How did you get into Scotch?

[amsaguilar85]

I just wanted to know your guys' story on how you got introduced into the world of Single/Blended Malts.

I knew nothing about Scotch Whiskys, the only whisky I knew and drank were Jack Daniels and that was usually mixed with something and Jameson, but I just drank to get drunk. Well in October I watched the entire series of Parks and Recreation (you know where this is going ha) and as many of you may know the character Ron Swanson enjoyed his Lagavulin 16 occasionally. I took interest in that drink because I wondered why he loved it so much while others hated it. I researched and found out a lot of information on "Scotch". For some reason I became really interested in the rich history and the varieties of this spirit. I decided that I would start my own journey and I started with a cheap bottle of Speyburn 10yo. Curiosity eventually lead me to buy more...Glenlivet 12, Glenlivet 15, Lagavulin 16, Macallan 12, Johnnie Walker Black, & Chivas Regal 12. Tonight I will be picking up a bottle of Laphroaig 10. All this in a matter of 2 months.

Scotch also lead me to become a fan of rum as well, I have few bottles of rum that I keep if I want to take a break from scotch, I find the switch in tastes actually helps me develop my palate for both spirits.

So how did you guys get into scotch and what were your first purchases?

[emjaydee]

Your interest arose from a TV program, mine from a series of novels by Barry Eisler where the protagonist (John Rain), a half-Japanese hitman very much loves his (usually very expensive) single malts taken by the dram with good jazz in the clubs of Tokyo or Osaka. My very first single malt was Laphroaig quarter-cask (John Rain often drinks Laphroaig!) which I guess would have been many tyros' last but I discovered that I am a peat head and it is still one of my favourites.

[ralfy legend]

mine was from my dad he worked hard and when he came home he poured himself one then years later when my drinking days chasing women was over i wanted a drink i ckuld drink slowly and enjoy and whisky it is..

[sorren]

My father was a whisky drinker, mostly blends, the odd single malt but mostly something just to get drunk, I remember my first try was fiddich 12, i wasn't drinking to appreciate it, it wasjust as a drink, I then started to try others but mostly stuck to fiddich and glenmorangie, I bought several bottles but didn't drink much of it, I then bought a bottle of Auchentoshan select and added lemonade , this was my summer night drink, that was the beginning of my appreciation of Auchentoshan, I bought the 10 then the 12 when that replaced it, I still had fiddich and morangie laying about, I had started a modest collection by now and drunk it as a whisky not just s drink, I experimented with different finishes, then a few years back I met John, Ollie, xoe and joe down the whisky shop in York and got a fair bit more serious about my whisky, now I'm just a whisky junkie 😝

[opelfruit]

I started dabbling about 10 years ago. Like most I started on Balvenie doublewood, Laga 16, Talisker 10. Started getting more into it and got a Talisker 18 and from there I became obsessed. I wanted to know why there was so much difference between Talisker 10 and the 18 and during research found out how whisky was made, how it's bottled and packaged and labelled. I've got OCD so his became a hobby very quickly, I had to know everything about whisky and how every whisky tasted.

From there I stayed around the premium end for years but over the last year or so i've realised how much stuff I've missed in the lower to mid range that is amazing so I'm kinda having a reverse journey at the moment. Usually you go up and up and onwards, I'm going backwards but to distilleries I've not had before as I just jumped past them.

I'm enjoying this part of my journey more than previous parts.
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"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[Carson]

I always drunk blends when i was a young man a stepped up to single malts when my finances allowed me.

[GBrough]

I used to watch cowboy movies as a kid and I loved the idea of whisky it was a mans drink in my eyes. As an adult I see women drink it and I think that is awesome because usually I see women at bars get Vodka Cranberries.

I used to party quite a bit when I was 19 until a bad night when I got alcohol poisoning and now I refuse to drink unless I want to enjoy the flavours.

