Or just go across the street to a bar that has about 800 bottles of Scotch and get friendly with the bartender cause you are going to be there awhile. Can’t recall the name buts its most impressive.
I’m kind of puzzled why one would decide to “expand the scope” of (their) appreciation", after having such an experience. If on the other hand it’d been “hmm, that’s different. I might get to like that someday” it’d be another story.
My adventures in music and food have followed a similar pattern. There needs to be something at least modestly enjoyable to begin with.
You really need proper glassware and some bottled water. Use a Glencairn glass and try the dram with varying titrations of water. A drop or two can really open up the nose of a whiskey. Approach it like you would a fine armagnac. Savor the nose. Give it time. Let it linger on the tongue.
Or just order the rotgut and shoot the sucker.
That’s Protestant whiskey! (Never mind; ‘Black Bush’ was my go-to for years, and is still one of my favorite easy drinking Irish whiskeys, much preferred over Tullimore Dew and the swill that Jameson has become).
That’s a bit of heresy, but just a bit. There are some excellent ‘Scotch’-type whiskeys made in Japan, and they certainly have the water for it.
Maker’s Mark is a ‘polite’ bourbon and my general choice for bourbon Manhattans in a restaurant (I use Buffalo trace as a mixer at home) but I think the best value for the taste is Four Roses Small Batch, with Woodford Reserve as an also ran. In ‘fine’ bourbons I’ve been less than impressed and reach across Basil Hayden’s standing for a label half the price.
You are a fair man with discriminating taste. The one thing I disagree with Ron Swanson about is his preference for Lagavulin over Laphroaig, and it also impresses bartenders when you can correctly pronounce the latter.
Stranger
Thank you! Those are the glasses I mentioned my brother had. Now I have a name and know what to go look for.
Okay. Finally finished off my bottle of Ardbeg Corryvreckan. Went to replace it and my local store is out. I love that Scotch.
Not crazy about my bottle of Highland Park12 Viking Honor. Good but missing something relative to the Ardbeg.
I don’t drink often so I am willing to splurge a wee bit as every drink of Scotch is an occasion for me.
What should be my next Scotch? A Laphroig maybe?
I’m way too cheap to become a scotch connoisseur. All the advice here about “Buy a bottle of this, then a bottle of that” is great if you’ve got money to burn, and wouldn’t mind having almost-full bottles (of whiskeys you didn’t like) around the house.
SO… when I wanted to learn, I asked my local bartender (who was used to just pouring me a beer) if he could “teach me about whiskies!” You should’ve seen his face light up…
It was a lot of fun, walking in and having him slide a glass with a big-ass ice cube and a “wee dram” of whiskey in front of me.
Now, here’s the Free Advice part: he did NOT start me on single-malt scotches. They tasted like “airplane fuel” (my kid’s review), and I would’ve been drinking them just for ‘street cred’ with my booze-snob friends.
Instead, we started with Irish Whiskies (distilled an extra time, so they’re smoother… think Tullamore D.E.W. or Redbreast) (my favorite, and the longer they’re kept in cask, the smoother… which is the opposite of that ‘paint thinner’ burn).
Then we graduated to bourbons. Sweeter, almost caramel-y, I loved those (esp. Woodford Reserve)! We worked our way up to pricier bourbons, but the big names at twice the price were only a little more enjoyable.
Then came the night I walked in and “my” bartender said “Okay, Digsby, tonight we make the jump to Scotch!” The ‘gateway drug’ was a blend (Monkey Shoulder) that he knew I’d like… I call it “the scotch for bourbon drinkers”, it was that warm and mellow (and it’s cheap – about $30/bottle, worth buying).
Then on to the single-malts. By then I could taste the differences, and quickly discovered that I liked “smoky” but HATED “peaty” (“Oh, you don’t like drinking whisky through a handful of moss?”)
That was disappointing, because my ancestors were from County Peat in the Peaty Valley, home of Peaty MacPeaty and his clan.
So, currently, I’ve got a bottle of scotch from the Isle of Skye (Oban, a smooth SIngle Malt). I do have Two Casks (more smoky), Finnerty’s (too Peaty), an assortment of Irish whiskies…
… but mostly bourbons (current favorite: J. Henry, from Wisconsin of all places).
Over the pandemic, I decided “Why should I keep trying to like the supposedly-classy single-malts? Why not sip a friendly, comfy bourbon in front of the fire?”
