The six flavour dimensions
A whisky can be fruity, sweet, spicy and oak-driven at once. Six dimensions reveal the complete shape rather than reducing it to one label.
- Smoke: peat, ash, campfire, tar and medicinal notes.
- Fruit: citrus, apple, pear, berries, tropical and dried fruit.
- Sweet: honey, vanilla, caramel, chocolate and syrup.
- Wood: oak, tannin, toast, leather and cask influence.
- Spice: pepper, ginger, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.
- Maritime: salt, iodine, seaweed, brine and minerals.
How do you read a flavour profile?
The scale describes intensity. Read the shape of the whole profile instead of focusing on a single peak.
Treat it as a starting point, not absolute truth: glassware, temperature, water, surroundings and experience all affect perception.
How does the cask affect flavour?
Ex-bourbon casks often bring vanilla, caramel, coconut and light oak; sherry casks can add dried fruit, nuts, chocolate and warm spice.
Spirit style, grain, fermentation, stills, climate and storage matter too, so flavour is shown alongside production facts and origin.
Transparency
Sources, image makers, licences and methodology are brought together here. Wherever possible, Whisk(e)y Compare links bottle data and distillery status to producers, trade bodies and other primary sources. Scores describe flavour intensity, not quality.