Whisky by Flavour - Astringent - Coffee/Bitter
Coffee and bitter flavours will stand out when whisky tasting, however, are not very dominant on the nose. You’ll find the flavour of coffee and chocolate can often be intertwined on a whisky and will share similar routes to your final whisky for example sherry casks often give chocolate notes, whereas coffee flavours can be seen in fortified wine casks such as Port casks. The interaction with these casks will provide a drying bitter finish, also helped by the tannin in European oak, which closely links to the experience of the final sip of dark rich espresso. However, it’s not just the maturation, which is responsible for these flavours, coffee flavours will develop from the roasting of the barley and the barley types used, for instance, chocolate malt (dark coloured barley) will provide coffee flavours and a heavy roasting will impart some bitterness which will shine through on your whiskies finish. Although a more experimental approach has to be taken by distilleries to achieve these flavours they make for very memorable expressions.
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