Make up your own mind

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which basically means what I think is beautiful will be different to what you think is beautiful.

When it comes to artwork we all have different tastes. I like Edward Hopper but you may prefer Turner. Nothing wrong with that we just have different point of view.

But this difference is not unique to what we see, we also have different tastes and experiences with food. I can't stand liver or kidneys whereas some people I know think they are wonderful. I like anchovies but I know plenty of people that don't.

So, I ask myself, what exactly is the point of whisky tasting scores if we all experience something different?

There was outrage when Jim Murray's bible awarded a Japanese whisky with his highest score but he's one man, it's his opinion and if you like your steak served differently from him then you might not agree with his scores.

How helpful is it to know that someone else can taste old cigars and seaweed if you can't get beyond TCP and public lavatory air freshener?

I share very few of my opinions about how a whisky tastes other than to say I enjoyed it or didn't, you have to be careful about rating something so well that it becomes a recommendation, after all Egon Ronay never personally recommended a restaurant because he knew that what he liked others might not like. Amazon rarely get book recommendations right and they are supposed to know what I like.

So don't be swayed by those scores of 6.5 in a magazine or some blogger that says it isn't great, try it for yourself and make up your own mind because your tastes may be very different to theirs.