An interesting question was asked – Does music affect taste? To answer the question, many spirit labels are hosting sonic tastings to give consumers a heightened experience of their liquor. The Macallan launched Concept No 2 through sonic whisky tasting at Cannes last year while The Glenlivet organised a multi-city tour in India to offer a unique tasting experience of their whisky to their consumer-base in the country.
To proceed with this, The Glenlivet collaborated with audio experts ‘Art of Disappearing’ to produce original compositions made from sounds captured at their distillery. These specially curated soundtracks were used to enhance the drinker’s perception of taste, and to enable a deeper understanding of the aroma and flavours of the whisky.
To begin their tour, The Glenlivet offered a taste of their craftsmanship in the city of Hyderabad first. The event consisted of four whiskies – The Glenlivet 12 YO, The Glenlivet 15 YO, The Glenlivet 18 YO and the newly-launched The Glenlivet Nàdurra Peated Whisky. The experiment was divided into three stages where one was required to put on a headset and take a sip while listening to a soundtrack. Then they were required to drink water to cleanse their palate and the last stage was where they had to take a sip of the same whisky while listening to a different soundtrack. The participants were blindfolded to heighten their sense of taste.
Such an interesting experiment resulted in interesting observations. Participants tasted different flavours on different soundtracks of the same whisky, ranging from burnt oak to creamy flavours and mild aroma to hot scents with a change in music.
With such unique tasting events, the spirit label wants whisky enthusiasts to experience the liquor for all that it is and not just gulp it down during drinking sessions. They want the consumers to cherish every sip and understand the work and passion that goes behind bringing a bottle to a market shelf. We can’t wait for them to arrive in Mumbai and experience this unique event for ourselves.
