First Whisky You Tried?

Good thread.

My introduction to whisk(e)y was Jameson (on ice) but my first single malt was Dalwhinnie. For the record, I don't drink Jameson any more, but it started a great love affair.

First ever would be Jim Beam White Label. Didn't really spark anything for me. A few years later a friend bought me a dram of Lagavulin 16 at a bar, so that was my introduction to the world of single malts.. I bought a bottle the next day. Haven't had beam for years now, might be fun to revisit it from a new perspctive.

Great discussion topic, @Alanjp! My first taste, when I was about 27 years old, was of Johnnie Walker Red, and I thought it was wretched. Turned me off of whisky completely. Fortunately, an acquaintance had the resolve to make me try Bowmore Mariner, and so the story began again. I loved the peat and the salt—reminding me of the campfires throughout my childhood, and the sea. I have always enjoyed Bowmore expressions since then, though I don't tend to favour them as much any more.

@Alanjp My first ever was Cutty Sark, then it was on to Glenfiddich and as you can imagine it was quite a leap (quality wise)... I've since gone on to develop a taste for more peaty Scotch so I've not gone back to either of those first two... might be interesting to see what I think of them now...

Bushmills Original. Still have a soft spot for that stuff. Never without it.

Ballantines and Glen Grant Single Malt..

first blended i think was chivas regal, i hated it...first single malt lagavulin 16 yo and three days after i bought my first bottle of ardbeg 10yo...there's an ocean between popular blended and single malts...

Greenore 8 Year Old single grain during a tasting about 8 years ago. That was my intro to whisky and got me hooked. Since 2009 I run my own whiskyblog and try to taste as much as my liver will allow me to (have tried over 200 whisky's in the past year). Yes, I often go back to the basic malts, both as a tribute and to keep my 'basic taste frame' so to speak.

@Alanjp ardbeg 10 year. my only other option that evening was wine, and i wasn't in the mood for wine. the host said: "scotch or bourbon?", i said, "i don't know anything about it, you choose". what a great choice! the peat blew me away and i was hooked.

Years ago someone gave me a bells on a burns night, it put me right off scotch.over the year i got quite into bourbon which i love. then one night this year an old irish friend bought me a dalwhinnie in our local pub wow what a difference from the whisky i tried years before.

I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I remember how it happened. It was over 10 years ago on a house of a friend of my father.We here visiting and my father was served a glass of whisky (most likely blended scotch) on the rocks and I had a sip from his glass .. the taste of it was so amazing that years after, when I moved to my own home, I started to get deeper into this world. That single sip was the spark that started my whisky passion.

My first one a dreadful, cheap american whiskey---Old Something Creek or somesuch. It was awful--- neutral spirit mixed with some corn whiskey and aged probably a year or two. It was $7 a bottle in the early 1990s. The error of my way was that I didn't ask anyone who knew about whiskey--I just went to a shop and bought something off the shelf. Dumb. That set me on the path of drinking whiskey with mixers for a couple years. Happily, I ultimately wised up.

Laphroaig.

My dad was turning 80. I did not drink, at all, at the time. He lives in Florida, and I flew down for the occasion. My brother was to arrive the next day witht he gift, a $600 camera. But that night Hurrcane Charlie hit Florida, and all air traffic was suspended. I couldn't show up completely empty-handed, and I knew the old feller loved single-malts; so I went into a liquor store and said, quote: "Gimmee the gnarliest, nastiest old single-malt nose-burner you got."

He handed me a bottle of Laphroaig 10.

Well, Dad didn't have anybody to toast his birthday with either, so I was stuck with that job, too. So he pours out a tot, and hands it to me in a tumbler; I had a little whiff and thought, whoa...then he holds up his glass in a toast, and we had one of those rare electric moments between father and son: good, straight eye contact, a thousand words spoken in a tenth of a second; and I had my first sip of scotch since my early twenties.

I remember being floored--Holy Crap, that's good! I said. Dad just shrugged with an "I knew it all along" sort of attitude, and said: "Yep."

