Why Scotch?

Scotch is my favorite in all of the whiskies. I mean I enjoy an Irish whisky and rye whiskies make amazing cocktails. But I always look for the scotch first, then the others. Part of my love for scotch is frankly its depth. There are just so many nuanced notes to be teased out. I love how it plays with others, a piece of chocolate, another dram. There’s something that just says come, sit, let’s have a chat. 

A question that often comes up in whisky groups and gatherings is ‘what got you started?’ or ‘what’s the first whisky that you had?’ I have no idea which whisky was my first whisky but among the drinking shenanigans of my 20s one thing became clear. I wasn’t into alcohol for alcohol’s sake, it has to taste good. And if there were no good options, I was perfectly OK leaving it alone. So what was then lots of nights out with pints of beer and shots of Jameson slowly turned into whisk(e)y pulling ahead of the pack as a favorite.

One of my bartenders at a bar where I was a regular figured out that I would try anything so he started giving me different drams to try whenever I would come in. As I started to note the different flavors, I was intrigued and the rest is history. I focused primarily on bourbon back then, though I wasn’t limited to just bourbons. I’m not sure when exactly scotch started showing up more and more in my choices but it did. 

Scotch holds my interest because there’s so much to sort out in any given dram, and frankly there are so many expressions and still more being made that it’s going to take a lifetime to get through it. Barley wins for my favorite grain for a spirit. 

Looking to get started with scotch? Start with The Balvenie 14 year Caribbean cask.

It’s a solid representation of scotch without being overwhelming. Try it, and the first question is do you like it? Now start to note the aspects of it that make you like it or dislike it. And from there your journey can begin. Let me know what you think.