Palate development

[Flyfish]

This week I am refinishing our hardwood floors. Industrial strength sander kicks up a lot of oak dust. Which makes me say, "Hmm, smells like bourbon in here." Which also makes Mrs. F say, "Hmmm, whose going to clean up all this dust? It goes just everywhere!"

The smell of the oak got me to thinking about taking more deliberate steps toward palate development. Instead of just sipping my bourbon and trying to come up with a name for what I'm detecting, perhaps there is some merit in systematically going through the herbs and spices in the cupboard. Some aromas and tastes are obvious--vanilla, honey, caramel, coffee, chocolate, licorice or anise, rye seeds. But would I know cumin if it whacked me upside the head?  Quite often I detect something that appears and then disappears before I can put my finger on it. It is like trying to read one of those digital signs that moves faster than I can keep up.  

Some people are genetically endowed with the ability to detect subtle aromas and flavors. But no one is born knowing the names of all those things. Names have to be learned. 

Has anyone deliberately undertaken the project of actually smelling and tasting a wide variety of things so you know what they are immediately when you encounter them in bourbon? Please share what has worked for you.

[Freakdog]

Ok. Here is my real world experience with that. My wife works R and D for a major spice company. For the past 10 years she has developed her palate and knowledge 

of spices to the point where   we can go to a restaurant or she tries a dish someone else has prepared, she can pick out all of the spices used in the dish. She is not a bourbon aficianodo ( i am slowly changing that) but sometimes a flavor in a pour stumps me and I have her taste it and she can pick it out and define it easily.

 

So, I believe that the more familiar you are with spices,flavorings and such...the better you can pick them out of a whiskey...makes sense..so ,yes, you can develope

your palate and get even more enjoyment with your bourbon.

[fosmith]

At least you know it's spelled "palate" and not "palette". 

[BigSkyDrams]

You can purchase whiskey (or whisky) nosing kits from a variety of sources. These will contain a variety of scents the maker has prepared that should be representative of a wide variety of aromas you would encounter. I know of people that make their own as well, simply by bottling up a bit of something fragrant that they’re trying to train themselves to identify by scent. I’ve never purchase or used one, personally, but am interested.

 

However, the for-purchase kits, on my understanding, seem fairly confined to the more obvious big scents you’ll find in whiskeys. It sounds like you’re looking to train beyond that, into more subtle hints or notes, that may not be represented in these more generic kits.  For that you’d probably have to DIY your own kit.

 

I’ve also noted improvements in my scent and flavor identification capabilities, by just trying to be more conscious of them in whatever I’m eating or drinking, not limited to bourbon. Whenever I’m cooking, I’ll actually take time to smell and taste the spices alone, or when trying a new dish at a restaurant,  I try to make sure I’m really taking it in and thinking about what I’m smelling and tasting. I still don’t have a great palate, but it has improved, and makes me more appreciative of and present in all my gastronomic experiences.

[troyce]

I can appreciate the value of this topic and I have "slowed down" and try to pay more attention to the characteristics of what I eat and drink.  These should be some of the great pleasures of life, not to be rushed.  My palate is not that great either,  but that's  not all bad.   A better, more selective bourbon palate will cost you a lot more money.

 

[bayouredd]

Interesting to see this in writing. (or typing if you will)

 

Being a self-proclaimed chef, I am pretty good at picking out spices in food as such. I have not had quite the same success with bourbon. Some things I am getting, but not nearly on every pour. When the more experienced bourbonites mention a flavor it actually triggers the, "yea, that's it" quite often. That's one of the things that make me love this site. It doesn't fluster me, because I know it is a work in progress and damn fun...

[Postal Grunt]

On 8/30/2018 at 10:56 AM, Flyfish said:

This week I am refinishing our hardwood floors. Industrial strength sander kicks up a lot of oak dust. Which makes me say, "Hmm, smells like bourbon in here." Which also makes Mrs. F say, "Hmmm, whose going to clean up all this dust? It goes just everywhere!"

The smell of the oak got me to thinking about taking more deliberate steps toward palate development. Instead of just sipping my bourbon and trying to come up with a name for what I'm detecting, perhaps there is some merit in systematically going through the herbs and spices in the cupboard. Some aromas and tastes are obvious--vanilla, honey, caramel, coffee, chocolate, licorice or anise, rye seeds. But would I know cumin if it whacked me upside the head?  Quite often I detect something that appears and then disappears before I can put my finger on it. It is like trying to read one of those digital signs that moves faster than I can keep up.  

Some people are genetically endowed with the ability to detect subtle aromas and flavors. But no one is born knowing the names of all those things. Names have to be learned. 

Has anyone deliberately undertaken the project of actually smelling and tasting a wide variety of things so you know what they are immediately when you encounter them in bourbon? Please share what has worked for you.

If you have access to a good local library or nearby book store, you might consider looking through a copy of Fred Minnick's "Bourbon Curious".

[Kane]

Maybe I'm going off on a tangent here, but I also find it very curious that smelling and tasting a wide variety of "things" can shape your palate in surprising ways depending on what those "things" actually are. Obviously, not all flavor components we describe in bourbon are actually there, but it's our brain that performs a quick search through our mental records and finds something that's close enough. That cumin may not be cumin for everybody, and nobody's right or wrong. For example, growing up on the other side of the pond, a few things I've never had until my 30s include molasses, maple syrup, nutmeg, and allspice. I'll be damned if I can detect these in bourbon even today after tasting them. I've already registered those flavors as something else in my head, and I consistently pick the wrong descriptors compared to my US-raised bourbon buddies.

 

Heck, I can't even truly taste molasses in rum, but instead another grape-sugar byproduct that's unheard of in the US. I've instead learned to adjust my vocabulary so that people don't give me strange looks at rum tastings.

Edited September 2, 2018 by Kane

[Richnimrod]

On 9/2/2018 at 9:37 AM, Kane said:

Maybe I'm going off on a tangent here, but I also find it very curious that smelling and tasting a wide variety of "things" can shape your palate in surprising ways depending on what those "things" actually are. Obviously, not all flavor components we describe in bourbon are actually there, but it's our brain that performs a quick search through our mental records and finds something that's close enough. That cumin may not be cumin for everybody, and nobody's right or wrong. For example, growing up on the other side of the pond, a few things I've never had until my 30s include molasses, maple syrup, nutmeg, and allspice. I'll be damned if I can detect these in bourbon even today after tasting them. I've already registered those flavors as something else in my head, and I consistently pick the wrong descriptors compared to my US-raised bourbon buddies.

 

Heck, I can't even truly taste molasses in rum, but instead another grape-sugar byproduct that's unheard of in the US. I've instead learned to adjust my vocabulary so that people don't give me strange looks at rum tastings.

Very interesting.    I'm sure you're onto something here, Kane. 

So; what you're saying is folx who have formed 'taste/aroma identities' from being raised in cultures other than one's own (and even one's own particular part of the culture) will as often as not have differing descriptors for the same or similar flavors and aromas; yes? 

It certainly stands to reason for me.     I know I don't always (even very often?) get exactly the same identifiers as folx from different parts of the US.     This is especially true when discussing locally popular foods and drinks, and even brands of common foods from different regions.   It can make discussions way more interesting, if one takes it into account and tries to understand the similarities as well as the different descriptors for similar flavors and aromas.

 

Thanx for pointing this out, Kane.