Your Guide To The Official Bourbon Tasting Wheel

Upgrade To More Specific (And Subjective) Taste Descriptors

Using the wheel, you'll work your way outward to garner more specificity with the tasting notes, and this is where you can get more creative. Everyone is starting with a range of reference points and preferences. Taste spice? Likely. Specifically cinnamon? Sounds great. How about notes that evoke Christmas morning? Sure, why not?

Druckenmiller finds that you can taste the nuances based on geolocation, such as the conditions in the regions where the spirits are made and even minerals in the water. For example, Druckenmiller explains that Proximo Spirits brand Great Jones Straight Bourbon is made from 100% New York-grown corn, malted barley, and rye, so "you find a light pepper finish that comes from the black dirt soil where the grain comes from." 

Discovering nuance is where bourbon tasting can really get fun. Papic finds the bourbon tasting wheel will help build vocabulary beyond first impressions. However, he clarifies that tasting is open to interpretation: "In the end, there are no wrong answers here; everyone has a different palette and some people might be tasting flavors that others do not register at all."

Wood And The All-Important Char

New barrels of charred oak act like seasoning to bourbon. The oak barrels are burnt, usually for up to one minute, and create chemical compounds from the sugars, tannins, cellulose, and more in the wood that are then interpreted by us in intricate ways.

The category of wood might not be the first flavor that comes to mind when sipping bourbon; however, this area on the tasting wheel includes nuts like almond or oak, whether toasted or new. Wood also includes a conifer subsection, so you might notice pine or cedar after allowing bourbon to linger on the tongue.

Although some distillers are choosing to experiment with French oak or fortified wine barrels, traditional bourbon is unique in its adherence to using only American oak. Granted, flavors do not operate in isolation. In comparison to other types of whiskey, Papic says, "I like seeing how the sweetness of corn is being affected by exposure to wood over a longer period of time."

The Backbone Of Grain, Particularly Corn

Grain as a bourbon tasting category can be more complex than you might expect. Bourbon can be made from a range of different grains, as long as the mash bill contains a minimum of 51% corn. With grain, distillers are able to experiment with the ingredients of the mash bill, and Druckenmiller finds it will change the perceived sweetness, spiciness, and overall flavor profile of the whiskey. "[C]orn is naturally sweet and wheat is naturally more subtle," he says. "However, when wheat interacts with corn, it will produce a sweeter whiskey than just wheat alone."

Druckenmiller explains grain can be an easier starting point for beginners to identify. "Different grain ingredients will produce different flavors — corn, for example, creates sweet flavors, while rye grains deliver a spicy note," he says. "When it comes to flavor, grain is a fun wild card." Due to the nature of the grains, both Papic and Baker mention that grain can also be harder to pinpoint, so don't be surprised if this category requires more practice.

Looking at the bourbon tasting wheel, grains can be perceived as either sweet or spicy. Anyone who enjoys a Manhattan cocktail may be attuned to the spiciness of rye. But, can you tell the difference between a high rye and wheated bourbon? What about hints of cocoa or cereal thanks to malt? The grain additions can yield surprising results.

The Sweet Balance

Depending on who you ask, tasting sweetness in bourbon might seem like a given or a pleasant surprise once the alcohol mellows. This whiskey's sweet profile is one of the more nuanced and can be an excellent starting point for tasting beginners. We've always appreciated the sweeter notes of bourbon compared to a heavily peated whiskey (don't come for us).

When we asked Baker what tasting category is the most approachable, her answer was simple: Sweet. "So often people will say they are tasting caramel popcorn, which can be the first 'comparison' they may draw," she says. The head distiller finds that the bourbon's mash bill of over 50% corn results in "a sweetness that shines on the initial sip more so than other whiskies."

The tasting wheel breaks sweet notes into buttery, candy, or baked segments. The buttery notes of vanilla, caramel, and maple syrup are the direct result of the reactions of the sugars when the oak barrels are charred, such as vanilla from the vanillin released during the breakdown of the wood. For many drinkers, sweet not only offers a simple touchstone but can include a moment of nostalgia. Clinging to a hint of butterscotch in your bourbon that reminds you of grandma? We hear you. After all, isn't liquor just candy for grownups?

A Lingering Spice

Detecting spice in bourbon is another umbrella category with incredible nuance and subjectivity. The segment is split into aromatic and earthy subcategories, which are further divided into flavors such as tobacco, licorice, clove, herbal tea, black pepper, or leather. Many of the tasting notes seem like everyday flavors, and determining which is apparent over the other in a spirit could require a bit of practice.

Papic of Sweetbriar mentions the influence of spice (along with wood and grain) "is a little more complicated since most novice drinkers might be meeting with those flavor profiles for the first time and it could be sometimes very hard to describe what they actually taste."

Multiple factors in the mash bill and distillation process can create spice in the final product. Druckenmiller explains that "spice will always be introduced through the wood and, in some cases, the grain (i.e. rye)." The level of spice will depend on the bottle, so it's a nuance that needs time to develop.