the science of spirits
Organizing Tasting Notes and Scoring
By George F Manska, Corporate Strategy Officer, inventor & entrepreneur, Chief Research & Development Arsilica, Inc.
I
In spirits, the idea of a scoring system was borrowed initially from wine. Entire books are published on a single system. Still, at this point, the Parker 100-point wine system, adapted to spirits, is a solid, rational approach and has a high probability of becoming the common method for rating spirits eventually. PARKER’S 100-POINT RATING SYSTEM:
n Tasting Methods 1, I discussed the development of aroma recognition. In 2, I presented a simple tasting procedure. In this installment, I will provide a basic starting point to scoring and developing your personal baseline for spirits evaluations.
Parker’s system is based on 100-points and was co-invented with Victor Morgenroth. Parker designed it to counter confusing or inflated ratings by other wine writers with a conflict of interest, having a financial interest in wines they rated. The scale, now widely adapted to spirits evaluators, ranks 50 to 100 points.
Scoring systems are highly controversial. There are literally hundreds, yet most bloggers, critics, and authors don’t use a numerical scoring system and simply write about their own opinions of the spirit. There is no weighting, accountability, or “measuring stick” to gauge opinions without numerical scoring. Ratings should be a serious personal spirit purchasing consideration, and adopting your own method is the key to consistency, growth, development, and understanding of spirits.
Many competitions do not publish numerical ratings and assign medals based on judging panel consensus. Nearly all use “internal only” proprietary score sheets, and most are unwilling to disclose their methods. A logical starting point is described below. Experience builds proficiency, and you may decide to add additional details under the basic subheadings, However, the weightings should be standardized right from the start.
PARKER’S 100-POINT RATING SYSTEM
PR%F the Magazine
THE SCIENCE OF SPIRITS
TASTING METHODS PART 3
13
