Ingredient Flavor Profile

A flavor profile is a guide to the relative intensity of flavors and aromas in liquor and mixers. It lists eight common flavors and rates each on a five point scale. From the diagram, you can get a visual representation of what the liquor or mixer tastes like.

For brevity, the word liquor will be used here. Keep in mind that liqueurs, wine, flavorings, and mixers can also have flavor profiles.

The intensity of flavor is relative to the type of liquor. For example, if the liquor is an aged rum, and the fresh fruit score is five, this rum would have some of the most intense fresh fruit flavor and aromas in the universe of aged rums. So you wouldn't taste fruit on the order of orange juice or Midori. Instead, you'd taste very concentrated accents and smell very intense aromas of fresh fruit in an aged rum that has no fruit or added sugar in it (if it had fruit in it, it would be a flavored rum). In this case, rum can pick up fruit flavors from the oak that it sits in.

Another example would be a Kirsch with a body score of five. Now in the universe of liquor, Kirsch is on the lighter end as far as overall body and fullness. You wouldn't compare this Kirsch to a throaty, peaty Scotch--remember the flavor scores are meant to be relative to similar types of liquors or mixers. So the Kirsch in question would be among the most full bodied of Kirschs and Eau de Vies.

Body

Body denotes how much weight or fullness the liquor imparts onto the palate. Very full liquors can feel "chewy" or "big" and have an overall high concentration of flavor and/or warmth. Lighter liquors will have a more subtle, more restrained flavor. Body is the only score that doesn't refer to a specific flavor.

Sweet

Sweetness is pretty straightforward--it is just a measure of how sweet the liquor is. This may take different forms depending on the liquor. In mixers such as a sour mix, you're looking at conventional sweetness. In a beer, you're sensing malt sweetness. With liquor, it's usually a reflection of what the liquor was distilled from--rum is on the sweeter side while vodka is on the dryer side--and also how strong the liquor is. With wine, sweetness is usually determined by how ripe the grapes are when they're picked.

Acidity

Acidity is a measure of how much tartness or bitterness there is. Acidity is usually found in mixers that use a citrus base (lime mix, sour mix). Some liqueurs exhibit acidity through their sweetness as well (Maraschino, real Amaretto). Liquors vary quite a bit in acidity. These variations are often quite subtle. Wine can swing from very sharp, lean flavors (high acidity) all the way to fat, buttery flavors (low acidity). And beer does the same thing ranging from lean and hoppy (high acidity) to full and malty (low acidity) with many variations in between.

Fresh Fruit

Liqueurs and mixers can show substantial fresh fruit flavors. A lot of liqueurs are made to showcase a particular fruit. Beer can have fresh fruit flavors and aromas, especially if the right yeasts are used. These can be very subtle yet elegant flavors. Wine obviously has a range of berry and other flavors. And liquors can pick up fresh fruit flavors from the oak they sit in as they are aged.

Dried Fruit

Dried fruit flavors are usually more evident in liquors that don't have actual fruit or sugar added to them. These are more subtle, musty, and sometimes more complex flavors than fresh fruit. They sometimes exist as an undercurrent to the fresh fruit or sometimes they exist on their own. A cornucopia of dried fruit flavors can be picked up from oak barrels that liquors and liqueurs live in for many years. Wines such as Amarones from Italy can exhibit raisin and dried fruit flavors (in this case because Amarone is made from grapes that are set out to dry in the sun on straw mats).

Spice

This denotes spice as in baking spices--not hot spices. It is usually a nutmeg or mace like flavor that tingles and feels warm on the palette. Ginger is another form of spice flavor.

Heat

Heat refers to the warmth coming from the alcohol. This is a pleasant heat and doesn't refer to rough burn you might get from a low quality spirit. So don't be scared off if this score is high--this can sometimes contribute to a long finish in a spirit.

Wood

A great deal of spirits spend a lot of time on oak, beechwood, or other species of wood. The spirit will pick up some wood flavor depending on how long the spirit lies in the barrel.

Flavor Descriptions

Body

light, medium, full

Sweet

sugar syrup, honey, malt

Acidity

lemon juice, cherry pits

Fresh Fruit

grapes, berries, melon

Dried Fruit

orange peel, raisins, dates

Spice

nutmeg, pepper, ginger

Heat

alcohol warmth

Wood

oak, smoke

Intensity Descriptions

0

no flavor

1

traces, hints of flavor

2

light, underlying flavor

3

medium, evident flavor

4

concentrated, strong flavor

5

forceful, overwhelming flavor