The Reverse of the Mirror

[squire]

Years of conducting blind tastings taught me perception can have a big influence on how we taste things. It's just our nature and I'm as subject to the influence as anyone else. If you hand a four year old a piece of broccoli he may taste it and say 'yuck' which is a true assessment because he has no perception of what broccoli is or how it should taste, he just knows he doesn't like it.

Yet I've handed an experienced grown up a glass of 12 year old single malt and have him say the adult equivalent of yuck because he was going on taste alone without knowing what was in the glass. This opposed to the fact he has a bottle of this same stuff in his home bar where he considers it to be a first rate choice.

I choose single malt as an example because those canny Scots have made an art of overaged, limited issue, specially finished, very expensive whisys (some of which can be truly dreadful) but they're not selling higher quality rather they are selling exclusivity. Not a bad thing in and of itself and serves the role of corporate gift giving during the holidays, but may not my first drinking choice. Anybody remember the 15 year old Canadian Club limited bottling they came out with some years back? Beautifully packaged in a fancy box it made an impression but in truth was a very lightly flavored dram that I would just as soon mix with ginger ale as drink straight.

I've found price, packaging and the exclusive factors don't guarantee that either I or my guests will like it any more than a regular offering and in fact may like it less because overaging can easily throw a whisky out of balance, yet if it has the 'right' label guests will gush over it because, well, they think they should, it's just instinct to follow the lead because no one wants to be thought of as unable to appreciate what they have been told is the good stuff. We are all the World's greatest expert on our individual preferences though and blind tasting is the best way to separate out the members of the herd.

My son is grown now and he still won't eat broccoli no matter how finely you mince and try to hide it in a casserole.

[RWBadley]

True dat, sometimes the emperor has no clothes and it takes a fresh perspective to come out in the open. Maybe broccoli really IS bad

I have a flask I sometimes fill with either scotch or bourbon. Amazing how often I'll take or offer a swig and then try to figure out just what the heck it is... oh crap it's the brandy from two months ago- no wonder it's such a lousy whiskey.

Enlightening how a blind tasting exposes certain truths

[Flyfish]

Years of conducting blind tastings taught me perception can have a big influence on how we taste things. It's just our nature and I'm as subject to the influence as anyone else. If you hand a four year old a piece of broccoli he may taste it and say 'yuck' which is a true assessment because he has no perception of what broccoli is or how it should taste, he just knows he doesn't like it.

Yet I've handed an experienced grown up a glass of 12 year old single malt and have him say the adult equivalent of yuck because he was going on taste alone without knowing what was in the glass.

.

Years ago, my wife's uncle, who was a beverage distributor, served Dom Perignon Brut on New Years Eve. Several women squinched up there faces because it was brut and they were used to somewhat sweeter fare. In succeeding years, he declined to cast pearls before swine even though he got the pearls at wholesale.

I am inclined to think that I really do like Blanton's and would buy it anyway even if it didn't come with those cute little horsies for my collection. Maybe. There is always a serious disagreement between my honesty and my frugality. H says, "That's damn good stuff!" F replies, "Yeah, but you could have two bottles of ETL or two handles of AAA."

[squire]

Dorothy Parker was walking up to front door of a hotel and saw a fellow she didn't care for about to enter. Feelings were mutual and when he opened the door for her to go in first said in a smarmy voice, "Age before beauty", she breezed past him saying "Pearls before swine".

[Oboe Cadobro]

Same thing happens with wine, cigars, perfume...anything where taste meets price meets perception.

[GaryT]

Agree - I'd love to say everything in my cabinet has been blind tasted against comparable pours. Probably not true, but the vast majority has at one time or another. Besides avoiding perceptions, I've found it saves me money! Learning that I like Jeff 10 the same (or close enough to the same) as WP saves me $40+ a bottle. Without blind tasting, I likely would convince myself of the superiority of the WP.

[Richnimrod]

A lot of truth being spoken in this thread.... I better get away from too much of this stuff;

bad for my humble opinion of my own humble opinions! :slappin:

[flahute]

I'm but a plebe in these matters, but I know from a side by side tasting at a bar that I prefer Van Winkle Rye to the PVW 20yr which I never would have predicted based on reputation and the newbie tendency to ascribe higher quality to greater age. I also know that I prefer a number of $30 bottles to some $50+ bottles and it wasn't even blind tasting - it was just being honest about what the taste buds were saying.

[Richnimrod]

I'm but a plebe in these matters, but I know from a side by side tasting at a bar that I prefer Van Winkle Rye to the PVW 20yr which I never would have predicted based on reputation and the newbie tendency to ascribe higher quality to greater age. I also know that I prefer a number of $30 bottles to some $50+ bottles and it wasn't even blind tasting - it was just being honest about what the taste buds were saying.

Ah, yes. Your taste buddies will never steer you wrong. :bigeyes: They are your buddies after all, right? :slappin:

[B.B. Babington]

ambiance sometimes makes a difference on both taste and label choice. ya sitting around a campfire with bunch o' buds that rolled in on harleys, do ya want some goofey guy playing golf with his dog on the label? and bookers would definitely taste better than cognac.

[squire]

There are times when a tin cup is the vessel of choice and the word Glencairn probably means a brand of outdoor clothing.

[MauiSon]

I'm currently reading a book, "The Art of Choosing", that sheds interesting light on this topic.

[corpse_welder]

I did 3 blind tastings in fact and I find the Buffalo Traces of the world appeal to me more than the upper level bourbons. I'm positive some bourbon drinkers really do prefer the taste of the 15-20+ year bourbons, but I think a lot people base quality on price and bottle presentation

[dSculptor]

One thing about "blind" tastings...you can't be the only person pouring.

