Scoring Whisky

How I use Jeff’s Judgement to score Whisky

What is “Jeff’s Judgement”?

While you can’t compare Islay to Irish I wanted to find a way to produce a scoreboard of all the drams I have tasted and reviewed.

With 24 being my lucky number I used this as a base that spans four different categories: Experience, Nose, Taste and Value for Money.

WHISKY IS COMPLETELY SUBJECTIVE. It is always important to enjoy what you enjoy and to not be swayed by others.

However, as you are reading what I have to say, I have tried to create a rating scale that takes in multiple factors to provide all bottles a level playing field.

You can check out the leaderboard here.

Previously was out of 24 but changed to a 100 score in 2023.

Experience

This covers the whole experience of that individual Whisky.

This will include factors such as the packaging, marketing and all elements of the identity of that Whisky. Often I am reviewing a sample so will research the full bottle and base the score on this. Also if the bottle is artificially coloured and chill filtered it will effect the score as it is nice to experience the true elements of the dram.

Nose

The aroma of a Whisky is a huge part of how the Whisky is experienced.

I try to score the nose based on the context of the Whisky. It may smell like seaweed, salt and sweaty meat, but that may be the perfect nose for that dram.

Taste

The taste is the most subjective and mainly comes down to: does this Whisky taste good to me?

Like Rick Astley to Rammstein, variation is good and I always try to score all flavours evenly, even if they are not my preference. This score includes the first sip through to the final finish.

Value for Money

Is the Whisky worth the RRP that it is being sold at?

Just because a Whisky is cheap, it doesn’t mean it is a worthwhile investment and expensive Whisky doesn’t always mean it is good. However I am a cheapskate and love a bargain budget bottle.