A tool for everyone, specialists or beginners

  • You like to drink Scotch whisky – or its American and Irish variants, whiskey – but you ‘don’t understand a thing about it’. You wish there was a simple way of learning how to train your nose and better identify your taste so you can be a more discerning buyer.
  • You are an occasional dabbler or a long-standing enthusiast of single malt or bourbon who is looking for a method to become a better whisky taster, able to describe a whisky accurately and make an educated guess about its origin and age.
  • You are a whisky student or professional taster, a mixologist or distiller, and you need a tool to help you exercise your sense of smell on a regular basis and improve your olfactory memory.
  • You are intimidated or put off by the elitist, coded vocabulary of coffee connoisseurs and are looking for a more entertaining and sensory educational approach.
  • You want to find a gift for a whisky enthusiast who has everything and that is more original than a bottle of Scotch or a set of whisky glasses.

Do any of these descriptions fit? Then a Le Nez du Whisky aroma kit is the perfect choice!

As professional tools or for games with friends, the aroma kits have something for everyone: tasters, whisky professionals and amateurs alike.

Train your sense of smell

Playing a major role in taste, the sense of smell is essential in discerning flavours.

Yet it is difficult to identify the aromatic notes emanating from your glass of whisky. Have you ever experienced the feeling of knowing but not recognising a smell? Nothing could be more normal! In the same way that we learn to read, write and count, smelling requires training.

While Le Nez du Whisky is a work tool highly reputed by professionals, it can also be used as a game accessible to anyone. In just a few weeks, you’ll be able to distinguish, name and remember aromas.

You may ask: ‘What use is that?’

Make rapid progress in whisky tasting

First of all, recognising the aromas in whisky enriches your tasting vocabulary. Putting your impressions into words increases the pleasure of drinking whisky and allows you to share your experiences with others.

Second, a whisky’s aromas tell us about its geographical origin and the different stages in its production.

About 200 volatile aromatic compounds have been identified in single malt whiskies. Le Nez du Whisky offers floral, fruity, woody, phenolic, and various notes. The aromas can also be classified according to the moment of their appearance : those developed during malting, those resulting from fermentation or distillation, those created throughout the entire maturation period in casks, and finally, those contributed by the water.

An example? During kilning, that is, the drying of the malt, molecules develop that bring roasted and smoky notes. If peat is used as fuel, a whole range of molecules characteristic of peat appear, including many phenolic compounds : notes of smoke, clove, dried seaweed, and even rubber.

Become a Sherlock Holmes of whisky

In Le Nez du Whisky, the book that accompanies the aroma vials serves as your guide. For each characteristic aroma, it lists the whiskies that contain this note, making the link between the aromas and the whisky bottles you open. This will hone your nose for your future experiences with whisky, and deepen the pleasure of your olfactory investigations!

Imagine for example that someone hands you a glass of whisky. Thanks to regular practice with our vials, you detect hints of cherry and toasted almond. Both are precious clues. From the book in the kit, you learn that this aromatic profile is very characteristic of Japanese whisky, and that its delicate, fruity aroma comes from benzaldehyde, a compound that appears during fermentation. The toasted almond is a sign that the whisky has been matured in wood, particularly in casks that have contained port wine. Could this be a whisky from the Hakushu distillery?

Refine your taste

Let’s say you’re an amateur who enjoys ‘classic’ whiskies that are rounded and not too peaty, with smoky, floral and fruity notes. Through your training with Le Nez du Whisky, you’ll learn that you can confidently turn to Speyside whiskies. This region of Scotland, known as the ‘golden triangle’ of whisky, produces some of the most elegant malts, with a character that is robust, smooth and aromatically balanced.

Mastering a range of aromas is also a way to ensure whisky and food pairings that hit all the right notes. Aromas act as a connecting thread between a whisky and the dish it is paired with (ideally, it is better to start with the whisky to create the menu rather than the other way round). A whisky expert knows that it is not necessarily the dominant aromatic element that should guide the pairing, but a very distinctive note (discover some examples).

Martine Nouet, an author and journalist specialising in food and spirits, now based on the Isle of Islay, is a master of the art of subtly pairing the spirit of a dish and a malt. In April 2012, she became the first French Master of the Quaich. She shares her expertise and experience with readers of Le Nez du Whisky. Her advice includes flavouring a dish with a spice (cardamom or cloves, for example), an herb (green aniseed or basil), or a dried fruit or nut (prune, dried apricot or hazelnut) so that they resonate with the whisky. From starters to cheeses and desserts, she suggests ‘perfect matches’ (discover some examples).

Start your sensory journey

With a selection that includes Single Malt 54 aromas, Bourbon 12 aromas, and Oak Cask 12 aromas, Éditions Jean Lenoir offers aroma kits for all tastes and all levels.