Keeping Score
When I first began writing this blog, I was pretty conflicted about the idea of giving whiskies scores. First of all, I am an amateur when it comes to reviewing whiskies and, in general, understanding all of the nuances that go into making a great whisky. There is still so much I have to learn, and that’s perhaps what keeps me going. I have been lucky to try so many great Islay whiskies, but I have always tried to make clear that me liking or not liking something is purely my opinion. I am simply trying to write to you as if we are two people casually talking about something you are interested in trying or getting a bottle of and saying whether or not I think it’s worth it.
The format I have had for most reviews has been providing information on the accessibility (i.e. how difficult is it to find), price (i.e. was what I paid market value and what is the price range for this whisky), and quality (i.e. is the whisky good). I think these are the most important pieces of information to know when thinking of trying or buying a whisky. However, there is one question that I feel like my current assessment strategy does not answer, which is, if you have two whiskies to choose from and can only get one, which should I get? I have tried to loosely compare whiskies or even say I prefer this whisky to another whisky the distillery makes that is similar, but that does not really help readers make more informed decisions.
However, scoring is important for another reason: stripping out cost and accessibility factors. If something that is $1 is as good as something that costs $100, which will you get? It’s important to have a way to compare whiskies that strips out all the data of how long a whisky was aged, what casks were used, how many bottles were made available, and so on. In a perfect world, I guess I would review whiskies without knowing all that information in advance. Alas, most of that information is a selling point and something you cannot ignore.
With that said, I would like a way to compare whiskies on an even playing field in a way that helps readers figure out what they should be interested in. This score is purely about the quality of the whisky and nothing else. I hope it is a relatively minor part of the blog as there are definitely other factors that hold more weight when buying something. People can’t always buy the whisky that is the highest score because maybe it’s thousands of dollars versus something that is more towards the middle that is a more modest price.
I am conflicted about adding scores as I do not want scores to be the only piece of information considered. I was largely influenced by a podcast by The New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells on how the pandemic made him rethink how his stars system of rating restaurants worked. However, it was encouraging to hear how he was able to reimagine the way he scores restaurants. I hope I can introduce scoring in a way that is respectful to the makers of whiskies and informative to readers.
So how will I do this? Well, I reviewed different scoring systems used by publications like Dramface and Two Whisky Bros. We could use the 100 point scale and use a system that factors in how nice the nose is and other factors, but that doesn’t feel quite right. We will instead use a 10-point scale and state what each point means. As part of explaining each point, we may use price and accessibility to help explain what the score means, but the score we give will be based on quality.
Maybe it would have been simpler to have done this from the beginning, but I think having previous reviews helped to test the system. I’ll backfill scores to previous reviews in addition to sharing them in this post. Thanks for sticking with me for this long ramble. The scoring system and explanations are shown below:
10 - If I could, I would have this whisky over any whisky with maybe a few exceptions. Would expect to pay significantly more for it and might be out of my price range.
9 - Just below elite whisky status. Would have this over the vast majority of other whiskies. Would expect it to be a cost I can’t regularly afford but would be willing to splurge every once in a while.
8 - A great whisky but just needs a little more flavor or to be slightly smoother. Would still try to find a bottle if available and would be willing to pay a fair amount above core range whisky prices for it.
7 - A pretty good whisky. Wouldn’t mind owning a bottle but would expect to only pay slightly above core range whisky prices. Not a whisky I would go out of my way to seek out though.
6 - A nice whisky. Don’t need to own a bottle but would have a dram every one and a while.
5 - An average whisky. Could have a bit more flavor or be smoother. Would be okay with a dram of it. Not something I would want often though. Would expect to pay below or at core range whisky prices.
4 - Below average whisky. Could have a dram of it, but wouldn’t order it on my own. Would need some external motivation to get it.
3 - A disappointing whisky. Would not have a dram of it even if there was some external motivation to get it. Understand why some people like it, but not my thing.
2 - A whisky that needs work. Expectation is that it’s a really cheap whisky. Nothing wrong with a cheaper option but have trouble understanding people liking it otherwise.
1 - I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
I expect to rate whiskies below a 4 very rarely, just as I would expect to rate whiskies above an 8 pretty rarely. As mentioned previously, our score explanations include price expectations, but, again, price is not a factor in score. I will happily give a $1 whisky a 10 if it is so. The price is merely about expectations as good whisky should demand higher price. Of course, whisky price is based on production cost and what consumers are willing to pay. So there are always surprises, and that’s what makes this all interesting and fun.
So, based on our previous reviews, how would I score all of those whiskies? The scores and linked reviews are below:
It’s been a lot of fun sharing thoughts on whisky with you all, and I welcome any feedback on our scoring system and differing opinions on whiskies we have reviewed. The scoring system here is of course subject to change, but my guess is it will not cause a huge stir. True to what I wrote when this all started, there is no bad whisky. Scoring is just a way to help compare and also create dialogue from those with differing opinions. I’ll always try and share who I think will like a whisky even I don’t. Anyways, sláinte!