This tasting has been developed to explore how some of the key stages of the whisky creation process, and the decisions made by distilleries at each of the stages, impact the flavour of the final whisky.

As a consequence, this tasting has been developed as a comparative tasting, where multiple samples are tasted side by side. I have sought, as best as possible, to present whiskies in my collection that are similar in other stages of the process except for the stage being considered (hence the name 'ceteris paribus', meaning other things being equal).