Trained sensory panellists’ response to product alcohol content in the projective mapping task: Observations on alcohol content, product complexity and prior knowledge

• Product complexity impacts significantly on panel performance in projective mapping.
• Effect of complexity on panellist performance is enhanced by high alcohol content.
• Effect of alcohol content on panellist performance is largely physiological.
• Knowledge of product alcohol content affects product descriptions.
• New panel performance monitoring tool for rapid profiling methods is introduced.

Projective mapping has been validated as a practical tool for the rapid sensory profiling of brandy products, although repeatability concerns necessitate repeated measurements in larger sample sets. The reason for poor repeatability could be linked to the complexity of the product type, as well as the physical and possibly psychological factors associated with its high alcohol content. To date no information has been published that tested the effect of these specific factors on panellist performance in projective mapping tasks. This study tested the effect of sample complexity and alcohol content on sensory panel repeatability and accuracy in projective mapping, using six types of commercial alcoholic beverages. In a second objective, the study also tested the effect of prior knowledge of alcohol content of a given product set on panellist performance in projective mapping. The results showed that complexity had the biggest impact on panel performance, while alcohol content had a secondary but decisive influence, largely due to its chemosensory fatiguing nature. Knowledge of the product alcohol content appeared to affect individuals differently, and also had an effect on the terminology used by the panellists to describe the products. The study also introduces the Relative Performance Indicator (RPI) as a new panel performance monitoring tool for projective mapping.