Your First Whisky Tasting: Five Easy Steps

A cork leaving a bottle is the first sound in the Scotch Whisky Association’s five-senses approach to tasting.[1] It is a simple invitation to pay attention. From there, look at the whisky, smell it, take a small sip and notice how it feels. Put those impressions into ordinary words. The SWA calls its method “one way” to taste: there are no correct answers to memorise.[1]

In short

• Two whiskies are enough for a first comparison.[3]
• Use a small measured pour; spitting is normal and nobody needs to finish a glass.
• Try a few drops of still, unchilled water and note any change.[1][2]

Before your first whisky tasting

Two whiskies give you something useful to compare without turning your first tasting into a long flight. Whisky Advocate suggests that a flight can contain as few as two, allowing at least ten minutes for each.[3] That leaves time to notice each sample rather than hurry through it. If you have not chosen them yet, start with choosing your first whisky.

Use a small, measured pour. Bunnahabhain’s published tasting guide suggests 15 to 25 ml per whisky; for this exercise, use the lower end, 15 ml, and remember that pouring it does not mean finishing it.[2] Spitting is normal at tastings, and nobody needs to finish a glass.

Set out a glass for each sample, a jug of drinking water, a little still, unchilled water for dilution, and paper for notes. Bunnahabhain recommends separate, labelled glasses or tasting cards, with plain water, oatcakes or unsalted crackers alongside.[2] Simple labels such as “A” and “B” work well, with the whisky names recorded separately.

Choose a plain tulip-shaped nosing glass if you have one. The SWA explains that the tulip shape collects aromas, while a copita’s narrowed rim concentrates them.[1] Use the same glass shape for both samples: keep the equipment consistent and let the differences between the whiskies take centre stage.

Give the samples a helpful order

Taste the lighter whisky first and leave the more forceful one until later. Bunnahabhain suggests lighter to richer, lower to higher alcohol strength, or least to most peated; Whisky Advocate also places heavily peated or sherried whiskies near the end.[2][3] Look for ABV on the label: it means alcohol by volume.

These suggestions help organise the tasting; they are not reasons to seek stronger whisky. If smoke is the main difference between your samples, finding your preferred peat style can help you choose a useful contrast.

Step 1: Listen and settle into the tasting

The SWA begins with hearing: the sound of a cork leaving a bottle.[1] Let that opening moment mark a pause before you begin. A bottle with a different closure needs no substitute ceremony. What matters is giving the whisky your attention.

Read its name, check which glass it belongs in and write that down. You can begin without knowing the distillery’s history or recognising a list of aromas. This first step is about settling into the tasting, with the right name beside the right sample and room on the page for your impressions.

Keep the first round straightforward. Take one sample through all five steps, then repeat with the other. Afterwards, return to your notes and compare what caught your attention. Each glass offers something to notice, rather than an answer you are expected to reach.

Step 2: Look, without trying to read an age

Hold the glass up and describe its colour. A few words will do: “pale straw”, “gold” or “amber”, if that is what you see. The SWA toolkit invites tasters to examine colour and notes that new make spirit, the spirit before maturation, is clear like water.[1]

Colour is worth recording, but leave age guesses out of your first notes. The toolkit says colour can offer clues about age and cask type.[1] Keep the distinction clear: “amber” describes what is in the glass; “therefore old” adds an interpretation. You can make a useful observation without making an age prediction.

Gently swirl the glass if you wish, then watch the trails of liquid run down its sides. These are often called “legs”.

Verdict: Legend

Claim: Legs reveal a whisky’s age.

What the record shows: The SWA toolkit makes this claim, but the supplied fact sheet identifies no supporting study.[1][4]

Evidence gap: The absence of a supporting study does not itself prove the claim false.

Earliest known source: Not reliably established from the supplied record.

Sources: Scotch Whisky Association, Whisky Tasting Toolkit, 2020, https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/media/1714/swa-tasting-toolkit_2020.pdf; supplied fact sheet, 5 November 2026.[1][4]

Last checked: November 2026.

Once you have recorded the colour, move on. There is no hidden score to extract from the glass.

Step 3: Smell and use familiar words

“What does this remind me of?” is the most useful question to ask as you smell the whisky. The SWA emphasises that different people pick up different aromas and that recognition becomes easier with practice.[1] A short description in your own words tells you more than an impressive phrase borrowed from someone else.

Start broadly. Write “fruit”, “smoke” or another familiar association when it comes to mind, then make it more specific if you can. If the words will not come, write “I cannot name it yet”. That captures a real stage in recognising an aroma and leaves you something to return to.

