🥃 How to Host a Whiskey Tasting - The Complete Guide

Welcome to Whiskey Hospitality

At this point, you've probably tried a few bottles and maybe found one you like. Maybe you're quite a few bottles into your journey and are looking to form a more artistic understanding of whiskey expressions. Perhaps, you're looking instead to spready the joy of tasting whiskey socially. Whatever your reasons, planning a whiskey tasting can be a great way to socially explore the world of spirits and level up your palette. This guide provides thoughts on all the considerations of hosting a whiskey tasting, but the biggest thing is to keep fun and comradery as the focus! Enjoy yourself, the whiskey, and your friends - everything else is a bonus. 

Everything but the Whiskey - Getting the Tasting Ready 

For all intents and purposes, you should prepare for a whiskey tasting mush like you would for hosting a similarly sized event. 

Administrative Considerations:

• Pick a Date and Time - I would suggest early afternoon to early evening as this will allow you to slip into a meal or give your guests time to hang out in case anyone needs some extra time for whatever reason. We always use Evite to send out a lovely little electronic invitation, they have some solid whiskey themed choices. Try to make sure you don't any any pressing engagements after, a good tasting often goes long!
• Invite your Guests - For a whiskey tasting, smaller is generally better. Target a group of 4-8. Six is my happy number, though you may be able to manage 10 depending on the personalities and seating arrangements. Too many, and you won't be able to engage everyone or it becomes to easy to have side conversations and lose the flow of the event. I find that inviting around 12 people tends to result in this number (25-30% falloff from invite to attendance), though you may need to tweak for the passion level of your friends.
• Seating Arrangements - You'll want to make sure there is a seat for everyone as well as ample room for the tasting sets. If you plan to pre-pour the tasting flights, you'll need even more space. I tend to recommend a dining room table for this reason. If you are conducting the tasting in a living room, I would recommend bringing the tasting samples around in courses. You may need to think about clip boards or backed mats if guests will be writing down their own tasting notes. In the event you have a large group (more than the 8 described above), it may be worth looking into a horseshoe or classroom type setup. Having everyone with clear visibility and a natural focus point on the presenter can help manage side conversations and keep everyone focused. I have also had good experiences where everyone is seated along a bar, though that setup reduces the ability to have good group discussions. 

Setting the Stage:

• Glassware - For a professional tasting, you should try and avoid reusing glassware if possible. If you're low on glass or high on guests, I would recommend doing a quick rinse between each round. Glencairn glasses or snifter style glasses are traditional for tastings (see our glassware guide), though you can get away with using smaller tulip style wine glasses fairly well. I love these tiny 4oz. stemless mini glencairns and am accumulating quite a few of them; they fit quite well in a shallow drawer. It's also perfectly reasonable to ask guests to bring their favorite glass/glasses, and sometimes that is a great way to get some fun stories of travels past. To quickly wash the glasses between rounds, I recommend setting up a restaurant style three sink sanitizing process with three Tupperware or other readily available containers, drying them with a clean towel instead of waiting on air drying. If you're using bleach to sanitize, rinse once more under the faucet before drying.
• Water - Each guest will need a tall glass of water for cleansing their paleta between tasting rounds as well as for hydration. Avoid the temptation to provide ice water; it dulls the tongue's sense of taste. I would also have a refill pitcher ready nearby as you may be surprised by how much water your guests go through over the course of the evening. 
• Pipette/Straw (Optional) - While the tasting should typically be conducted neat, many aficionados know that adding a drop or two of water can help "wake up" a dram of whiskey. A pipette can be useful for this, though you can also add small amounts of water by dipping a straw in water and closing the opposite end with your thumb, creating a vacuum.  
• Tasting Mat / Notepad - Many whiskey fans enjoy taking notes on how they felt about each given bottle. To this extent you will often see tasting placemats with room for both note taking and background information on the whiskies in question. In my opinion, tasting mats are one of those "style point" options that I would expect from a professional, but that you should not overly stress about at home. Worst case scenario, the more passionate folks can take notes on their phones. Etsy has a huge number of tasting mats readily available for purchase if you feel so inclined or you can download our super simple free template here. 
• Food/Snacking - Also entirely optional, providing some light snacks during the tasting can be a fun way to see how the whiskey interacts with other flavors. Stay away from anything spicy or highly acidic to avoid throwing of your taste buds.. Mild sweets or more savory options are best. Dark chocolate, depending on the percentage, may be too bitter. In general, you'll want to stay away from anything with strong flavors. The snacks are the harmony not the melody. Oyster crackers or other lightly salted items like pretzels can be a great way to reset the tongue. Small mouthful of salty snack followed by a few sips of water. I like to end the evening with a hearty meal, but that is just a personal preference and far from required. 

Don't be afraid to task your guests with bringing any or all of the above, just be clear on the expectations (e.g. Each guest should bring three glasses, a bottle of water, and a salty snack to share). I will usually make sure to have an extra set of glassware for any forgetful individuals. If they're not paying you, etiquette dictates they should not come empty handed. At a minimum, include something to the extent of "Feel free to bring an interesting bottle to share or a dessert for later". Speaking of the whiskey, it's entirely fair to ask people to bring the whiskey for the tasting as well, just be clear on who is covering what and fair about the price ranges required (for a Scotch tasting, most Campbelltown bottles are more scarce and costly than Highland varieties).   

Example Full Tasting Flight & Spread

Whiskey Time - Choosing the Bottles

A good whiskey tasting has a theme. Presenting different bottles and styles next to one another is a great way to help unpack the differences between varying mash bills, styles, age statements, and more. Whatever your theme, you should aim for between 3 and 6 differing bottles. This range allows for enough whiskey to justify a reasonable time of attendance as well as provides enough different items to really allow for a side-by-side comparison. The general guidance is to pick a spread of whiskies that serve as good foils to one another. I've put together a few options below to serve as an illustration, but part of the fun is getting creative!

