Sure... this looks Scientific!

I had seen this late last year at the Gall and Gall (the Dutch alcohol and drinks chain) and I just couldn't resist. They have these little taster sets for whiskey (and different drinks depending on the month) in these cute little test tube bottles. I guess in some ways, it is the perfect marketing trick... a tasting sort of session with an air of scientific "verification"?

I'm not really a huge whiskey person most of the time, I do prefer sweeter liquors like Drambuie or Amaretto... but I couldn't turn down the way that this was packaged! Plus, I do enjoy finding a decent whiskey to have around the house... so, if this leads to an interesting discovery then it is time and money well spent!

Anyway, it is a beautifully packaged set of whiskey tasters in a very affordable box... and in addition, you have a very attractive 10% discount voucher for any of the full bottle versions fo the tasters. That said, the way that alcohol is taxed (differently to Australia and the UK) here in The Netherlands means that bottles of alcohol are pretty cheap anyway. Which has led to many full-sized bottles of "testers" in our cellar!

So, the descriptions of the various whiskies (that word definitely looks wrong...) is a bit more of what you would find on a wine-tasting card. I guess there is no reason why it couldn't also be for whiskies as well, but I've never really had a whisky (definitely weirder and weirder the more I write it...) tasting session. I've only experienced the most tame of wine tasting sessions at a vinyard cellar... so my lived experience of fine alcohol tasting and comparison is a touch limited!

To be perfectly honest, I've never heard of any of these particular whiskies brands... well, perhaps the Glenlivet and the Bunnahabhain do sound (or at least look, in the case of the second one...) familiar, so it is possible that I've tried them before. When I was in university, I had a couple of friends who were really big into quality whiskies...

For those of you who don't speak and read Dutch, the descriptions (Notities) are of the Smell (Geur), Taste (Smaak) and Finish (Afdronk) of each of the testers. When I do the wine tasting at the vinyard cellars doors, I'm not really sure that I can always taste what is described... but that is really due to lack of experience and knowledge. I am sure that when I describe how music sounds to me, it won't be the same experience that a layperson would have.

They all do sound good in the tasting notes though... except perhaps the 4th one. A medicinal taste? Really? I will have to spend some time doing some hands-on research for this... but that sort of thing is much more fun with someone else, I will have to convince my wife that she does want to try whiskeys. Either that, or I will have to enlist the help of one of the kids...