Profiling Scotch Malt Whisky Spirits from Different Distilleries Using an Electronic Nose and an Expert Sensory Panel

Sensory Evaluation Analysis of the spirits showed globally similar profiles at low retention times (between 0 and 10s) for the main volatile compounds (Fig. 3). The chromatographic profile could be represented as an odour map using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA, Fig. 4). The various samples are represented according to their relative volatile contents on a 2-axis graph with PC1 explaining 56% of the variance and PC2 22%. This PCA plot showed clustering of the samples from each distillery, indicating that the instrument could discriminate spirits according to their origin. Samples dispersion was relatively homogeneous, except for Distillery E which showed two distinct subgroups of samples: E8 to E10, which were close to Distillery F, and samples E1 to E7, which were closer to Distillery B. Samples were numbered in chronological order according to date of production, so this change in composition may be due to a change in the production parameters or raw materials at a particular point in time. Additionally, two groups could be distinguished: Group 1: Distilleries A & D Group 2: Distilleries B, E & F and Distillery C, slightly discriminated on the PC2 axis. Profiling Scotch malt whisky spirits from different distilleries using an electronic nose and an expert sensory panel