Why do Bourbon reviewers pretend they can detect the various flavors (notes) present in their bourbon? Do they not realize that bourbon literally has no flavoring added and the only "notes" they could possibly taste is either from the grains or the charred oak barrels?
It just seems kinda funny to me.
>yeah man i am getting a lot of vanilla, toasted coconut, and some other big barrel characteristics. ah yeah, getting some clove, tobacco, big big spiciness
No you aren't, you retard. Literally none of those were used to make it. The only thing you could possibly taste is wood or one of the cereal grains used to make it
Easton Cook
>ould possibly taste is either from the grains or the charred oak barrels?
That's exactly what they're talking about.
For example, the "vanilla" taste you mentioned comes from the wood barrel.
>>Literally none of those were used to make it Yes, that's a given. But people don't have any better way of describing what they're tasting other than comparing to things that are well known.
When someone says "this spirit has notes of vanilla" they don't mean it literally tastes like a vanilla bean. It's more like "I taste something here that's hard to describe and I don't know the exact chemical I'm tasting but it's sort of like vanilla".
>>The only thing you could possibly taste is wood or one of the cereal grains used to make it
Or a product of a chemical reaction: charring the wood generates a lot of flavors that weren't present in a bare wood barrel. "caramel" is a common one: the wood contains natural sugars. charring the barrel caramelizes those sugars. Etc.
There are hundreds if not thousands of different chemical compounds present in a barrel-aged spirit. We don't even know the names for most of them. But we can describe them in a way that anyone can understand by comparing those flavors to well known ones.
Austin Ward
Thank you for elevating the discussion on this shit mcchicken board.
Lincoln Harris
Not to even mention malting, fermentation, distillation, etc. Though I've always wondered how much something like fermentation effects whisk(e)y flavour. It's a big factor in beers, so one would assume it would at least somewhat translate.
Joseph Morgan
>The nose is complex, with aromas of toffee, hints of orange peel, herbs, honey, and leather. >literally no toffee, orange peel, herbs, honey, or leather was used
Levi Foster
It really comes down to what distillation process is used, and how many times the distillation is performed.
Generally speaking, spirits like Whisk(e)y are distilled in a pot still. A pot still is not very efficient so a lot of the chemicals present in the mash end up in the finished product. Thus you do get a lot of flavor from the grain, the malting process, and so on. For example in the case of many Scotches you get the flavor from the peat, etc.
Some spirits are distilled multiple times, and/or they are distilled using a reflux column. That process excludes at lot of the flavor from the original ferment. So with that kind of spirit you taste very little of the original grain and the majority of the flavor is from the barrel.
Age makes a difference too: barrels are not a perfect hermetic seal. Moisture, air, etc, slowly diffuses through them. This affects the flavor of the spirit as it ages.
Ryder Butler
whatever
Jordan Powell
you can't make this shit up
Adrian Reed
Where do you get your leather-free Bourbon?
Logan Ortiz
>>literally no toffee, orange peel, herbs, honey, or leather was used
Of course not. But, there are chemicals (tastes) present that are described by comparing them to things that everyone knows.
Why does this trigger your 'tism? Do you get triggered the same way when a person is described as a "fat cow"? What about when someone talks about the "hands on the clock" or the "arms of a chair"?
Asher Wood
>no idea how to articulate the non-existent flavors >shoehorn random food flavors to sound like you aren't insane
whiskey fags on suicide watch
Camden Cooper
They're trying to be impressive by listing off things they WANT to IMAGINE they taste you're not being a smug asshole by saying that chick is as fat as a cow, that's making a comparison
Joseph Ortiz
> >They're trying to be impressive by listing off things they WANT to IMAGINE they taste
Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure there are some people who make up bullshit to sound sophisticated. I'm not trying to defend that.
But a lot of this is legit. I don't know much about whiskey. Or other spirits for that matter. But even as a total noob to that sort of thing I have tasted spirts and thought "yeah, I can kind of taste vanilla" or "yeah, that's kind of tobacco-ey". I have tasted wines that reminded me of certain fruits. I don't see a problem with that--how else is someone supposed to describe what they taste without comparing it to other flavors?
>> that's making a comparison
And that's the same thing someone is doing when they describe their whiskey as tasting like vanilla.
Lincoln Parker
The difference is that in wine and craft beers, those constituents are actually used so it makes sense to detect those flavors. In Whiskey, none of that is used.
Lucas Sanchez
Is it so alien, so bizarre, so inconceivable to you that one thing could taste or have the aroma of another thing that you're going to complain that since whiskey doesn't use vanilla or orange or leather in the production process anyone who thinks it tastes like that is doing it to be pretentious? Not to mention different people have wildly differing tastes.
honestly i think you're just being a sperg
Evan Scott
You're being stupid. A certain variety of hop can impart a melon flavor, or a citrus one, or floral perfume, or a variety of other flavors. Malts can add different flavors as well, and roasted malts often add a coffee or chocolate flavor.
With whiskey and bourbon there are esters that get extracted from the wood in various amounts and the mash bill also plays a big part.
