They arguably have one of the best occupations in the world. But whisky sommeliers may soon have some competition for their jobs – from AI. Scientists have devised machine learning algorithms that can determine whether a whisky is of American or Scotch origin and identify its strongest aromas. And they even outperform human experts, the results show. A whisky's aroma is determined by a complex mixture of odorous compounds, which makes it highly challenging to assess. Panels of human experts are often used to identify the strongest notes of a whisky but these require a significant investment in time, money and training – and agreement between experts is often rare.

While whisky is one of the most popular tipples around the world, most drinkers still rely on the label to distinguish between cheap and expensive bottles. Now, scientists have developed a robotic nose called NOS.E that can distinguish between different brands, origins and styles by'sniffing' the liquor. During testing, NOS.E reached 100 per cent accuracy for detecting the region, 96.15 per cent accuracy for brand name and 92.31 per cent accuracy for style. The team hopes the bot could be used across a wide range of beverages in the future, including wine and cognac, as well as whisky. Scientists have developed a robotic nose called NOS.E that can distinguish between different brands, origins and styles of whisky by'sniffing' the liquor NOS.E is designed to mimic the human olfactory system and uses eight gas sensors to detect odours in a vial of whisky.