CREATURE COMFORTS

Some of the odder comparisons used to describe the smell and taste of malt whiskies:

Nose: mint-toffee / burnt currants / pralines / buttered parsnips / corky / polished leather / beeswax / guava / linseed / briny / roasted peppers / toast / hint of sulphur / hay / sea air / rope / resiny / crystallized fruits / light lipstick / shellac / coconut fudge / dates / fresh earth / barley sugar / leafy bonfires / a walk on the dunes / juniper / walnuts / marshmallow / hint of phenol / starched linen / pebbles on the beach

Palate: grassy / Seville orange / briar / nutmeg / crème brûlée / cookies / seed-cake / wet wool / strawberry shortcake / touch of iron / sagebrush / butterscotch / flapjack / sherbety / carbolic / oaty / dried buttercups / marron glacé / water melon / bamboo shoots / menthol / gorse / Belgian toffee wafers / cactus / hay / lemon jelly / male cosmetics / pears in cream / oaky / dried banana / butter / baked aubergines / angelica

Finish: tree bark / nougat / green apples / wintergreen / faint smoke / emphatic mint / fibre / salted cashews / spritzy / parma violets / log fires / almost sandy / lemon skins / gummy / toffee apples / sappy / cigar smoke / tangerines / incoming tide / shortbread / cough syrup / ferns / black chocolate / medicinal peat / mustardy / mint imperials / flowering currant / polished stone / lemon curd / aniseed / burnt cake

Source: Michael Jackson’s Malt Whisky Companion (DK)