Allow me to recommend Teacher’s Highland Cream. It’s a blended Scotch, and in the same price range as Dewar’s or Johnny Walker, and nearly as easily found. But it’s better, at least to my taste.
My favorite single-malt is Laphroig, and sometimes I wonder if the base malt in Teacher’s is Laphroig. It has something of the same flavor, but toned down quite a bit.
It’s quite good. For those who enjoy Laphroig, but don’t like dropping that kind of money for their regular drink or two before dinner, it’s definitely worth a try.
It is, however, the absolute finest choice for adding a shot to a pan of bacon (after it’s cooked, with a lid to keep in the steam, for a minute or two) to add a nice, peaty scotch flavor.
Lagavulin being the other really fine choice for that purpose.
No, and to prove the point I likely would have pronounced it “Tea bag”, as in I want to try something neat, can you give me a Té Bheag?
Wow, Chimera, I’ve got to give that a try as I’ve several bottles around reserved for guests. Wish I’d read this 30 minutes ago.
Alpha Twit, you develop a taste or want some specialty recommendations for your guests, this group can offer all kinds of remarkable suggestions because there are a multitude of rare and wonderful creations out there.
I mentioned Teacher’s already. In fact, if I didn’t know better I’d think I wrote this post myself! Do I have another personality (with the same taste in scotch) who signed on to the SDMB? If I have multiple personallity disorder, does it still count as a sock?
I’ll put forth a blend (a vatted malt, to be exact) suggestion, then. Johnny Walker Green label. Retails at around $60, and I like it more than a good number of single malts. I think it’s a steal for the price, and it offers a mix of all the regions of Scotland in a single bottle. I love this whisky.
As for single malts, Laphroig and Ardbeg are my favorites (I’m a big fan of peat.) For something a little more middle-of-the-road, but still with a touch of peat, Oban 14 is perfect. When I’m in the mood for Scotch, I need something with peat in it.
I went to a Johnny Walker tasting and the only one I really had a problem with was the Green. Of course I liked the Blue, and the Gold and Black were quite nice, the Red was fine, but I couldn’t stand the Green. Take that for what it’s worth.
Different strokes and all that. It’s by far my favorite. Well, I do like the Blue, but it’s not worth double or triple the price of the green. I’ve always enjoyed this fine Scotch gentleman’s review of the Green Label. He summarizes better than I can everything I like about this whisky.
My lovely wife bought me a sampler of 10 tiny bottles of scotch a couple of years ago. It’s a great way to discover new tastes. As I recall, my favourites were Oban and Dalwhinnie but neither of those are particularly cheap or easy to find.
My favourite when I was 18 and still my go-to, grab-a-bottle of not-too-expensive-but-delicious scotch is Glenfiddich. I’d put Glenlivet in a similar bucket even though the tastes are quite distinct. Hey! Why not get both!
Laphroaig was my favorite for going on 20 years. I even used it as my handle in online games. I suddenly decided one day that I don’t like it any more. More saliently, I have never known anyone to like it who doesn’t already greatly enjoy single malts.
Recommending Laphroaig to a first-timer is like recommending Blue Velvet to someone who has never seen a movie before but had heard they are quite good.
“Teabag” was my intro to scotch. A great blend to get a taste for it. I’m still new, and have since tried the usuals (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Talisker) as well as some more obscure ones (Auchentoshan, Kilchoman).
The LCBO has Laphroaig Quarter Cask in right now - I got me one. AMAZING.
I would, as a relative newbie, recommend the 12-year old Glenlivet as a staple if you want a single malt.