Re:Why Japanese Whisky Is So Good and So Hard to Find
by tptacek on Friday July 13, 2018 @01:41PM
(#17524997)
No. People read that article where it turns out people couldn't tell white wine from red wine and then think they can extrapolate that (very misleading) data point out through all of wine and spirits. They look silly doing that.
Some commenter can reliably be counted on to say something like this in any thread about craft beers. But you would have to have never had more than a couple beers in your life to think that someone couldn't tell a Heady Topper from a Dark Lord. There are a variety of markedly different beer styles, and within a style there are a spectrum of expressions. If you never drink beer, a Dreadnaught and a Pliny the Elder might just taste "IPA" (or, more likely, "super bitter") to you. But it would be pretty silly to argue that there isn't a lot more maltiness, sweetness, and texture to the Dreadnaught, and a lot more balance and fruit to the Pliny.
It's the same with whiskey. Even if you've never had whiskey before, you'll have no trouble distinguishing Four Roses from Laphroig. One tastes like burning frogs, and the other doesn't. With no palate at all, you'll still get the sweetness and wineyness from a Redbreast Lustau, even if you don't taste it alongside another Irish whiskey that wasn't aged in wine casks. Woodford Reserve does an old-wood new-wood comparison edition, same spirit, same mash bill, one in new wood and one in old. Even if you're not a whiskey drinker, you will have no trouble triangle-testing between the two.
Different whiskeys. Different mash bills, different processing, different aging systems, different aging environments. Different flavors. Not complicated.
This is, by the way, equally true of wine. Probably I don't reliably guess Syrah vs Zinfandel, especially with supermarket wine (I'm not a wine guy). But I had a wine flight at Alinea that blew my fucking head off and there is no way I'd have any trouble at all picking out that Pinot Noir from an A to Z I buy at the liquor store. Just as importantly: everybody can pick out a sweet Gewurztraminer from a dry oakey Chardonnay. The "studies" you're thinking about don't say what you think they say. People might not be able to reliably identify specific wines (or, more importantly, pick them out by price). That doesn't mean wines taste identical, even to novices.
Some commenter can reliably be counted on to say something like this in any thread about craft beers. But you would have to have never had more than a couple beers in your life to think that someone couldn't tell a Heady Topper from a Dark Lord. There are a variety of markedly different beer styles, and within a style there are a spectrum of expressions. If you never drink beer, a Dreadnaught and a Pliny the Elder might just taste "IPA" (or, more likely, "super bitter") to you. But it would be pretty silly to argue that there isn't a lot more maltiness, sweetness, and texture to the Dreadnaught, and a lot more balance and fruit to the Pliny.
It's the same with whiskey. Even if you've never had whiskey before, you'll have no trouble distinguishing Four Roses from Laphroig. One tastes like burning frogs, and the other doesn't. With no palate at all, you'll still get the sweetness and wineyness from a Redbreast Lustau, even if you don't taste it alongside another Irish whiskey that wasn't aged in wine casks. Woodford Reserve does an old-wood new-wood comparison edition, same spirit, same mash bill, one in new wood and one in old. Even if you're not a whiskey drinker, you will have no trouble triangle-testing between the two.
Different whiskeys. Different mash bills, different processing, different aging systems, different aging environments. Different flavors. Not complicated.
This is, by the way, equally true of wine. Probably I don't reliably guess Syrah vs Zinfandel, especially with supermarket wine (I'm not a wine guy). But I had a wine flight at Alinea that blew my fucking head off and there is no way I'd have any trouble at all picking out that Pinot Noir from an A to Z I buy at the liquor store. Just as importantly: everybody can pick out a sweet Gewurztraminer from a dry oakey Chardonnay. The "studies" you're thinking about don't say what you think they say. People might not be able to reliably identify specific wines (or, more importantly, pick them out by price). That doesn't mean wines taste identical, even to novices.