The perceptual categorisation of blended and single malt Scotch whiskies

Abstract

Background: Although most Scotch whisky is blended from different casks, a firm distinction exists in the minds of consumers and in the marketing of Scotch between single malts and blended whiskies. Consumers are offered cultural, geographical and production reasons to treat Scotch whiskies as falling into the categories of blends and single malts. There are differences in the composition, method of distillation and origin of the two kinds of bottled spirits. But does this category distinction correspond to a perceptual difference detectable by whisky drinkers? Do experts and novices show differences in their perceptual sensitivities to the distinction between blends and single malts? To test the sensory basis of this distinction, we conducted a series of blind tasting experiments in three countries with different levels of familiarity with the blends versus single malts distinction (the UK, the USA and France). In each country, expert and novice participants had to perform a free sorting task on nine whiskies (four blends, four single malts, one single grain, plus one repeat) first by olfaction, then by tasting. Results: Overall, no reliable perceptual distinction was revealed in the tasting condition between blends and single malts by experts or novices when asked to group whiskies according to their similarities and differences. There was nonetheless a clear effect of expertise, with experts showing a more reliable classification of the repeat sample. French experts came closest to a making a distinction between blends and single malts in the olfactory condition, which might be explained by a lack of familiarity with blends. Interestingly, the similarity between the blends and some of their ingredient single malts explained more of participants' groupings than the dichotomy between blends and single malts. Conclusions: The firmly established making and marketing distinction between blends and single malts corresponds to no broad perceptually salient difference for whisky tasters, whether experts or novices. The present study indicates that successfully blended whiskies have their own distinctive and recognizable profiles, taking their place in a common similarity space, with groupings that can reflect their component parts.

Complexity on the Menu and in the Meal

“…In the case of blended whiskies and wines, it can be incredibly complex to make an end product that tastes the same as it always has (i.e., in years gone by) despite the fact that the raw materials may change from one year to the next (see Smith, Sester, Ballester, & Deroy, 2017, on blended whiskies, cf. Harrar, Smith, Deroy, & Spence, 2013, on blending in Champagne) [ 33 , 34 ]. The real challenge here is the very unpredictability of what happens when different olfactory stimuli are mixed together (e.g., see Dubow & Childs, 1998, Thomas-Danguin, Barba, Salles, & Guichard, 2017) [ 35 , 36 ].…”

Multisensory Flavour Perception: Blending, Mixing, Fusion, and Pairing within and between the Senses

“…The story as far as blending grapes for wine has also been replicated in the case of whisky [32,34]. For instance, Chadwick and Dudley had eight Scottish medics taste six whiskies blind (actually blindfolded).…”

“…The results of a number of studies that have been conducted over the last half-century or so have demonstrated that neither experts nor non-experts appear able to unpick blends, be they blends of single varietal grapes/wines or whiskies, in order to identify their contributing components [32][33][34][35]. At the outset here, one might be tempted to wonder what exactly differentiates blending from mixing.…”

“…More recently, Barry Smith and his colleagues [34] conducted a much more thorough study covering much the same ground. Once again, though, the results revealed how those tested, in this case, people having different levels of familiarity with the blends vs. single malts distinction from the USA, France, and the UK were unable to discriminate reliably, either from nosing or tasting, the blended whiskies from the single malts in a free-sorting task.…”

Wine psychology: basic & applied

“…Note that the latter blends must presumably be more chemically complex than the single varietals (see Smith, 2014;, 2018b, on the notion of complexity in the world of fine wine). Nevertheless, the results revealed that none of the three groups of tasters were able to distinguish the more chemically complex blends from the single varietals at a level that was significantly better than chance (see Campbell, Campbell, & Roberts, 1994;Chadwick & Dudley, 1983;and Smith, Sester, Ballester, & Deroy, 2017, for a similar inability to discriminate single malt whiskies from their blended counterparts).…”