In 2001 a group of students at the University of Bordeaux were asked to taste two glasses of wine – one red, one white. They invariably described the red wine as “jammy” and offering notes of red fruits and berries. They failed to note that both wines were in fact completely identical, save for one being coloured red using a flavourless dye. A somewhat unkind experiment, but one which highlights that biases are both regular in drinks tastings, and that regardless of wine or whisky, a taster’s judgements are easily influenced and prejudiced by external stimulus or additional information (which may or may not be correct).