A whisky tasting is easy to organise. Don’t take it to seriously - it’s meant to be fun, but follow the 6 steps below to be able to distinguish between different whiskies.

What you need is A) a range of whiskies (e.g. blended scotch variants, various single malt whiskies, Jack Daniel’s against bourbon whiskies, etc.) B) sampling glasses (preferably stem glasses, than whisky tumblers, e.g. Glencairn) C) water, and bread or biscuits to cleanse the palate.

Step 1 Pour about 2cl whisky into a glass.

Step 2 Check to colour by holding the glass up to the light. This can tell you a lot about its taste and character. The colour may vary from very pale to a rich caramel brown, depending on how long and what kind of casks was the whisky stored in.

Step 3 Check out the ‘nose’ (aroma) of the whisky. This tells you about its flavour as 80% of what you taste is actually through the nose.

Step 4 Now add the same amount of water to your whisky and nose again. You should feel a real difference, more intense aromas then before.

Step 5 Take a sip of the whisky and look for the following: the body (texture), the palate (flavour), the finish (aftertaste).

Step 6 Have a drink of water and some bread or biscuits to cleanse your palate before trying the next whisky.