The Wine Voyage

Table of Contents - What Is Whiskey Tasting, Really? - The Four Categories of Whiskey You'll Encounter - The Whiskey Tasting Framework: Four Steps - Building a Vocabulary for Whiskey Tasting - How to Approach a Whiskey Tasting Flight - Common Mistakes in Whiskey Tasting - Bringing Whiskey Tasting to a Group - Building a Home Whiskey Tasting Collection - Further Reading I came to whiskey late. For years I was a committed wine person — grapes, terroir, vintage variation, all of it. Then a client pulled out a 21-year Speyside Scotch at the end of a corporate event I was running, poured two glasses, and said nothing. Just slid one across the table. That first proper whiskey tasting moment — really nosing the glass, letting the spirit open, finding the vanilla and dried fruit and that faint thread of smoke — changed something for me. I realized I'd been treating whiskey as a category to drink through rather than one to actually taste. This guide is what I wish I'd had then. Whet...

Table of Contents - What Is Whiskey Tasting, Really? - The Four Categories of Whiskey You'll Encounter - The Whiskey Tasting Framework: Four Steps - Building a Vocabulary for Whiskey Tasting - How to Approach a Whiskey Tasting Flight - Common Mistakes in Whiskey Tasting - Bringing Whiskey Tasting to a Group - Building a Home Whiskey Tasting Collection - Further Reading I came to whiskey late. For years I was a committed wine person — grapes, terroir, vintage variation, all of it. Then a client pulled out a 21-year Speyside Scotch at the end of a corporate event I was running, poured two glasses, and said nothing. Just slid one across the table. That first proper whiskey tasting moment — really nosing the glass, letting the spirit open, finding the vanilla and dried fruit and that faint thread of smoke — changed something for me. I realized I'd been treating whiskey as a category to drink through rather than one to actually taste. This guide is what I wish I'd had then. Whet...

Table of Contents - What Is a Wine Blending Competition? - The Science (and Art) Behind Blending - How a Wine Blending Competition Works: Step by Step - Why Wine Blending Competition Works for Teams - Setting Up Your Own Wine Blending Competition - Variations on the Wine Blending Competition Format - How The Wine Voyage Runs It - Further Reading The first time I ran a wine blending competition for a corporate group, I wasn't sure how it would go. The company was a mid-sized tech firm, the group was forty people who didn't necessarily know each other well, and the brief was vague: "do something wine-related but more interactive than a regular tasting." An hour into the blending session, I had to actually get people's attention to move on. They were nose-deep in their glasses, arguing cheerfully about whether more Malbec would soften the tannins, writing tasting notes, designing label concepts on napkins. It was the most engaged I'd ever seen a corporate group d...

Table of Contents - What Is a Wine Blending Competition? - The Science (and Art) Behind Blending - How a Wine Blending Competition Works: Step by Step - Why Wine Blending Competition Works for Teams - Setting Up Your Own Wine Blending Competition - Variations on the Wine Blending Competition Format - How The Wine Voyage Runs It - Further Reading The first time I ran a wine blending competition for a corporate group, I wasn't sure how it would go. The company was a mid-sized tech firm, the group was forty people who didn't necessarily know each other well, and the brief was vague: "do something wine-related but more interactive than a regular tasting." An hour into the blending session, I had to actually get people's attention to move on. They were nose-deep in their glasses, arguing cheerfully about whether more Malbec would soften the tannins, writing tasting notes, designing label concepts on napkins. It was the most engaged I'd ever seen a corporate group d...

Table of Contents - What Is Mezcal? - What Is Tequila? - Mezcal vs Tequila: The Core Differences - Flavor: What to Expect in Your Glass - The Geography of Agave Spirits - How to Drink Them - Pricing and Value - The Mezcal vs Tequila Experience for Groups - Further Reading The question I get more than almost any other at spirits tastings is this: what's the difference between mezcal vs tequila? People sense they're related — both come from Mexico, both come from agave — but the details stay fuzzy. Here's the honest answer: all tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. It works the same way that all Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. Tequila is a specific, regulated type of mezcal made from one agave variety in one region. Mezcal is the broader category — older, wilder, and far more varied. Let me break down exactly what separates them and why it matters for what you're tasting in your glass. What Is Mezcal? Mezcal is a distilled...

Table of Contents - What Is Mezcal? - What Is Tequila? - Mezcal vs Tequila: The Core Differences - Flavor: What to Expect in Your Glass - The Geography of Agave Spirits - How to Drink Them - Pricing and Value - The Mezcal vs Tequila Experience for Groups - Further Reading The question I get more than almost any other at spirits tastings is this: what's the difference between mezcal vs tequila? People sense they're related — both come from Mexico, both come from agave — but the details stay fuzzy. Here's the honest answer: all tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. It works the same way that all Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. Tequila is a specific, regulated type of mezcal made from one agave variety in one region. Mezcal is the broader category — older, wilder, and far more varied. Let me break down exactly what separates them and why it matters for what you're tasting in your glass. What Is Mezcal? Mezcal is a distilled...