Click or tap to explore
Choose Scotch or Bourbon, then move from broad flavour families to specific tasting notes. Select any section for an explanation and a practical aroma-training tip.
The full wheel is best explored on a larger screen.
Every flavour, description and palate-training tip is included, arranged for smaller screens.
How to use the wheel
- Choose Scotch or Bourbon.
- Select a broad flavour family, then move outward to a more specific note.
- Use the description and aroma reference as prompts, not a test with one correct answer.
The same note can occur in either style. The two wheels emphasise useful routes through the vocabulary rather than exclusive rules.
Full Scotch flavour list
What is a whisky flavour wheel?
A whisky flavour wheel sorts the aromas and flavours you might find in a glass into families, such as fruit, smoke, spice, wood and sweetness, then breaks each one into more specific notes. Instead of hunting for the right word from scratch, you start with a broad impression and narrow it down. It’s a prompt, not a test: there’s no single correct answer, and two people can describe the same dram differently.
Scotch and Bourbon: how the wheels differ
Both wheels work the same way but suggest different routes through the vocabulary. Scotch notes often include peat smoke, coastal and salty character, heather and dried fruit, while Bourbon notes lean towards caramel, vanilla, toasted oak and baking spice. Bourbon made with rye in the mash often leans further towards spice. These are tendencies, not rules. The same note can turn up in either style, and a Scotch matured in ex-bourbon casks may share plenty with a Bourbon.
Recognising tasting notes
Nose the glass gently before you sip, choose the closest broad family, then move outward. Each section of the wheel includes a short aroma-training tip, such as comparing a note with something familiar like a vanilla pod, dried apricot or woodsmoke. Beginners can use it to find words for what they notice, and experienced tasters can use it to sharpen and compare.
Free to use
The wheel is free to use on this website and there is a free Chrome extension as well. To keep track of what you discover, my Whisky Tasting Journal and Whisky Tasting Logbook give you space to record each dram.