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Independent · Consumer-first · Scottish

Tool

The Scotch Flavour Wheel

Eight flavour families, smoky to sweet. Tap one to see what it means in the glass — and a few bottles that show it off.

SmokyFruityFloralSweetSpicyOakyCerealSherriedSCOTCHFLAVOUR WHEEL

Tap a flavour family — smoky to sweet, from the centre out.

Sherried

Leans Speyside

Dried fruit, fig and cocoa — the rich, Christmas-cake note from sherry casks.

You’ll taste

raisinfigcocoasultana

Try a bottle

How to use it

Start in the middle and work outward. Pick the broad family your dram sits in — is it smoky or sweet, fruity or sherried? — then read the outer ring for the specific notes to look for. There are no wrong answers; your palate is your palate.

Want to go from “I think I like sherried” to an actual bottle? Run the Whisky Flavour Finder — four questions, three honest recommendations. Or take the wheel home: it’s available as a printable wall-art poster in two colourways.

Tools that go with this guide