Origins of Flavour in Whiskies and a Revised Flavour Wheel: a Review

The nature and origins of flavour in whiskies are reviewed with the aim of developing a revised and simplified flavour wheel for training of sensory assessors. Scotch whiskies are perceived as having distinctive characters, generally recognised in pattern recognition (perception, macroscopic brain processing), rather than being subjected to a deconstruction process of evaluating attributes (sensation, microscopic brain processing). Although consumers use simple recognition judgements on whisky flavour in categorical assimilation, industry has a requirement for monitoring spirit quality that necessitates a more reductionist approach. Whisky flavour wheels identify attributes, specific components of flavour character, which can be demonstrated to sensory assessors using reference standards. The advent of cyclodextrin bound reference standards has enabled communication of information on flavour character in training of assessors, as exploited in the brewing industry. A revised flavour wheel, with characters illustrated by reference standards, is proposed to assist sensory training on attributes of whisky flavour character.