Tobias Gorn recounts his experience as exam panel chair at the debuting Council of Whiskey Masters Level 4 Master of Whisky exams. This article is a revised version of an article originally published in World of Whisky and More.
It was a great honour to be selected as examination panel chair at the Council of Whiskey Masters first ever Level 4 Master of Whisky exams. This is a report of my experience and I hope it will help future candidates on their journey.
The Council of Whiskey Masters Exam, held in 2024, was of great significance and was a milestone in the world whiskies industry. It was perhaps similar to the first Master of Wine or Master Sommelier exams – those were historical moments and legendary times, similar to what we were doing in early 2024 and I must say it was an experience that’s hard to forget. I also feel it’s necessary to record some of the experiences to help future candidates and fellow examiners.
The event also included the Master of Scotch and Master of Bourbon exams – these are the third level of the Council of Whiskey Masters route, and in tandem we had the first ever master of Whisk(e)y exams, together on the beautiful Isle of Raasay in Scotland.
The high pressure on the candidates needs to be managed and almost taken off by a good chair examiner and the team. Helping the candidates to perform well and creating ideal exam conditions is crucial and it is the most important mission of the chairperson.
Examiners are always well prepared and we serve to ready the best, most precise questions. A good question at this level is not some nitpick about a tiny detail that not even the distiller who’s operating that particular distillery would know. A good exam question lets the candidates demonstrate their knowledge and a good candidate will do exactly that.
The right way to demonstrate that knowledge is actually an easy task: avoid making things up but a little extra and colourful explanation is always welcome as this is not just a technical or history exam. A confident, factual and straightforward answer is always the best. With blind tasting, it is most important to create an impressive and informative note and some technical conclusions. Reverse engineering the notes and recognising specific distilleries too early can mislead the taster and the quality of the assessment can get derailed easily. It’s best to have a bit of self confidence and to go with an excellent factual tasting note that’s a good description of the actual liquid instead of falsely recognising something and putting the wrong tasting note to the sample because of that.
There are also buzzwords that need a little more explanation at Master level. Perhaps ‘balanced’ is the one that’s the most misused. A Master-level taster would explain what is balanced by what. Sweetness with savoury notes? The lifting heat of the alcohol by some creamy wood notes? The intensity on the nose followed similarly on the palate and the finish? All of them are great observations but ‘balanced’ by itself is just not enough at this level.
This exam is all about knowledge, and how the knowledge is demonstrated is an important aspect. It is also equally important to test the candidate on being a good, understanding, passionate and excellent ambassador of whiskies and a great spokesperson of the industry. It’s not just about distilling equipment, dates from the early Industrial Revolution or obscure types of oak, but the ability to demonstrate knowledge that’s relevant to pass onto the general public and to engage with fellow Masters of Whisky, as well as those of Scotch and Bourbon.
The candidates are there to demonstrate that they’re excellent at communicating whisky as true masters. It’s not just dull lexical knowledge and learning from books. That would simply be too easy, incredibly boring and not too hard to pick up after all. There are some Masters of Wine and Master Sommeliers out there who are incredibly geeky and dull for the average consumer but they are not on the public-facing side of the business. With hundreds of top wine experts, they can afford that but we only have 32 Masters (Scotch, Bourbon and Whisky) out there right now and they have to be equally good at knowledge and be able to communicate it to the public as a true ambassador.
This article is not about the candidates but about how to help the perfect candidate to demonstrate a great deal of knowledge and ability to communicate superior whisky comprehension with great insights and a suitable ambassadorial manner. The senior examiners job is to keep the panel balanced and fair and to let the candidates have equal opportunities to shine. Our job, after all, is to run the exam smoothly, including less obvious tasks like timekeeping and making sure our timeline is even, as well as helping everyone in the room to be safe and as relaxed as a high stakes, top exam room can be. It’s my pleasure to take the responsibility of this role and to try my best to make sure the candidates show their best.
Note: the 2025 exams will be held April 22-25, in Texas. Enrolment costs $7,900. The exam comprises three elements: Blind Tasting #1 – 8 whiskeys, a 2-hour tasting exam with in-depth questions on flavour causality; Oral Theory Exam – a 1.5-hour exam covering all whiskeys, their distilleries, markets, history, production; and Blind Tasting #2 – 8 more whiskeys, a 2-hour tasting exam with in-depth questions on producer styles. These level 4 examinations do not include a written component, as writing is extensively tested at level 3.
Head to the website for more information and to start your journey with the Council of Whiskey Masters:
https://www.whiskeymasters.org/
The 2024 exam took place in April at the Isle of Raasay Distillery, Scotland. The new (and first) Masters of Whisky are: Daniel Crowell, Adam Edmonsond, Nikolas Kosobucki, Thomas McCormick, Siddharth Sawkar and Samuel Wright. Master of Whisky candidates must have previously completed either the Master of Scotch or Master of Bourbon, which are both Level 3. Tobias Gorn is an international drinks and cigar specialist, consultant, critic, judge and award-winning writer.
Photos provided by Tobias Gorn.