Flavor notes of olive oil varietals?
When food researchers want to compare the flavors of a food item, they assemble a group of expert tasters and train them on a controlled vocabulary to describe the many different compounds that can be detected in the food item.  Over time some of these vocabularies get standardized.  A limited vocabulary has been adopted by the International Olive Council to describe commercial olive oils and will give you a rough idea of what to expect from a brand.  

To try different oils you can look for a local tasting bar (similar to wine bars) or search for &ldquo;tasting notes&rdquo; and &ldquo;olive oil&rdquo; to find postings from olive oil enthusiasts.  A good place to get started with oil tasting is the olive source, which enumerates a vocabulary with short descriptions, offers tips on tasting olive oil, and lists tasting bars.