Well, that was it for me. I knew immediately I was in trouble (financial, not addictive). For a year or so I tried to hold to the position that I don't like scotch, I just like Laphroaig. But my wife--bless her-- bought me a Bowmore Dusk; then the guy at Liquor Mart pushed a bottle of Ardbeg 10 at me. For a couple more years, I held to the idea that I only like single-malts, bourbon sucks. Then my wife--bless her--bought me a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 15 years old. Yow! I guess I like bourbon after all. And then--in my own backyard--I discovered Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey...

Charlie

The first whisky I ever tried was Jim Beam white label. My first single malt was Glenlivet 12 year.

Actually I don't have the slightest idea. I have been about 5 years old, my dad had been drinking a glass of whisky with some friends. I've woken up and went to see what they've been doing and asked my dad what it is they've been drinking. My dad gave me a sip and I haven't been drinking any alcohol for the next 15 years to come :D

Sadly I can't ask my dad what brand it had been, since he is no more...

Much later, in my late twenties, my uncle has bought for the wedding of his daughter a bottle of Johnny Walker blue label. On the day before the actual wedding, the groom, my uncle, a few friends and myself have then drank this bottle (has been in India, so no big booze-up before the wedding :D). That had been the first fine whisky I have tasted. At that occasion my uncle gave me a bottle of Johnny Walker gold label (still a bit in it :) ). Only a short time later back in Germany, I take part in a whisky tasting organised by some friends, and from then on I bought the occasional bottle or received them as presents. From then on I think of myself as interested in whisky :)

As a teenager probably the first whisky I tried was Johnnie Walker Red Label (surely mixed with coke). Then in my twenties, the first single malt I ever had was Glefiddich 12. However I got hooked up with Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban a couple of years ago.

For quite some time I have had several dusty bottles of cognac sitting around, and I would taste them now and then, seeming to enjoy them a little more each time. Then one day I discovered a store selling a brandy that I had been passively trying to find for over 25 years. Hartleys Brandy was special because way back when I would visit a certain client, we would sometimes go cross-country skiing, and take along provisions of brandy and specially roasted and seasoned almonds. This was a wonderful combination, especially with such a flavorful drink, which I hadn't been able to duplicate until recently. I now know, after trying many others, that this flavor profile is typical of many good Mexican brandies.

I have always enjoyed sampling and comparing things, and so my brandy exploration easily expanded into acquiring small bottles of vodkas and bourbons for more comparisons. Then the ubiquitous internet brought me to the BlueKitchen website, which among other spirits, offered comparisons and ratings of many of the popular bourbons. One of the first highly-rated bourbons I tried was Woodford Reserve, which because was so good, expanded my exploration to many more bottles. www.bluekitchen.net/bourbonselect.html

Later, after accidently discovering the Scoth Chix website, I again expanded my spirit horizon into single malts ... my first malt, due to the Chix recommendation, being Glenmorangie Original. The flavors were so amazing, that as usual, I had to try many more (affordable) malts. After a while I discovered Springbank 10 and Ardmore Traditional Cask, both of which provided an exciting and enticing introduction to peat and smokiness.

One thing just leads to another ... and sometimes it is not as easy to go back to bourbon after having discovered single malts. Now, having tried nearly all of the available and affordable malts, what will be the next adventure .... ?

I can't recall the first one , but I remember finding the smell of scotch nauseating ... but that was before I discovered single Malts. My friend had bought me a bottle of Glenlivet French Oak finish and I was amazed by how smooth it was and how much I enjoyed nosing it !. After that experience, I was on my way to discover all the other Single malt scotches out there. I've still got a long way to go though and loving the journey.

Probably a bottle of Bell's gathering dust at the back of my parents drink cabinet. If I remember, it had a sign on it saying 'don't touch this bottle'. Curiosity winning over, I took a sip. I think I was about 10 at the time. Haven't touched the stuff since.

First whiskey was a sip of my fathers Crown Royal when i was young, i didnt much care for it.

When i was in my teens i was on a cruise with my family and we visited the Mount Gay Rum factory, and got to try many kinds of Rum. i thought wow this is great and proclaimed my love for rum, that died quickly before i was 21.

