Where Did Tasting Wheels Come From?

Aroma and flavor wheels can be very useful tools for tasters attempting to categorize and identify common flavors in various styles of whiskey. Often created by trade associations, major brands, or other beverage industry groups, today you can find flavor wheels for virtually every style of whiskey – and some designed for just one single brand. And that’s just whiskey. There are now tasting wheels for coffee, for beer, for wine, and for cheese, among many other specialty food and drink items.

But where did that wheel shape come from? Its first appearance in a consumer-facing context was in a booklet by Charles Maclean and Michael Jackson called The Nosing Course, which was published in the very first five issues of Whisky Magazine. Their aroma descriptor wheel is still in use today, and it’s a fun one to use, if only to spur speculation about what all those oh-so-British flavor descriptors really are (Turps? Rum-toft? Gralloch? Horlicks?)

Charles and Michael were inspired by group of scientists from the Scotch Whisky Research Institute, who used the wheel shape to organize descriptors in an attempt to formalize sensory evaluation within the whisky industry. The format stuck, and for good reason. The round shape allows us to easily see the various groups and sub-groups of flavors, without giving any set of flavors priority over others. It also works as a winnowing tool: if you’re sensing something fruity, but you’re not sure what, reading inward along the spokes might help you land on what it is you’re sensing.

Smell is also an elusive sense. While we can distinguish thousands of different aromas, describing them doesn’t come easily to most people. Aroma and tasting wheels can help jog your memory. Because there’s nothing like that aha moment when you realize it’s not bog myrtle you smell – it’s fishing nets.