New to the scotch scene!
 

As a summer hobby I've kind of gotten interested in the finer sides of spirits and mixology. I have always heard of people appreciating good scotch, so I decided to venture into that a little bit.

It turns out I have a lot of Dewar's scotch in the house from a wedding a while back, so started drinking a little bit of that (in a glass that narrows at the top, that seems to be what I've seen people doing in the past).

I very much enjoyed it and would like to learn more about scotch and the various kinds.

I did some preliminary research and found that there are two types of scotch: single malt and blended....single malt generally considered to be of a higher caliber.

I also found that before venturing into single malt, it is good to drink blended for a while to get used to it.

Is this advisable? And after I've been having blended for a while, what would be a good single malt to try? (definitely not looking to spend four figures or anything close.....)


Any other beginner tips?

Sorry if this has been posted before.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum. There are a number of quite knowing folks participating so you'll have a chance to learn some from here.

In brief to a couple of your questions, there are better blends than others and the same is true for single malts. Some distillers pay more attention to detail than others; many malt distilleries are merely pumping out a quantity of spirit for the blenders. Hence, their malt expressions don't drink very well - as might also be the case for the blend they're going into?

Since you're just getting into this, buy and read the book 'Appreciating Whisky' by Phillip Hills. IMHO, it is probably the best book I've read about wine & spirits in 30 years. I am very critical of the industry and Hills hits the nail on the head about many things in the industry - namely how poor product is marketed as good. You'll also learn from him that whisky doesn't stay fresh once opened and that you have a couple months (at most) to drink a bottle at its best. This is something a lot of people don't get - because they never learn how to critique product, and their opinions are based on nothing more than whether they like something. I know some people in the industry who are malt heads and have over 100 open bottles in their stash. I hate drinking with them because 9 out of 10 bottles are at some level of dehydrogenation, yet they don't know it. I've had a lot of bad drams in bars and restaurants because of this but whence pointing it out the bartender or establishment owner they don't believe it. It's frustrating and drives me nuts, anyway, you will learn a lot from this book.

Where there are some very acceptable blends, the core of most of them is grain whisky. A good base grain whisky can coax things out of malts so that the blend is something the malt cannot be, assuming the grain whisky(s) and malt(s) are of good quality. Grain whiskys are much lighter than most malt whiskys so they usually drink lighter than the malts. So, I suppose, they can be easier for new drinkers. However, many of them are not much less expensive than some of the bases malts.

For example, in the U.S., it's not hard to find a 750ml Macallan 12 for around $45. Johnnie Walker Black in the same size will run mid to upper $30s most places. You can find some very decent malts (Tamdhu & Speyburn 10) for about $20-22 bucks in the U.S. right now.

The main thing you'll find with the different malts is how different they can be. Thus, if you're inclined to Scotch, I'd suggest you don't need to spend too much time with the blends. Buy and drink the malts, as most bars and restaurants have few of them but do have the main blends. Thus, sample the blends when you're out on the town.

Right now, I'm working through Glengyle's Kilkerran 'Work in Progress, Highland Park 12, Tamdhu 10, Blair Athol 15 yr Signatory bottling and Benriach 10 Curiositas Peat. I'm finishing a Dallas Dhu 10 (I found in a store for $45), as I write. The DD bottlings now available are generally over 20 years old and over $100. This is relevant because the distillery was closed in 1984 and is now a museum. Too bad because it's a really solid dram. My point is, with a little info, you can treasure hunt and drink really good and interesting stuff for the same you'll spend on mass produced blends. Obviously, it appears I'm leading you to the malts - but they've become my passion.

Good drinking and welcome to the wonderful world of whisky!

I love good whisky! Good whisky can come in a fancy bottle with a high age statement, or a more subdued packaging with no age statement at all.

Dewars is a fine blend, and actually one I like. However, I find most blends all but dilute away the interesting flavor of the malt whisky.

The fun thing about single malts is that they showcase more of the distillery's personality. You can taste some really wild whiskies from places like Islay, or stay with the softer, malty whiskies in Speyside. Laphroaig would be a good example of the former, while Glenfiddich, Macallan or Glenfarclas would be a good example of the latter.

After the whisky has distilled and matured, some whiskies are then "finished" in port casks, sherry casks, or madeira casks, etc... It is fun to taste the differences these finishes can give a whisky. Glenmorangie has whiskies in several different finishes that makes this a fun experiment: La Santa, Quinta Ruban, Nectar D'Or, Sonnalta PX, etc...

Additionally, some whisky is finished in different kinds of wood casks (French oak, new oak, etc...). The wood can give the whisky a unique flavor as well. The Glenlivet 15yr French Oak is a great bottle of whisky to display this characteristic.

Other than how it is made, whisky is also bottled differently. The Balvenie 15yr Single Barrel is bottled straight from one cask, as opposed to most single malts which are a product of different casks from the same distillery being "vatted" together in search of a specific flavor profile. This gives you a "raw" tasting of the whisky straight out of the cask.

Other than being a single cask offering, some whisky is bottled at cask strength, instead of being watered down to 40-46% ABV. Cask Strength whiskies are in the high 50's to low 60's! My favorite cask strengths are Macallan Cask Strength, Aberlour A'Bunadh (which are very similar whiskies) and Laphroaig 10yr Cask Strength.

What I would recommend doing is to go in search for sample packs. I have seen sample packs of The Balvenie (12yr Doublewood, 15yr Single Barrel and 21yr Portwood), and Glenfiddich (12yr, 15yr Solera Reserve and 18yr.) Then find as many 50cl bottles as you can find of the various single malts. I have had good luck finding various offerings from Glenlivet. I even found a small 50cl bottle of Macallan 18yr Sherry Finish, which is quite excellent.

After you have tried as many small samples as you can find, and after you have tried everything the local taverns have to offer, then come back with a ranking of which ones you liked the most. That will help us steer you in a direction you might like to explore first!

Hey everyone thanks for the thorough answers!

So what would you recommend as a good single malt to start with?

Didn't even see Jwise's second answer. I'll definitely look into the sample packs. I have never seen them in the liquor stores I generally go to, are they something you usually get online?

Go to the local shop and pick up as many small bottles as possible. Start with whichever one you want.

If you are at a bar, and have plenty to choose from, start off with a young malty whisky like Glenlivet 12yr. Then try a sherry finished whisky, like Macallan 12yr. Then try one with a more unique flavor profile like Talisker 10yr or Highland Park 12yr.

As was mentioned earlier, go to a big local liquor store and buy all the 50cc singles you can find. Between a couple stores I'd bet you can find 10 different ones. Than you can locate a local bar known for a large whisky collection and sample a few more. The local whisky bar near me will sell 1oz tasters vs the standard 2. It's a great way to try a lot of different ones. If you find one or two you like, let us know and we can recommend a couple bottles you'll probably like.

No one really wants to recommend that you buy a $40-80 (or MORE!) bottle of whisky that you may or may not like. With just a little bit more information about what you liked, we would feel confident in doing so.

The only advice I can give is, do not start off with an Islay. They tend to scare new Scotch drinkers off. You'll come to appreciate 'em, but build your palate with everything else, then explore Islays.

hey so thanks for the advice guys!

i went to the liquor store and in addition to a bottle of my precious grand marnier, i bought a bottle of glenlivet 15 year, i really love it!

Excellent! I am glad you like it. Try out a few more and get back with us, so we can triangulate on your preference!