Sometimes I taste alcohol, sometimes I don’t?

I’ve tried searching this up and haven’t really found anything that seems relevant. I don’t drink often, but when I do it’s usually either neat whiskey or something fruity with a low abv% like a Smirnoff ICE or something of the sort. When I am drunk I stop tasting the alcohol and that makes sense to me. But sometimes I start the night with a Smirnoff and have to really work to finish it because I taste the alcohol so strongly even though it’s a very low % and I get drunk quickly. Sometimes I start the night with the exact same thing and not only do I not taste the alcohol almost at all, but I also don’t feel its effects until I’ve had a lot. Some nights 2 shots and I’m drunk, other nights it takes a 2-3 before I feel a buzz. How much food/caffeine I’ve had in a day doesn’t vary much. Female in my early 20’s, my best guess is that my hormones have an effect? That makes sense to me why it would have a varying effect but not why I taste it so so strongly sometimes and hardly at all others even when it’s the exact same drink both times. Does anyone else experience this inconsistency? Does anyone know why this might be? And if so, any tips to help me predict how much the alcohol will affect me before I’ve had my first drink of a night?