Perception of whisky flavour reference compounds by Scottish distillers

A set of 16 compounds was selected from the literature as potential flavour standards for whisky profiling: acetic acid (sour), diacetyl (buttery), di methyl tri sulphide (sulphury), ethyl hexanoate (fruity-appley), ethyl laur ate (soapy), furfural (grainy), geraniol (floral), guaimcol (smoky), hexana l (grassy), iso-amyl acetate (fruity-banana), iso-valeric acid (sweaty), ma ltol (sweet), phenyl ethanol (floral), vanillin (vanilla), 4-vinyl guaiacol (spicy) and whisky lactone (coconut). Each compound, at 90% recognition th reshold concentration, that at which 90% assessors recognise the flavour ch aracter, was added to 3 year old grain whisky diluted to 23% v/v. The solut ions were assessed by 72 distilling professionals (blenders, quality contro l and technical functions) and flavour attributes suggested without, and su bsequently with, a prompt list were recorded. Descriptors with a frequency of >10% were examined. Only limited agreement was found across the industry . Agreement on reference standards and commonality in procedures for traini ng of both blenders and sensory assessors would be of benefit to the whisky industries.