degust
\ dih-GUHST \, verb;
1.to taste or savor carefully or appreciatively.
Quotes:
Although this dish has been degusted by our great great grandfathers, and has been for upwards of a century one of the strongest pillars of the art, I shall here describe it, as an old proverb justly reminds me that a good thing can never get old.
-- Alexis Soyer, "The Gastronomic Regenerator ,"1846
Now, if the soupe au vin had been known in Troy, it is clear that in declining vinum merum upon that score, he would have added in the next hexameter, 'But a soupe au vin , madam, I will degust , and gratefully.'
-- Charles Reade, "The Cloister and the Hearth ," 1861
Origin:
Degust can be traced to the Latin word gustāre meaning "to taste." It entered English in the early 1600s.
Dictionary.com