So don’t invest a lot in trying to to be a connoisseur of something that won’t be worth the cost in the long run.
Talisker is my favorite of the readily available choices.
OK single malt lovers, cover your eyes.
I like bourbon, but am willing to, and enjoy, tasting new products.
Last Christmas my son bought me a bottle of Laphroaig. I was really looking forward to my first taste. But, my god, the smell. Smelled just like a Band-aide. I got past that only to find that it tasted like a Band-aide. Put it aside for a while figuring a second taste would go down better, but no go. Only bottle I’ve never finished.
Is this the peat taste that everyone drinks scotch for? Maybe my palate cant process peat, like some people think cilantro tastes like soap (me)
P.S. I didn’t really enjoy beer either when I first tasted it… around 14YO
If you want bandaid taste, Ardbeg’s your malt.
My advice was specifically to not buy a bottle until you’ve been to the bar and have figured out something you like.
A bartender who’s willing to give you free booze to help you learn falls into the “generous and well-stocked friend” category, and is definitely the best possible scenario.
Do you like “bandaid taste”?
I personally have a hard enough time with the words used to describe different wine profiles and the words used to describe them; Scotch words completely confound me. Creosote, plasters …?
With wines I have often resorted to naming what I like and those who know more can advise me that if I like that then I would also like this.
I love Ardbeg Corryvreckan. Okay with Highkand Park 12 Viking Honor. Is Talisker similar to Ardbeg or something you like that is very different and you dislike Ardbeg?
If similar which Talisker?
A fair question.
As I acknowledged in the OP, there could be a whole lot going on in terms of flavor that my untrained pallet is simply unable to distinguish. Single malt whiskeys have as dedicated a following of aficionados as either wine or beer, so it stands to reason there’s a good deal to learn/experience in order to fully appreciate the stuff. Personally, I don’t recall particularly liking or disliking beer the first few times I drank it. I only acquired a real appreciation for all the wonderful varieties out there after trying a lot of different types of beer. So I’m pretty sure the very limited exposure I’ve had with single malts at this point has not surprisingly been a rather one dimensional experience. I’m pretty sure that would change over time with a little effort to increase my experience and cultivate my own tastes.
I do like bandaid taste.
Talisker tastes like a Highland malt (less peaty) but also like an Islay malt (more salty). It’s nice to serve to company because it’s accessible but more complex than some of the Highlands.
When I first tasted Laphroaig, 30 years ago, my immediate reaction was “bong water.” 
(I actually like it now, though it’s still not among my favorites.)
You could blow a shitload of money on books, travel and bottles of single malt Scotch…or you could go to this website to get a basic understanding of the subject Everything You Need To Know About Single Malt Scotch - EVERYTHING TO KNOW ABOUT SCOTCH WHISKY, then go to a bar that features flights of Scotch and try a variety. I think taking sips of different styles will show the variety more clearly than blindly trying different bottles at different times.
A generalized rule of thumb is to only try 12 year old single malt. Laphroaig got popular so started selling 10 year old, which tastes like ass, vs the more expensive 12 year old, which is pretty nice.
Single malt (any whiskey) aged in wooden barrels loses a minimum of 2% volume per year to the “Angel’s Share.” This is simply evaporation though the wood barrels. This translates into each year the whiskey ages, it becomes more expensive owing to the Angel’s Share and time value of money. net net, a 12 year old scotch costs at least 10% more than a 10 year old bottle. But the taste is markedly different.
People can argue the trade-offs, but generally at 12 year old bottle is what most folks would consider the minimum bar for a good, mature bottle. And that at 15 or 18 or 21 or whatever aged bottle will be “better”. Need to look to your wallet and pallet for the price-performance trade-off. Again, I posit that most single malt afficianados would generally agree that 12 year is a reasonable cut off for the “good stuff”.
So, as a newbie, I would suggest trying the 12 year old stuff.
Just go to a bar with a good selection and try a bunch of stuff. I’d revisit every once in a while too; when I was younger I thought every Islay was disgusting and now quite like them. Don’t know as much about them as I do bourbons, yet, but Ardbeg 10 and Laphroaig 10 are both great.
I started on 10-year-old Laphroaig, and I liked it. I’ve only seen 10-year-old and 15-year-old Laphroaig (and ‘Cask Strength’, age unknown). I’ve never seen 12-year-old Laphroaig.
14 yr old single malt Tullamore D.E.W. for me.