The Whisky Flavour Tree

(a Whisky Wheel Alternative)

Infographic titled 'Flavour Tree' featuring whisky flavor categories such as Fruit & Floral, Rich & Spiced, and Peat & Smoke with subcategories like Tropical, Dark, and Smoke. Includes a whisky glass illustration at the base.

This is a poster (no AI, made by a paid pro artist) for working out what you're tasting in a whisky. It's set up as a flowchart rather than a wheel. You start with a broad flavour, then follow the branches down until you land on the actual note in your glass.

There are five main branches. Rich & Spiced is your sherry cask stuff, dried fruit, caramel, spice. Fruit & Floral is mostly ex-bourbon, so apple, vanilla, honey. Peaty & Smoky is the Islay end, campfire smoke, seaweed, earthy notes. Wood & Grain is the bourbon side of things, toasted nuts and oak. And then there's Heavy Funk, which is the umami, sulphur and farmyard notes you get from places like Campbeltown.

Why I made it

I've tasted and talked about hundreds of drams with whisky people all over the world, and the thing I kept running into was that most flavour wheels are made for people who already know the words. There's a lot going on in them and it's hard to know where to start. A flowchart helps with that. You pick a direction and keep following it and you end up with a word you can actually use.

Sizes and paper

Comes in A1 and A2. The semi-gloss paper gives you brighter colours, and there's a matte option in A1 if you want something a bit more understated. It's all FSC-certified paper. [Frame not included? Printed on demand like the map?]

About me

I'm Phil Gow. I run First Phil Whisky, one of the biggest whisky channels on YouTube, from Christchurch, New Zealand. I make videos that help people get into whisky.

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The Whisky Flavour Tree is an original design created by Phillip Gow, published under the First Phil Whisky brand. This work is protected under international copyright law, including the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand), the Berne Convention, and U.S. Copyright Law (17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq).

This design, including but not limited to its structure, layout, terminology, category system, and visual presentation, is the exclusive intellectual property of Phillip Gow. Any unauthorised reproduction, distribution, digital resale, or use of this material — in whole or in part — is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

Copyright registration filed with the U.S. Copyright Office.