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The smoothest whiskies: define what smooth means first

What makes a whisky taste smooth, and which bottles to try for low alcohol heat, a light triple-distilled spirit or a sweet, rounded cask style.

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“Smooth” usually means one of three things: little alcohol heat, a light spirit, or a sweet, rounded flavour from the cask. For all three, start with an unpeated whisky at 40% ABV such as The Glenlivet 12 Year Old, a triple-distilled whiskey such as Jameson or Auchentoshan American Oak, or a sherry-finished malt such as Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood. No whisky is objectively the smoothest, so the sections below are grouped by what you mean by it.

What do you mean by smooth? The word usually means one of three things. If you mean little alcohol heat, try an unpeated malt at 40% to 43% ABV: The Glenlivet 12 Year Old, Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, Glenkinchie 12 Year Old or Monkey Shoulder. If you mean a light spirit, try a triple-distilled whisky: Auchentoshan American Oak, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Bushmills 10 Year Old or Redbreast 12 Year Old. If you mean a sweet, rounded flavour from the cask, try a cask-led style: Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood, Aberlour 12 Year Old or Maker's Mark.

What makes whisky taste smooth

Low heat: unpeated malts at 40% to 43%

The Glenlivet 12 Year Old: £34.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. An unpeated Speyside single malt at 40% ABV.

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old: £36.96 at Master of Malt. An unpeated Speyside single malt at 40% ABV, matured in American and European oak.

Glenkinchie 12 Year Old: £47.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. An unpeated Lowland single malt from East Lothian at 43% ABV.

Monkey Shoulder: £30.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. A blended malt at 40% ABV, made from Speyside single malts.

A light spirit: triple-distilled whisky

Auchentoshan American Oak: currently unavailable. A triple-distilled Lowland single malt at 40% ABV, matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks.

Jameson Irish Whiskey: £23.40 at Master of Malt. A triple-distilled blend of pot still and grain whiskey at 40% ABV.

Bushmills 10 Year Old: currently unavailable. A triple-distilled Irish single malt at 40% ABV, from County Antrim.

Redbreast 12 Year Old: £51.00 at Master of Malt. An Irish single pot still whiskey at 40% ABV, triple distilled from malted and unmalted barley and matured in bourbon and oloroso sherry casks.

Sweet and rounded: cask-led styles

Balvenie 12 Year Old DoubleWood: £50.28 at Master of Malt. A Speyside single malt at 40% ABV, finished in oloroso sherry casks.

Aberlour 12 Year Old: £45.00 at The Whisky Shop. A Speyside single malt at 40% ABV from traditional oak and sherry casks.

Maker’s Mark: £35.00 at The Whisky Shop. A Kentucky bourbon made with red winter wheat instead of rye, which keeps the spice lower than in most bourbon.

Does age make whisky smoother?

Time in the cask softens the raw character of new spirit, so a 12-year-old usually tastes rounder than a 3-year-old from the same distillery. It is not a straight line: a very old whisky can taste dry or woody from oak tannin. An age statement is the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle, not a measure of smoothness.

If you want less alcohol in the glass, a highball with soda water is the simplest way. See the best whiskies for a highball.

Sources and review

Questions

What makes a whisky smooth?
Mostly strength and sweetness. A 40% ABV whisky has less alcohol heat than a 46% or cask-strength one, and sweet notes from bourbon or sherry casks soften the impression further. Triple distillation, used by Auchentoshan and by many Irish whiskeys such as Jameson, gives a lighter spirit. Water and ice also reduce the heat.
Does older whisky taste smoother?
Often, but not always. Longer in the cask softens the raw new-make character, but it also adds oak tannin, which can taste dry or bitter in very old whisky. An age statement gives the age of the youngest whisky in the bottle, not a smoothness score.
Does adding water make whisky smoother?
For most people, yes. Diluting a 40% ABV whisky towards 30% to 35% lowers the alcohol heat on the tongue and lets more aroma through. Add a few drops at a time; a cask-strength whisky at 55% to 60% ABV needs more (Whiskipedia on water in whisky).
What whisky has the least burn?
Look for 40% ABV, no peat and a sweet cask. Wheated bourbon such as Maker’s Mark, triple-distilled Irish whiskey such as Jameson, and unpeated 12-year-old Speyside malts such as The Glenlivet 12 Year Old are common choices. A highball with soda lowers the strength further.

About the author

Tom Gregan

· Writer

Tom came to whisky by way of cocktails and rum. As the mind behind CocktailDB.com he spent years on citrus balance, bitters and modifiers before John dragged him over to neat spirits.