The Glenlivet Sensology Experience

I was lucky enough that I got aproached by Patrick from a Swiss whisky club called Whiskybox who asked me if I wanted to join him and a few other guys from said club to visit Pernod Ricard Switzerland for their Sensology Experience. The Glenlivet Sensology Experience is a programm by Pernod Ricard with the intention to show people how our sense of taste is influenced by our other senses. Whisky Box are the first people outside of the Pernod Ricard group who were invited to this experience so it was very cool of Patrick to ask if I liked to join them

After arriving at the Pernod Ricard HQ in Wallisellen we were greeted with a cocktail by Brand Ambassador Deborah Stewart.
 The cocktail, a mix of Glenlivet Founder's Reserve, Blood Orange Licqueur and Ginger Ale was really nice and I think the Founders Reserve which I don't really like as a sipper works quite well in cocktails.

Then the actual experience started. The first step was that we had to taste some sugar with our noses closed. After taking the nose clips off we realized that it was actually a mix of sugar and cinnamon which none of us recognized at first. The next step was to drink two different liquids. One was red and the other one was yellow. Most of us expected that the red one was going to taste like strawberries and the yellow one like lemon but actually they were both the same - apple juice.
The third step was to listen to two different styles of music while drinking some whisky and to determine which one suited the whisky better. Between those steps Deborah gave us a lot of information about the Glenlivet and Pernod Ricard in general. The last and most important step was a blind tasting. Everyone had 4 glasses in front of them and we received 6 cards that all showed different expressions from the Glenlivet portfolio and some tasting notes.
Our goal was to determine all 4 whiskies in front of us. Deborah also told us that no one has ever achieved to name all 4 drams correctly. Since we were the first ones outside of Pernod Ricard that did this test which means that those people were sales persons and the likes we didn't expect to recognize too many. I don't want to brag right now but I was the only one who recognized all of them :) It was the Glenlivet Nadurra Oloroso, the 18 years old, the Founder's Reserve and the Nadurra First Fill.
Because I was the first person to ever score 100% Deborah rewarded me with a Glenlivet Quaich which was really cool.

It was a very nice evening and I want to thank Patrick, the guys from Whisky Box and Deborah for everything. The Sensology Experience was a cool experience to show how our sense of taste depends on other senses.

Cheers, U