One reason why never to purchase whiskies solely based on a good rating...

I know this is something like shooting myself in the foot, or throwing rocks in a glasshouse, but as I'm enjoying more and more different whiskies, and often afterwards comparing my notes with what other online spectators have found, I see that very often my combination of score and taste notes is very similar to that of others. But sometimes just one of the two basic factors in a whisky review (notes and scores) are similar. How is that possible?

Well, most recently I had as session of rather good Dailuaines, and one of those hitting a very solid score was this one:

Dailuaine 14 yo 1979 'Friars Carse' (59.7%, The Whisky Connoisseur, cask #8965)

All well, and I also remember my tasting notes including such as herbs, oranges and caramel. I then went to the only other online spectator that I could find which had also posted a review of this, you might have been to his site www.whiskyfun.com. And reading the surprisingly short notes at about 4 lines, he did also recognize herbs, oranges and caramel. So, I think we must have tasted the same whisky, no doubt. But when my score was 8.5/10 I think, which is quite excellent in my book, his score was 63/100, which on his side would be pretty close to rubbish I think as I rarely see scores below 50 there. So, what is the x-factor that makes my experience worth so much more than his with the same whisky? I believe, and this is far from revolutionary, it all comes down to a thing often described as "personal taste". So, when someone says "Oh, S**** gave this one 90, and this one 89, and this one that and that one this and so on..." No disrespect for Serge whatsoever, or any other online spectators, but please, if you find something in the notes that you reckon you would enjoy, I think that is a much better reason to purchase a whisky then just going by a whisky because it got a high number.


So, as I see many people online, and in the industry, namedropping (read. referring to) tasters, commentators and such with a "good" score behind their name quote, to attract the attention of punters. I believe, and I know I'm only talking for myself, if I were to visit the whiskyfun site, or wherever else, to find arguments for my considerations of what to buy, I'd never buy a whisky that had a good score if the tasting notes didn't fit my description of a good whisky.


In other words, and to put it rather blatantly, I'd be much more likely to buy a whisky that caught 63/100 points than a whisky that caught 96/100 points, as long as the notes mentioned herbs, oranges and caramel.