Bourbon guys: can you differentiate notes/flavors?

I definitely taste cinnamon in Basil Hayden...and some of them definitely have a smokey flavor.

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Can you actually identify flavors/scents or even tell the difference?

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Depends on what you mean by "actually."

Just like with wine, if you let me sip it and ask me about the flavors and notes, what I'm going to say is most likely not going to match up with the description.

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. I don't have that refined of a palate.

But I can tell a difference between bourbons in terms of enjoyment. Elijah Craig is like a vanilla bourbon ice cream. It's by far my favorite and my go-to for sipping bourbon. Basil Hayden is smooth but has a bit of a clove-type undertone. Bulleit is a harder, smokier whiskey.

But no, I'm not going to identify the elements listed in the flavor profile.

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Basil Hayden is smooth but has a bit of a clove-type undertone

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The clove taste is about the only one that really stands out to me

I'm more like the poster just above who said he notices the smoothness more than anything

I can't say that I'm fancy enough to differentiate between notes, but I tend to gravitate towards smoother bourbons, Weller would be my go-to from that list.

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I could 100% identify and name each of those in a blind tasting, but i have had years of practice.

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Same here. I can smell most and tell what they're going to taste like, which comes in handy at my Dad's house where he has a good variety most of the time, and uses several decanters. I'll ask him what is in each, and he might remember one or two of them.

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Can you actually identify flavors/scents or even tell the difference?

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I can definitely tell the differences between these. It’s a lot like wine in that regards, with color, consistency, taste, Smell, etc

What I can not do, is list off 6-7 different things I actually taste like ‘vanilla, old leather briefcase, etc’.

To clarify, if I’m blind testing several next to each other, I can taste that they are different and I’ll like one more than the others. But if you ask me which one is Buffalo Trace v Eagle Rare, I wouldn’t know even though I drink both regularly.

I pretty much like em all. The rarest thing I have is a Van Winkle Lot B 12 and there’s plenty of $20-$30 bottles that I think are better.

The worst thing I’ve ever had is Old Mississippi Floated Whiskey from the now closed Caneland Distillery. Brutal.

Eagle Rare is kind of like regular coke to buffalo trace's diet coke, everything is more pronounced. That might be the only 2 I got right.

I've yet to meet someone who I actually believe could take a blind taste test and pick up all of the notes of "fresh cut grass, and chocolate covered cherries" I might be able to pick up a little "fruit" or a little "vanilla" but someone who can dissect every part of it is extremely rare.

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I've yet to meet someone who I actually believe could take a blind taste test and pick up all of the notes of "fresh cut grass, and chocolate covered cherries" I might be able to pick up a little "fruit" or a little "vanilla" but someone who can dissect every part of it is extremely rare.

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It takes a LOT of practice and comparative tasting to get to that level.

You aren’t just tasting a lot of wine/whiskey and picking out those notes. You’re smelling/tasting actual vanilla beans, black pepper, baking spices, etc etc to the point that it pops out to you when you smell/taste the wine/whiskey. It’s very much a learned or trained skill.

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It’s very much a learned or trained skill.

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Yet, I've run across a handful of people who claim they can.