Color/Appearance

[Niklaus]

Why do all the reviews I read start with "Appearance"? Although it is nice to look at the beautiful color of a SMS, in my experience it appearance has very little to do with nose/taste. For example I have a Bowmore and a Glenlivet that look exactly the same. That's the only thing they have in common. What do my fellow maltheads think?

[Jojo]

Sorry, but this one I can't say for 100% sure - maybe it's just because it's a part of the overall description. I'm sure someone will know and will chime in! Generally one might think that the taste of a whisky is actually directly in relation to the color profile, i.e. the darker the whisky the older and better tasting - as I once did. However, as you know, this is not necessarily true and for number of reasons. First of all, not all whiskies are matured in first-fill casks, some are second to third fill, so the liquid takes on a lighter color, but not a weaker flavor profile. Many very old whiskies are very light in appearance. Second - there are companies that add caramel coloring to their whisky in order to give it a better self appeal as well as to insure coloring for all production is the same. Also to mention - many single grain whiskies are mostly light in appearance, but have fantastic flavors and age. :D

[bkblankenship]

Appearance is a very important factor in whisky tasting; and JoJo alluded to it in her comment about age. Looking at appearance ( aka color ) can tell the taster a lot about the maturation process. From a chardonnay color to a mahogany color, the color suggests the type of cask used in maturation. If a label does not state whether it is a first fill or refill or even a 2nd refill for example, then the taster can make an educated guess as to the cask and number of refills used. For example, a refill sherry butt aged for 21 years will most likely impart a mahogany color, but a 3rd refill sherry butt aged for the same number of years may impart a very deep gold as previous maturations have taken most of the sherry out of the wood. So APPEARANCE does play an important role in the overall tasting experience as it can reveal many characteristics about the whisky ( in my example; strong sherry presence or weak sherry presence in the taste ). Hope this helps.

[powderhound]

Appearance is a very important factor in whisky tasting; and JoJo alluded to it in her comment about age. Looking at appearance ( aka color ) can tell the taster a lot about the maturation process. From a chardonnay color to a mahogany color, the color suggests the type of cask used in maturation. If a label does not state whether it is a first fill or refill or even a 2nd refill for example, then the taster can make an educated guess as to the cask and number of refills used. For example, a refill sherry butt aged for 21 years will most likely impart a mahogany color, but a 3rd refill sherry butt aged for the same number of years may impart a very deep gold as previous maturations have taken most of the sherry out of the wood. So APPEARANCE does play an important role in the overall tasting experience as it can reveal many characteristics about the whisky ( in my example; strong sherry presence or weak sherry presence in the taste ). Hope this helps.

How prevelant is using carmel color, or something like it, to alter the appearance of a whisky?

I have no doubt that what you've stated here is 100% correct, but if the color is altered or enhanced in any way, it would really negate any indication looking at the color of a whisky can give.

All that said, I always thought the ruby amber color of the Aberlour 12 double cask was particularly beautiful :)

[bkblankenship]

Powderhound, you make a good point, but in my experience, 99.9999% of the time a bottling will normally state NO COLORING if there is none. Usually it is the distillery bottlings that use caramel coloring ( E150 coloring ) as the distilleries are trying to achieve "shelf consistency" for the consumer as distillery bottlings ( OB ) are the larger sales in single malt whiskies with the USA being the largest market globally. Some distilleries do not use coloring with Aberlour being one of them. Macallan normally does not use coloring but they do in their 12-Year-Old as the 12YO is their flagship bottling for the average consumer for the Macallan imbiber. Of course, nothing is absolute and there are others out there who may "shoot holes" in what both you and I have written. Any others out there with info?

[Rodrigo]

With the use of caramel in whisky, colour has very little to do with the actual nose/taste.

Thing is, tasting notes aren't only used to say how the whisky is today, but also to compare it with previous versions you have tasted. This reminds me of a review of Highland Park 12 yr, in which a new bottle was shown next to an old one, with the old one being quite darker. The reviewer said this was most likely because they stopped using caramel (or at least lessened its use), which he obviously considered positive.