair to know how it tastes? Just sayin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David D Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 David Driscoll seems to be getting a wee bit carried away:http://spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spirits-blog/2012/10/10/2012-flaming-heart-is-here.htmlA masterpiece! I wish all reviews were this grandiose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Ooh, ooh (hand raised like Arnold Horshack in Mr. Kotter's classroom)...Selma Hayek after a 10K run in a thong. Now, that's a chair you could nose all day long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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