[zillah]

Is this post for building expectations or against them...or is this more fuel to an already raging fire against over-priced, over-packaged, over marketed whiskey or just some more good ol' scotch bashing?

I wonder if organic, locally produced broccoli from your good couzin across the river is better than that gmo store bought stuff from California.

[Gentleman Racer]

I cracked open my first bottle of PHC Promise of Hope last night. The PHC has been my favorite series of whiskies, but this seems disappointing. I'm going to strip it down to brass tacks tonight and blind taste it against VOB BiB.

Ah, blind tasting... the whiskey Thunderdome. "Two drinks enter, one drink leaves! Two drinks enter, one drink leaves!"

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[dSculptor]

If we're talking on the same page here, I just tried to pick out 2 pours from 60 open bottles, from which I coinsider myself very familiar with all of them. Had my wife pour them,and took 3 guesses for ea. first one got wrong ,the second got it on the 3 rd, but here's the thing, do you look at all of your choices once they have been poured,or is blind...blind, with no bottles in front of you.If I would have done it the latter part, it would have been extremely hard, just looking at them and deciding was hard enough.Point being I usually don't do blind tastings,so it was pretty difficult.Every time I do a pour I am already expecting it to be good, because I'm looking at the bottle and the thought that oh I know what that tastes like is automatic.I can see that trying to memorize a taste unassociating it with the bottle can and is a talent(when dealing with whisky)...interesting..By the Way the 2 pours were WR4W, & RR10. Both with distinctive tastes and noses but when trying to decipher them without the visual,was a lot harder than it seems. When I seen the answers,it was like Oh how could I have not known that?

[Flyfish]

If we're talking on the same page here, I just tried to pick out 2 pours from 60 open bottles, from which I coinsider myself very familiar with all of them. Had my wife pour them,and took 3 guesses for ea. first one got wrong ,the second got it on the 3 rd, but here's the thing, do you look at all of your choices once they have been poured,or is blind...blind, with no bottles in front of you.If I would have done it the latter part, it would have been extremely hard, just looking at them and deciding was hard enough.

My wife and I do blind tastings frequently but we do not treat them as "contests" in which we determine who can make the most correct guesses. The idea is to be as objective as we can about what we are tasting without being prejudiced by the sight of a bottle. It can be quite instructive. Sometimes you find that you like the bourbon that is not supposed to be as good as the one to which it is being compared. You can also save a lot of money by purchasing bourbon that you really like instead of that one that all the aficianados say you should like.

[Quantum]

Is this post for building expectations or against them...or is this more fuel to an already raging fire against over-priced, over-packaged, over marketed whiskey or just some more good ol' scotch bashing?

Sometimes trying to directly assess and categorize the authors intent can be just as tricky as trying to pick your favorite bourbon from a row of unlabeled glasses.

I will readily admit that labels and other "perceived attributes" play all sorts of tricks with my mind. Sometimes I'll pour a small glass a bourbon when I get home from work. I'll take a couple sips, then set it down and go take care of a few odds and ends around the house. When I actually sit down to relax 30 minutes later, sometimes my impression will change significantly. I still know what I am drinking, but just that little bit of time focusing on other things seems to loosen up the preconceptions a bit.

[dSculptor]

My wife and I do blind tastings frequently but we do not treat them as "contests" in which we determine who can make the most correct guesses. The idea is to be as objective as we can about what we are tasting without being prejudiced by the sight of a bottle. It can be quite instructive. Sometimes you find that you like the bourbon that is not supposed to be as good as the one to which it is being compared. You can also save a lot of money by purchasing bourbon that you really like instead of that one that all the aficianados say you should like.

It was a contest... for my taste buds, she doesn't drink bourbon,and was on lunch break and had to leave, so I had her pour them and write down the names,I did likewise, just wrote down my 3 perceptions of each instead of just one guess and flip over the answers. So you're saying that you just blindly drink them SbS and just compare to each other? Not try to guess who they are? I suppose if we are doing which tastes better, yes, I was going for to see if my taste buds were as good as I thought they were on matching the taste with it's owner. Even without guessing who they were, I did know for sure which one I liked more .. WR4W.(naturally the more expensive and rarer one). I like both concepts.

[squire]

Blind has to be complete, no idea of what's being served, Scotch, Bourbon, Rye or rum.

Edited February 13, 2014 by squire

[garbanzobean]

Blind has to be complete, not idea of what's being served, Scotch, Bourbon, Rye or rum.

With no frame of reference or context, I am guessing this can get pretty weird/upsetting for some folk. Sounds entertaining to me, up until the point that I end up blindly rating aged rum (which I currently do not care for . . . when I know what it is that I'm drinking, anyway) over a favorite bourbon or beloved scotch. Frankly, trying any one of those without context or expectation management could probably be a bit disorienting.

[squire]

It can call for diplomacy, particularly when someone is completely wrong, so keeping a sense of humor helps. Hint here, if you're hosting and pouring then don't participate as well.

[Memphis]

Blind has to be complete, no idea of what's being served, Scotch, Bourbon, Rye or rum.

Well, I was with you until this part. Anything tasted after a peated Scotch, will taste like...peated Scotch! Direct blind comparisons of the same class of spirit seems more beneficial. Great thread topic!

[393foureyedfox]

Well, I was with you until this part. Anything tasted after a peated Scotch, will taste like...peated Scotch! Direct blind comparisons of the same class of spirit seems more beneficial. Great thread topic!

i agree. If im at a tasting and i get a peat bomb or a rum, I think id quit. Not that rum is bad, but mixing the stark profiles blindly would wreak havoc on the ol tasters