I’m Getting Hints of Cardamom and Pretension

19 Mar 24

In the whiskey world there’s all sorts of foul-smelling peat (ifyaknowwhatImean) thrown about that’s just not true.  Every office has some guy who seems to have lot of questionable knowledge about whiskey. I’ve lost count of the number of know-it-alls who tell me stuff like they’ve got an unopened bottle of Jim Beam from their grandfather who bought it thirty years ago.  “I’ve got a thirty-year-old bottle of scotch!”

“Wow!  That’s quite a catch.”  I say enthusiastically.  Beam is bourbon, not scotch.  And whiskey stops aging once it’s in the bottle.  So he’s got a four-year-old whiskey that’s been sitting around for thirty years – it’s still good, though.  (Crack it open!).  Getting accurate information about whiskey can be challenging and one of the several goals we have here at Whiskey and Politics.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, pretension is a recurring theme across the whiskey landscape.  Tasting notes are another load of pretentious putrid peat.  Some guy says he detects hints of fresh-cut grass and cardamom with a finish of charnushka and slight hint of anardana.  Really???  I’m getting wet dog and sweaty socks.  (That comment never goes well at a whiskey tasting.). Now that marijuana has become more accepted, this pompousness is even infiltrating that subculture. 

“The balance from this bud really gives you a sense of its terroir.” (No.  All you’re detecting is the stench of skunk and a sudden craving for bodega burritos.)  

There are plenty of studies that show tasting notes lead the taster rather than give them usable information about what’s in their glass.  When you get a new bottle, read the distillers tasting notes.  See if you can taste those same characteristics.  But I wouldn’t spend too much time on tasting notes.  I never read them.  And I’m not saying that the folks who say they taste ‘anardana’ (whatever that is) aren’t really tasting it.  All I’m saying is that if you don’t taste it, you can still enjoy your whiskey.  Slán!