Liquorists

Just to clarify things, i thought it might be handy to write a post about how i actually write my reviews.

For starters all my spirits are in the same room, where the temperature usually doesn't change too much. Usually i grab a shotglass and fill it about half way, and then ad a drop of water to unleash some of the aroma's that are trapped in the alcohol.

After spending some time sniffing the drink, quick, long, just above the glass or almost diving in, i get to the tasting part. Usually the first sip tends to be a bit alcoholic, if it's your first drink of the day, so when ignoring that, i take a few sips. Some bigger ones, some smaller ones. Some i swallow right away, some i swirl around inside the mouth for a while.
And then comes the hard part of discribing what you actually taste. Try grabbing a regular drink (doesn't have to be alcoholic) and discribe what it taste and smells like. It can be quite tricky.


Then comes the part where i add a filler, like coke, juice, etc. To see how well the spirit works out when mixed, since some tones tend to disappear, while others might appear a sudden. The way how the alcohol affects the taste and smell might drasticly differ aswel.
After looking at the price of the spirit, i'll just judge if i find the drink ok or not.

And there comes the part i don't always get from random reviews i find. Personally, i tend to discribe spirits more then judge them.
The reason for that is, if someone is bashing a spirit because *it's horrible*, and nothing more, i still don't have a clue what this spirit is like. I know the reviewer doesn't like it, but that doesn't give me any information about the spirit whatsoever. Imagen a whiskey has intense smoke, the reviewer tells it's horribe, tastes like a ashtray etc, but nothing more.
Someone who likes whiskey with a smoke factor is left out.

And besides that, someone did put allot of effort in making that spirit. Yes some marketing machines go for the big money rather then quality if that is more profitable.
But usually, someone does care for the spirit, has years of experience, or it's a family recipe.
Even if a spirit isn't too good, it would be just disrespectfull to just bash it. It is the internet afterall and people can be as rude or nice as they want, but i question myself if you would grab allot of longtime readers that way, unless the bashing has a comedy factor.

All in all this last part is more a personal rant, and is more about me as a person then how to actually review a spirit. Everyones palette is different, and everyone will get and like a different taste.
But that is for the good, else blogs like mine would be totally useless.