When I turned 21 a family friend turned into my scotch mentor and got me a bottle of Macallans director edition and while I love it I wanted something brassier with more pizzaz so I picked up a bottle of Finlaggan then a bottle of Ardbeg and thats how I started to drink Islay. I still drink the occasional bourbon or rye and I own a few bottles of blends, highlands and speysides but I always return to Islay because I love the ocean and it reminds me of just sitting on the coast with a flask, some oysters and a cigar.


I started on Highland park 12 and fell in love with smoke and wanted more smoke out of my whisky and I wondered why bourbon was lacking this so I started to research and whenever I like something I have to know more about it so I started to research scotch whisky distilleries and learned about Ardbeg, Bruichladdich, Kilchomen and other distilleries that do not chill filter and bottle at higher proofs, or offer cask strength offerings, now I prefer whiskies that are more natural and refuse to add e150e Carmel coloring.
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The Laga 16.

It even tastes like an ashtray-WM

[TyWebb]

My scotch whisky drinking began 30+ years ago when I started college. My father, being from Kentucky, was a bourbon drinker. I was more of a snob back then and thought drinking scotch made me look more sophisticated, so I acquired a taste for JW Black Label.

College life afforded me the opportunity to develop friendships with people from a wide variety of backgrounds. My dorm room became the hang-out for those who didn't go for "that sour-mash s*#t" as one guy liked to say. A girlfriend introduced me to single malts (Glenfiddich). Mind you, this was the early 80's. Your average college-town liquor store didn't devote significant shelf space to single malt scotch.

I've thoroughly enjoyed the increased popularity of single malts over the years. Mostly sherried Speysides. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable as many of the regular contributors to this forum, but I have made a pilgrimage to all of the Dufftown distilleries as well as Talisker and Oban (and a drive-by of HP while on a bus in Orkney). Islay remains on the to-do list.

My wife (not the gf mentioned above) had only ever tasted Dewers White Label a long time ago and was not impressed. One evening several years back, she sampled Macallan we had on hand and she found it quite nice. That was my green light to introduce her to the full spectrum of single malts. Now she loves HP and is also a Friend of Laphroaig. Yeah, she's a keeper...

Slainte

[percyhedgehog]

I traveled to Scotland to familiarize myself with my roots and the beautiful country. I swore I would not leave without experiencing whisky properly. I returned home a fan of Lagavulin, and I've sampled some 50 different whiskies in the year since.

I'm hooked.
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Slainte

[TheWM]

I nabbed this from a post some years back, but describes my introduction to Scotch...

I went to the Outer Hebrides a while back and when we stopped en route at Inveraray, as a novice whisky drinker aged 30, I wanted whisky. I didn't know what whisky, but I wanted to drink whisky, eat haggis and wear a kilt (well OK I didn't do the kilt thing).

I ended up in this place:

http://www.lfw.co.uk/

To be honest, the guy was quite patient with me with some tasting, although when he asked me some basic, although important questions such as peaty, smoky, sweet, single, blended etc... I just had to shrug my shoulders.

Then he asked about price point. I replied as I would do for anything - if it's worth it, I'll pay it (knowing nothing about what would be a good whisky).

To be fair, he could have bagged a couple hundred quid off me, but after me tasting a few samples with the general repost of "oh - that's nice", he said "right sonny, you've had 5 whiskies now and you're going to have to help me here, one more taster and that's you done."

A bit taken aback by his approach (admittedly looking back at it, he probably got loads of tourists that do this and buy nothing), I just said "can I try something local" and he gave me the Tweedale Blend batch #1 and told me the story of it being an old whisky discontinued in the 30's but resurrected by his grandson (I think).

To this day, I look back at that whisky as 'the one' that kicked it all off for me. I ended up driving around the Outer Hebrides in my camper looking for perfect places that I could sit, enjoy the view and take in my my new found friend.

I highly recommend this whisky - especially straight out of the bottle, waiting for the Northern Lights Very Happy