Write your first impression before reading the packaging. Then compare it with the producer’s description, keeping those words clearly identified as the producer’s tasting notes. The SWA points beginners towards packaging notes and the Scotch Whisky Research Institute’s flavour wheel when words are difficult to find.[1] Use them for vocabulary, not as a marking scheme.

If a companion notices something different, record both impressions. There is no need to force agreement or decide who has the better vocabulary. What did each of you notice? Leave space beneath your first words so you can add another impression later.

Step 4: Take a small sip, then try water

Take a small sip, let it rest on the tongue and coat the sides of your mouth, following the SWA’s method.[1] Compare the flavour with the aroma you have just recorded. The toolkit recognises that flavours in the mouth may differ from those detected on the nose.[1]

Pay attention across the mouth rather than chasing particular flavours around different parts of your tongue.

Verdict: Disputed

Claim: Sweetness is tasted at the tip of the tongue and bitterness at the back.

What the record shows: The SWA toolkit repeats this map, but the supplied taste science record rejects it.[1][4]

Evidence against or gap: The toolkit and the taste science record differ; the map is not a sound tasting method.[1][4]

Earliest known source: Not reliably established from the supplied record.

Sources: Scotch Whisky Association, Whisky Tasting Toolkit, 2020, https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/media/1714/swa-tasting-toolkit_2020.pdf; supplied fact sheet, 5 November 2026.[1][4]

Last checked: November 2026.

The whole experience is what belongs in your notes.

Record that first impression, then add a few drops of still, unchilled water and compare again. The SWA recommends trying water, while Bunnahabhain suggests keeping a jug or pipette at the table for this purpose.[1][2] Add a little at a time, giving each comparison a clear starting point.

Ask what changed. Does the aroma seem different? Is something easier to describe? Water need not improve the whisky for this to be a useful exercise. “No clear change” is worth writing down too. Keep your attention on this sample and the difference, if any, that you notice.

Step 5: Notice texture and what remains

How does the whisky feel, and what flavours remain after the sip? The SWA’s final step turns to sensation and how long flavour lasts.[1] Give these observations separate spaces in your notes: “texture” for the feeling in the mouth, and “finish” for the flavours that remain.

Reach for a concrete description rather than a general verdict. If the word that comes to mind is “smooth”, what “smooth” means can help you consider what you are trying to describe. A few precise, honest words are enough; there is no need to stretch them into a long sentence.

Now repeat the process with your second sample, keeping its notes separate. Once you have finished both, choose one difference you can explain in your own words. “I preferred this one” is a useful conclusion. Your preference can stand on its own without becoming a judgement about which whisky is better for everyone.

Keep a simple record

Your notes become useful when you can compare them. Bunnahabhain recommends recording colour, aroma, palate and finish to learn your preferences.[2] Give each sample the same prompts, plus an extra line for water, so that the differences are easy to find afterwards.

Date the page and keep it. Blank spaces are more useful than boxes filled with borrowed descriptions: they show where words or impressions have yet to come. When you are ready for another exercise, building your whisky palate takes the learning further without complicating this first session.

Keep the tasting measured

Keep water available and take breaks, with food alongside if wanted. Water, food, breaks and spitting do not remove alcohol’s risks. Do not drink if you are driving, pregnant or trying to conceive, taking medicines that interact with alcohol, living with a condition made worse by alcohol, or recovering from alcohol dependence; ask a doctor or pharmacist about personal medical questions. See the Responsible Drinking page for further guidance.

Leave strongly flavoured foods until afterwards if you want to explore pairings. Bunnahabhain specifically advises keeping cheese and chocolate until the tasting is complete.[2] Two samples are enough for this exercise; there is no requirement to add another whisky. Finish with your notes, including any questions you would like to return to next time.

Sources

1. Scotch Whisky Association. Whisky Tasting Toolkit, 2020.
   https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/media/1714/swa-tasting-toolkit_2020.pdf

2. Bunnahabhain, producer’s account. How to create your own whisky tasting flight, 17 December 2025.
   https://bunnahabhain.com/blogs/blog/how-to-create-your-own-whisky-tasting-flight

3. Whisky Advocate, T. Simmons. How to Plan the Perfect Whisky Tasting Flight, 11 February 2020.
   https://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky-flight-plan/

4. whiskydistillery.co.uk. Fact sheets set 02, write first whisky topics (20 sheets), 5 November 2026, local editorial file. Relevant record: TOP-A480, corrections concerning legs and the tongue map. Supplied file location: C:/Users/wheat/Downloads/WHISKY WEBSITE/.

This piece was prepared through desk research from the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing industry guidance, producer advice and trade recommendations; it does not report a site tasting.

Last checked: November 2026