Considering taking WSET Level 3 in Spirits?

Want to learn more about how clay stills operate for Mezcal? Or what Baijiu is? How does a beer still work in production for bourbon?

WSET Spirits courses have become highly sought-after certifications by industry professionals because of their scaffolded learning approach, something that has not been done previously in the spirits industry for certification. In scaffolded learning, each level builds upon the previous level to develop mastery at the next level, so students learn new information in a structured way that ensures a strong foundation of knowledge without gaps. 

If you have done other WSET courses, you will be very familiar with this. 

WSET Level 1 teaches the “what,” or the knowledge to recall fundamental facts from memory. This course takes roughly four weeks online or one day in person.

WSET Level 2 teaches the “why,” or the comprehension: being able to explain the knowledge you’ve learned. This course takes roughly six weeks online or two days in person.

WSET Level 3 teaches the “how,” or the application, helping develop the tools to use your knowledge in an appropriate context. This course takes at least ten weeks to complete with at least 100 plus hours of study time to pass. 

What specific spirits information do you learn in the course? 

Agave spirits are a great example:

Level 1 Spirits you learn about Tequila. 

Level 2 Spirits you learn about Tequila and Mezcal. 

Level 3 Spirits, Tequila, Mezcal, Raicilla, and Bacanora.

And for Level 3 Spirits it’s not just learning label terms and laws, but it’s also understanding and explaining various production steps. For example, you learn both how a pot still works and how the distilleries’ choices impact what you taste in the glass. Back to our agave example, it’s understanding how a clay pot still works in comparison to a large column still. 

The Level 3 Spirits exam is broken into two parts: tasting and theory. 

The tasting is a blind tasting of two examinable spirits. While you do need to state which type and category the spirit is from, it’s more about accurately describing what you are tasting in the glass and defending the quality level you assign.

During the course, you taste a wide variety of spirits, but for the exam, there are only 12 examinable spirits. The 12 examinable spirits are Scotch whisky: Blended and Single Malt; American whiskey: Bourbon and Rye; Brandy: Cognac and Armangac; Agave: Tequila and Mezcal; sugar cane spirits: molasses-based and sugar cane-based; and Gin: juniper-forward or contemporary. Asian spirits, such as Baiju, Sochu and Soju can be difficult to find in many markets, so they are not considered examinable spirits on the tasting part of the exam. 

The theory exam has two parts: multiple-choice and short-answer questions. 

There are 50 multiple choice questions that can cover anything from the specification guide, including Asian spirits.

The short answer questions are divided into six 5-point questions, three 10-point questions, and one 20-point question. As you might gather, the questions with greater point values require a longer and more detailed answer, potentially explaining how and why certain decisions are made in the production process of a given spirit. Some of the questions will ask you to simply state facts, but in Level 3 Spirits, you’ll need to be able to describe and explain concepts in detail.

It is recommended to take 100+ hours of study to pass. Personally, I and other colleagues have found Level 3 in Spirits to be harder than Level 3 in Wine. 

Here are some of the questions I frequently get asked by students thinking about WSET Spirits courses:

Can I start at WSET Level 3 Spirits? 

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND taking at least WSET Level 2 Spirits first. From the tasting methodology to talking about how a column still works, even seasoned industry professionals find they learn something new in WSET Level 2 Spirits. Too often I’ve seen students jump in at Level 3 from other certifications and struggle to be successful. We want you to succeed, and having a solid foundation with WSET Level 2 Spirits is the best path to success.

Even those who have the old Diploma of Wine and Spirits from WSET, would benefit from WSET Level 2 in Spirits. As I like to say, it helps “dust off the cobwebs from the stills.” 

I have taken certifications from other programs. Can I jump in at Level 3 Spirits? 

Please reach out to our student success team and they will connect you with me — let’s have a conversation. 

I’m about to sign up; is there anything else I should think about?

I would also encourage you to take a look at your schedule for the next 3 to 6 months, depending on when you plan to take your exam. Be extremely honest with yourself. Do you have the time to take on this program? Again, we are talking about at least 100 hours of study time needed to ensure you go into the exam well-prepared, so if you study an hour a day, that’s over three months of preparation. This is a passable exam, but you need to interact with the study materials, which involves more than reading the book and attending/watching webinars. You need to practice answering questions, and write out the different production steps for all the different types of stills. Too often students start the course in the middle of moving or a job change and don’t have the time to study. 

What should I do to prepare for Level 3 Spirits before the course starts?

Take a look at the Level 3 Specification Guide. Are there areas that are new to you or you know are weak points? For example, I wasn’t familiar with Asian spirits, so I found several online resources to help me prepare before my course started. And take a look back at your notes from Level 2 Spirits. 

Just remember that with WSET courses, only the information in the textbooks will appear on the exam. Once your course starts you don’t want to be looking at additional resources too much or you can get overwhelmed. 

And when your book arrives, you can start reading the textbook. Cheers to your success!