Women's Single Malt Preferences & Nosing Trends

[Quaich1]

I have been to many single malt tastings over the years and more and more women are attending with their husbands, boyfriends or on their own. I have some general views based on my observations of women's tastes in whiskies and nosing abilities. Generally, I have found that their preference is for non-peated whiskies though there have been exceptions.
Speyside and Highland single malts tend to be favorites and include some higher abv whiskies as well. When both single malts and Scottish blends are both tried, there seems to be a preference for the single malts. Sherry cask finished single malts tend to be particularly enjoyed by women and Macallan is often spoken of in this regard by them, including some higher end drams. The other element I have discovered over the years is that women have a knack for catching on quicky to the language of describing exactly what they are smelling and tasting in whiskies. Obviously, there is a learning curve and one lady I know who described her first single malt as tasting like melted bandaids now really enjoys them and can parse the flavor and nose elements with skill and enthusiam. Obviously there are individual differences, but these are some of my general comments based on what I have seen over time.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[Frankie]

I would agree that woman in general tend to be non peated, at least in my experience

[gfspencer]

I took my wife to three distilleries on Islay and then we went to Bowmore and Deanston. She is not a Scotch drinker but she is a good sport so she tagged along. She preferred the single malts from Bowmore . . . but she will probably stick to wine.

[Whisky Rogue]

My wife cannot stand peated whisky, but I cant get enough of them, but she would happily drink a Glenfiddich 15, Aultmore 12 or Glenlivet 18. I wonder if there is a difference in taste preferences between the genders, where women are more likely to dislike peaty whisky.

[Olorin]

Whilst at the pub with a group of friends recently I noticed one of the girls had a Tomatin key ring. She said her and her dad love it! She particularly mentioned the peated Tomatin.. Not tried it myself but I can't imagine it to be as potent as an Ardbeg however?