About Whisky Mates
There's nothing worse than blowing $100+ on a bottle that you thought you'd like, but tastes like paint thinner, or perhaps an Ace bandage soaked in creosote. If this happens, you start to question: how closely is price really correlated to quality? What's the difference between an Island scotch and an Islay scotch? And how do you pronounce Islay, anyway?
Whisky Mates and the tools below were created as a way to help people learn about Whisky (or whiskey. See our FAQ page for a nice little rule of thumb on this) and other spirits. It's called Whisky Mates because, 1) we like drinking whisky with our friends, 2) the primary functionality of the site provides whisky recommendations / matches, or "mates". Whisky Mates was developed to be an objective source of information: it leverages data generated by the pros in the industry - the folks that create whisky, produce it, blend it, and taste it, among other things. We collect this information, organize it, normalize it, and display it in a way that is easy to digest, helping you learn about whisky. In a way, the goal was to create something similar to IMdB, but for whiskies. To carry this analogy further, we're not producing movies or critiquing them, we're showing how they are interconnected, which ones have the same actors, how they might be similar, and then recommending new ones based on the movies you already like.
Importantly, we recognize there is no substitute for experience, and that every palate is different. Parts of the matching algorithms are objective - things like ABV, price, or mash bill. However, parts are also subjective - things like tasting notes and ratings rely on the opinions of experts; but even experts frequently disagree. So while we believe these tools will go a long way toward helping you identify new whiskies to fall in love with, they are not perfect, and you will still have to try lots of d to figure out what you really like (sorry).
What Whisky Mates is: A collection of technology tools that analyzes hundreds of the most popular, accessible whiskies to help you identify your favorite producers and bottles, and discover other whiskies you'll love.
What Whisky Mates is not: An exhaustive list of thousands of rare, extinct or hard-to-find whiskies, or other alcohol types. There are plenty of awesome sites out there that already do this, like Whiskybase or Distiller.
Enjoy Sustainably and Responsibly. Lastly, we've said or alluded to it elsewhere, and it bears repeating: we highly encourage every spirit drinker to consider doing so with quality in mind first in foremost over quantity. I suppose this notion applies to collecting bottles as well (!) but what we're getting at here is sipping spirits in a manageable, sustainable way. There's a growing body of research that suggests the number of drinks that it's historically been "okay" to consume each week is actually probably a tad high. With that said, the last thing we want to do is encourage or foster bad drinking habits - in fact, it's quite the opposite. Spirit appreciation, in our experience, teaches a respect for the process and liquids that many spend their entire lives perfecting. For us, the more we learned, the more we gravitated toward the higher quality liquids with the most amazing stories and histories - and with this came slower consumption and more consideration. We're also just getting older so that helps as well! Anyway, please, please enjoy your drams and this site responsibly and safely.
Mission
We know how difficult, confusing, and expensive it is to develop a palate (habit). While there is certainly no replacement for simply tasting a lot of whiskies, our goal is to make that experience easier, more fun, and save you time and money along the way. The Whisky Mates mission is to "Help you find your whisky flavors". But in reality, as with most things in life, including life itself, it's about the journey, not the destination. Therefore, using our own experiences early on as novice whisky connoisseurs, the tools below were developed to help guide your dram journey, and most importantly, make it a rewarding one.
Whisky Mates Tools
Our tools are built to help you discover great new whiskies, keep track of them, and save money while you do it. Whisky Mates provides AI-supported menu and whisky bottle scanning, personalized recommendations, aggregated/normalized ratings, value assessment, and plenty of detailed analysis on hundreds of the most popular, high-quality, and accessible whiskies available. All of this together will make you a wealthier, more intelligent, and happier whisky enthusiast
MenuScan
Pro
Scan restaurant and bar menus, and in seconds we'll tell you which whiskies are underpriced, most highly rated, and provide you with recommendations based on your whisky Favorites. Save money and impress your buds, all while discovering great new whiskies and tracking the savings you accumulate
BottleScan
Pro
Snap a pic of pretty much any bottle of whisky and we'll show you whether it's a good buy, how highly rated it is, and how it stacks up against other whiskies you already like. Keep track of your growing Collection and expand your whisky universe while simultaneously saving money on new bottles
Advanced Ratings and Value
Pro
So you've found some new whiskies that look intriguing. How do you know if they're worth the price? Well, we've collected thousands of ratings from top professional review sites, as well as user-generated ratings. Then we've normalized, aggregated, and ranked them based on percentiles. Good lord, it's so nerdy
Personalized Whisky Recommendations
Choose a few whiskies you already love or some flavors you enjoy and we'll serve up personalized recommendations. Or Favorite your numero uno (dos, tres, cuatro cinco cinco seis) whiskies to keep track of what you like. This also helps us improve the recommendations we serve up to you
Whisky Flavors
Have a favorite flavor? Dip your beak into the Whisky Flavors page and discover which tastes and aromas are most prevalent, which whiskies they inhabit, and how intensely they permeate the nose, palate, and finish. You'll like what you smell, we guarantee it
Lists: Favorites, Whishlist, Collections, and MyRatings
Effortlessly track your Favorite whiskies, Collection of bottles at home, and the bottles you Whish (see what we did there?) you owned. Want to crystallize a tasting experience in your mind? Rate and review it yourself, complete with an easy-to-build tasting note codifier
Whisky Matching
Already have your mainstays and looking to branch out? Our Whisky Matching Algorithm serves up the most similar bottles based on 25+ whisky attributes, including composite tasting notes (artfully blended together with AI), ratings, region, mash bill, barrel type(s), price, ABV, and more
Detailed Similarity Analytics
Okay so speaking of nerdy: Dive deeper into why certain whiskies are similar, including their shared flavor and aroma characateristics. We've been tuning our Matching Algorithm for 5 years (longer than many bourbons age in the barrel) to provide you with a high-fidelity matching confidence score
Whisky Savings Tracker
Pro
Whisky Savings helps you track which whiskies you've ordered or purchased, and what you thought of them via personalized ratings and/or your Favorites/Whishlist/Collections lists. Once you've found a new whisky and bought it at a good price, you don't want to forget where it happened
Advanced Insights
Pro
Keep a finger on the pulse of the latest whisky trends, the most Favorited whiskies, producers and whisky types of all time, or what's been the hottest over the past month and week based the latest user-reviewed and professionally reviewed whiskies
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