You Can't Be Serious About Tasting Without Understanding Aroma

Do you ever wonder how critics, contest judges, and industry professionals get so good at identifying individual aromas in the complicated nose of a drink?

The sensory experience of "flavor" is highly subjective. When the nose detects certain combinations of airborne chemicals, the brain identifies that combination with a learned experience: the smell of an apple, the tingle of spice, the freshness of a new-mown lawn.

The Aroma Academy is a Scottish company that trains people who make their living in the drinks industry to isolate and describe individual aromas in a drink. We build connections between what is in the air and what is in the memory -- making it easier to identify and express precisely what makes every drink unique.

It is certainly possible to enjoy drinks without taking the time to understand their aromatic structure. But for those serious about their wine, whiskey, gin or rum, the unique training Aroma Academy offers -- whether in the classroom or through one of our home training kits -- makes more vivid the experience of what's in the glass.