This talk, with David T Smith and the incredible Rachel Sutherland of Warners Distillery, was a an eye opening event. The testing saw participants blind tasting two liquids side by side and having to guess what the difference was.
One example that really got the crowd excited was the comparison between a spirit that had come off the still and been diluted down to 40% abv in one go, and the other, the same spirit off the still, that had been diluted slowly over a week, eventually reaching 40% abv.
Tasting side by side like this, the group found that there was a very obvious difference, with the one being diluted slowly being rounder and well integrated. Although this meant a smoother spirit overall, there was some discussion in how it also lost a little of it’s character.