The first bottle of whiskey i bought was a flask size bottle of Jim Beam: white label. I did a shot and put the bottle away only to later use it in cooking... I knew at that moment i would never drink whiskey again.

I then got into beer and micro brews, that lead me to (for some reason) Gin. By this point i had learned to appreciate the flavors, aromas and complexity of the spirits.

So while in Maryland visiting a friend we stopped at a liquor store and i asked the clerk what was a good whiskey to buy?... well i purchased a bottle of Cutty Sark on his word. we got back to his place cracked it open and i realized why i hated whiskey all over again.

That Friends Dad introduced me to Jameson on the rocks and i was for the first time in love with Whiskey. Notes: I am only 25, I still love Jameson, still have the empty bottle of Jim Beam, I still have a half full bottle of Cutty Sark, ,I love to Drink Crown with my Dad. sorry for the long post.

Glenmorangie Original come to think of it.

Talisker 10

My first drink of whisky was from a big jug of Canadian LTD, and I knew I'd be a whisky drinker from then on. While I've never gone back to that, I have continued to buy Johnnie Walker Black on occasion, and that was my first scotch whisky. I like the flavor and love the memories it brings back. I think I'll be drinking it for some time to come.

My first, only about four weeks ago (despite having lived in Scotland for all my forty years), was Glen Moray. Right down the bottom of the single malt price ladder. Ok, so I'd had the odd nip here and there through the years, but never in a situation where I was just sitting enjoying the drink with a bit of an idea of what I was doing :) It really was a bit of an eye opener.

Recommendations for a second bottle gratefully accepted :)

About 15 years ago my first single malt was two different versions of Glendronach 12 year old, traditional and sherry cask matured, it was a double package of two 50 cl bottles. I liked them but didn't get into single malt any more after that.

I probably bought some blended whisky (Grants and Chivas Regal) in the next 5-6 years but never had more than one bottle at home at any one time.

Then in the summer of 2001 (or maybe 2000, I'm not quite sure) I was visiting my cousin and her husband for a couple of days and on the last evening he produced two bottles of whisky, I can't remember what the first bottle was, but the second one was an Ardbeg 17 year old. WOW!, I was hooked after that and bought my own Ardbeg 17 that autumn.

That started my interest in Scotch Single Malt Whisky and from that beginning I first bought Diageo's Classic Malts of Scotland series to taste whisky from the different parts of Scotland. That didn't include any from Cambeltown so I bought a Springbank.

Having tried both Ardbeg and Lagavulin from Islay my next step was all the whiskies from Islay and that has only recently been completed with a Port Ellen and Kilchoman.

But in the intervening years I have also bought a lot of other bottles from different distilleries and from some of my favorite distilleries also different expressions.

And now my collection are 55 bottles of which 52 are scotch single malts.

And I have also been fortunate to spread the interest to both my parents and my younger brother who now also have a good number of bottles each.

Hi @ProsperoDK welcome to the site and thanks for adding your impressive collection of malts. It sounds like you're spreading the word of whisky very well :)

William Grants . Did not stick to it after that though , as I thought it was not so great . My first single malt was Glenfiddich 12 , and yeah that was awesome .

Bells blend, courtesy of my old man. Not for me! Fastforward thirty years and had to find a gift for an in-law's 60th birthday. After a bit of a steer bought him a Macallan 10 YO sherry oak. The box description intrigued me, but he never opened it on the night. I couldn't let it go, and got myself a miniature. Fastforward six months, I have some preferences, a few bottles in my cabinet and find myself posting on whisky discussions! Old dog and new tricks!

Mine was, I think, Teachers. It wasn't that great and I moved on to "whatever whisky" and coke for a couple of years. Unfortunately I then tried some Talisker and realised that maybe there was something to this whisky lark...

Worryingly, I don't have a bottle of Talisker in the cupboard at the moment. This must be remedied...

The first two Whiskies we tried when we established our Whisky Club (www.polarsirkelenwhisky.net) we tried out the Dalwinnie 15 and Glenfarclas 10 - a very nice introduction to the world of Whisky. After that I have grown a huge fan of Islay Whisky, but i still like to choose a Speyside when I am about to sit down adn have something nice to nip to over a book...