English as a language is lacking in descriptions of flavor. You have to compare flavors in order to make a useful description. Basically, you're either incredibly ignorant, or just pretending to be retarded. One is just as bad as the other.
Jack Collins
>Veeky Forums knows absolutely fuckall about food chemistry: the thread
Most of the flavors people describe whiskey as having are actually indeed specific flavor compounds that are present in the whiskey. Polyphenols and other such flavor compounds can obviously exist in more than one food.
For example, Jack Daniels' (as well as many other young whiskeys) tastes and smells like ripe bananas because it contains esters that are also present in ripe and overripe bananas.
Another good example (not whiskey related) is kaffir lime leaves; the essential oil of which contains a large amount of (–)-(S)-citronellal, which is also the primary "natural flavor" in Froot Loops.
Owen Carter
>those constituents are actually used so it makes sense to detect those flavors
Sometimes, sure. But it's entirely possible to taste other flavors in a wine that's made with nothing but grapes and water. Flavors can get created during the fermentation process. They can also come into the wine (or spirit) from the wood of the barrel.
The barrel can affect the taste a great deal more than just the wood itself. If the barrel is charred then that will affect the flavor. And for many kinds of wines and spirits they deliberately re-use old barrels which have already had another kind of wine or spirit soak into the wood. Some kinds of scotch, for example, are aged in old sherry casks.
Lucas Foster
>kaffir lime leaves >kaffir ugh, can you like, not? that word is totes problematic ever since i read somewhere that the k-word is basically nigger.
i'm also ignorant of the historical arabic usage of the word, which generally refers to any outsider of the muslim world.
Adrian Morales
If I call it Citrus hystrix will that unrumple your panties?
Hudson Harris
Bergamot is also used in Froot Loops.
Evan White
no, that sounds a bit too much like hysterectomy
Jace Roberts
Many of the aromatic compounds that make things like vanilla, tobacco etc. taste like vanilla, tobacco etc. ARE actually present in oak-aged spirits and wine. Even if the ingredients they are associated by are not. For example: vanillin, the organic compound which gives "vanilla" it's inherent character (which is actually only found in a concentration of 2% in vanilla itself) is literally present in many oak-aged spirits.
Owen Baker
>the brain trying to understand new experiences by relating them to already understood sensation.
You don't really understand the concept of learning and recognition, do you?
Wyatt Walker
>Do they not realize that bourbon literally has no flavoring added and the only "notes" they could possibly taste is either from the grains or the charred oak barrels? Yes but what people don't also get is that flavor also comes from yeast used to make the spirit which also imparts its own flavors that develop as it ages. Hell yeast is probably the most important aspect in making whisk(e)y.
Also bourbon has tons of flavors, dill, cotton, tobacco, candy apple, hell it can even taste like leather and charcoal. Whisk(e)y is an amazing drink.
Evan Hughes
>>no idea how to articulate the non-existent flavors >what are esters? Fucking retard.
Levi Taylor
For me, good bourbon should taste a bit like caramel and a bit like vanilla with a bit of char flavor
Connor Nguyen
Nice
Brody Lewis
>this tastes like a-group esters with a hint of short carbon chains.
Mason Barnes
...
Easton Nelson
was about to say the same thing hope dumbass OP understands this
Alexander Rogers
>NOSE: musty library and old tobacco barn, deep and rich. Dark chocolate and wood spice. >TASTE: thin on the entry-wish this was cask strength. Reminds me a lot of the Orphan series although this one is not filtered just proofed too low. No burn at all. Plenty of oak and some of the wood spice(cinnamon and nutmeg) from the nose. >FINISH: kind of fades out with a whimper. A little whisp of spice and a hint of cherry cola. Slightly drying.
LITERALLY DOESN'T USE ANY OF THESE INGREDIENTS
Ryder Ward
OP btfo
Parker Walker
it's probably a troll thread to go along with the rest of image.jpg's autistic beer shitposting (same recycled content but re-written each time)
he targets autists that don't understand when they are being mocked, hence beer and spirits fans being picked out
Robert Myers
>being this assmad because someone calls you out on your shit
Carson Wood
>Being this retarded Here's your (You)
Tyler Perry
it IS nigger in south africa
William Harris
what did he mean by this?
John Cook
>*Sips* >Hmm, wow big opening with a surprising punch >rounds off nicely with notes of apple, bark, the cashier's feet at total wine, and my 1993 honda civic
Jose Miller
Why do Wine reviewers pretend they can detect the various flavors (notes) present in their winr? Do they not realize that bourbon literally has no flavoring added and the only "notes" they could possibly taste is either from the grapes or the oak barrels?
It just seems kind of funny to me.
>yeah man i am getting a lot of blackberry, pepper, and other spice characteristics. ah yeah, getting some blueberry, leather, big big spiciness.
No you aren't, you retard. Literally none of those were used to make it.
Bentley Sullivan
I would love to hear the OP try and describe the difference in flavour between two bourbons.
Alexander Fisher
This one tastes slightly less dishustingly sweet but slightly more like licking a piece of wood than the other. In conclusion, both are terrible.
Austin Collins
I know this is a troll thread but op has a point. Bourbon is the equivalent of licking a piece of wood.