Beginner's Favorite - Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond Tour

This lineup from Heaven Hill serves as a balanced entry point into the broader world of American Whiskey. All bottles in this flight are Bottled-in-Bond at 100 proof but are stylistically very different. The total cost of this flight is potentially below or around $100 all-in, with the Heaven Hill BiB being the most expensive by far. You'll likely find a great candidate for your go-to daily drinker in this batch!

• Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond: A cheap classic, this simple and reliable bottle has a great illustration of common bourbon wooded notes.
• Mellow Corn: Showcasing the corn whiskey category, Mellow Corn is a meme that transcends time. Nuts and corn flavors abound with less of the wood influence due to reused cooperage.
• Rittenhouse Rye: Potentially the best old fashioned mixer in the world, Rittenhouse Rye is a solid and historical brand that is beautifully balanced. Keep your tongue on the lookout for the distinctive rye pepper. 
• Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond: Made from the same mash bill as the Evan Williams, this bottle which is age stated for seven years, helps show how flavors change with age.

A Scotch Tour of Scotland

Scotland has six whisky regions, each with their own distinctive character. People tend to assume that all Scotch is full of smoke and salt, but there is a huge amount of nuance in the spirit. This tasting setup assigns each of the regions to a person and specifies a dollar price range to target. Out of all the tasting themes I have done, this one is a recurring favorite. 

• Highlands - Glenmorangie 10 Yr: Fruity and floral notes
• Speyside - Glenfiddich 12Yr: Some fruit with malt and oak
• Lowlands - Auchentoshan 12Yr: Distinctive triple-distilled character
• Campbelltown - Springbank 10Yr: Maritime and peaty flavors. Note that Campbelltown whisky is harder to find and likely a bit more expensive than the rest.
• Islay - Lagavulin 8Yr: Intense peat smoke, medicinal notes, and a salty finish
• Islands - Highland Park 12yr: A personal favorite with a great looking bottle, a harmonious blend of peat smoke, honey, and spice

A Scotch Tour of Scotland

Wheat Wanted

If you have a sweet tooth, this batch of wheated bourbons might be right up your alley. It includes two flagship offerings as well as their barrel proof counterparts and alternative styles. Go deep and understand the differences of subtle changes in mash bill and yeast used by major producers across a wide alcohol content spectrum. 

• Maker's mark - Classic entry point, known for its sweet vanilla and caramel notes
• Marker's 46 - Aged longer with added French oak staves, see how the additional age and finishing tastes at a slight uptick in proof
• Maker's Cask Strength - Uncut at its natural proof level, this surprisingly smooth whiskey is screen filtered and placed right in the bottle. Pure whiskey goodness!
• Larceny Bourbon - The Heaven Hill competitor, it adds more spice with a little less sweetness
• Larceny Barrel Proof - A high octane bottle that adds 10-20 proof over the Maker's Cask strength. This bottle is growing in demand!

Tasting Time - Running the Event

With everything set, the guests start to arrive. Plan on starting 15-30 minutes after the stated time. Musical ambiance and some well placed snacks are your best friend here. I usually keep the welcome snacks in a different area than the tasting. Moving to the "tasting room" is a good way to reset the mentality from casual mingling and also keeps anyone from getting ahead of the group and breaking into the bottles early. A light welcome cocktail can be a great way to wake up everyone's palates but be mindful of any crazy sour or bitter ingredients which could throw off the taste buds.

A Note on Serving Sizes

While it may be tempting to pour with a heavy hand, a tasting is intended to be a contemplative experience. Your guests may have differing tolerances and we want all of them to be able to fully participate in the experience. As Mom said, "you can always go back for seconds". For a couple hour session, I target around 3oz. of alcohol, which is two standard bar drinks. This implies between .5oz and 1oz for a three to six bottle tasting. Each person should monitor their own levels of intoxication but as the host it is good to broadly monitor the participants. Friends don't let friends drive drunk.

Focusing on light pour tasting portions also had the added benefit that people may be less afraid to share and rare or prized bottles once they can see that people are not going to openly guzzle the good stuff.

A Narrative Experience

Providing some background on the pour at hand including any distinguishing factors or flavors to look for can be additive to the experience. This will require some preparation, but there are a large number of resources online. I have seen people pull up YouTube reviews before, and some others even opt to pay a whiskey expert to come in and lead their home tasting. Whatever the program, it is always good to end with an open ended question to the group. Be sure to include a statement that all opinions are welcome, some may have particularly strong feelings one way or another about a particular bottle. 

Order of Operations

Conventional wisdom suggests starting with the most mild whiskey first and then moving up to the stronger bottles, both from a flavor and proof perspective. In example, I would start with the lowest proof wheat bourbon and end with a barrel proof rye whiskey. This serves to help preserve your taste buds as well as giving them some time to wake up before having a proof monster dumped on them. 

Timing the Tasting Rounds

Plan on around 10-15 minutes between tasting rounds. This gives plenty of time for discussion to wind down naturally and to rinse any glassware as needed. Listen to the conversation level and don't be afraid to go to the next round faster if things are getting quiet or wait a few more minutes if discussion is animated. If you're looking for an in-depth guide to how to taste whiskey, check out our comprehensive write-up here. 

Conclusion

I hope this has been helpful as you think through hosting your next whiskey tasting. While it can be a lot to prepare, a well run tasting is a recurring favorite event and your guests will thank you. Give yourself plenty of time. If the guests linger, that's a sure sign that you've done a great job!  Don't stress the small stuff, the goal is that everyone has a good time. Cheers!