Familiarity

After 15 years of being totally hard-core on the subject of whiski, major categories of whiski-sampling experience have been significantly addressed by me and subtleties begin to take on increasing importance. I am currently very impressed with reflection upon how extensive experience with a given whiski or type of whiski strongly affects the experiences that one subsequently has with that whiski. Memory of past experience prime one prior to each future encounter with the whiski at hand. I use as an example Van Winkle Bourbon. I am convinced that the extraordinary demand and sky-high prices for Van Winkle products is due to an acclimatimization after long experience with them.by those who have had that experience. Put another way, I doubt that many of you, upon first tasting Pappy Van Winkle 15 yo, will be able to fathom why some people actually pay $ 2,500 now for a bottle that 10 years ago averaged $ 80 in price. I DO understand this phenomenon, because I have drunk a lot of Pappy Van Winkle.

What are YOUR experiences with the increased depth and subtle appreciation of a whiski which come with a great deal of experience with that whiski?