New Freshman Connosr

@Jahjehwa Welcome to the world of whisky! I'm sure you'd enjoy Black Bush as a step up. Redbreast 12 has lots of creamy vanilla, but also more oak presence which can appear a bit more spicy and hot; a bit more in the direction of American whisky (though still a long way from that). Chivas Regal 12 is a good and easy drinking blended scotch, and if you drink it next to Bushmills, you will notice a faint tickle of smoke on the finish, which I love.

What I recommend is going out to your liquor store and getting any miniatures (50 mL) you can find. You should be able to find Jameson, Chivas Regal, Glenlivet 12 and/or Glenfiddich 12, and maybe others if you're lucky. If you have a few extra bucks to spend, I would go to an online retailer and order up a slew of miniatures that look interesting.

@valuewhisky

Hey, thanks! I will do just that. I guess there is a reason for all them miniatures after all.

@Jahjehwa Welcome to the Wife World of Whisky and Welcome to Connosr my friend!

I'm not a huge Irish whisky man myself my friend, but I'd suggest Glenmorangie Nectar D'or, Glenmorangie Astar, or Aberlour Abunadh (any batch, they range from just good to absolutely brilliant!)

All three are very sweet whiskies, very fruity, with nothing too harsh about them. Price in the US last time I looked at it was pretty darn reasonable too. I believe $30-50 a bottle.

If you don't mind a wee bit of smoke Hakushu 12 yr old which is a Japanese single malt is also absolutely brilliant.

If you prefer to stay with blends for the time as was suggested Chivas Regal is a pretty decent blend made from mainly Speyside single malts (from what I can tell based on flavor) which might make it right up your alley!

@Jahjehwa Oh and since I forgot Glenrothes Select Reserve tends to be very sweet and yummy with nothing too harsh on it. That might also be up your alley.

I myself wouldn't really worry too much as to whether it's a Single Malt or a Japanese or Irish, etc whisky. At the end of the day it's all good!

@SquidgyAsh So while looking at Scotch malts I will keep my eye on Speysides, thanks. I'm all about trying something more smokey I just don't want to jump right into something I wont be able to appreciate or enjoy, but hopefully I will get there soon.

@Jahjehwa The Speyside region tends to be the region of Scottish whiskies that I'll introduce people new to whisky too. They tend to be softer, sweeter and easier going on the palate in my experience. Not a whole lot of complexity some of the time, but easy drinking.

The Speyside region of Scotch whisky is actually what got my wife into whisky and to this day she still prefers that style of whisky over any other.

I would however avoid Talisker 10 yr old (which I love) and any Islay for the time being like the plague as they tend to be very good at scarying away newcomers away from whisky (in my experience) However once you can handle the pepper kick Talisker is AWESOME!

And once you start craving smoke and peat you can't go wrong with a good Islay whisky!!

@SquidgyAsh I will try and remember a Talisker for when I'm with my brother and we feel up to new challenge.

Looking around with my wife we decided to pick up a "Glenmorangie Discovery Pack", that has "The Original, The Lasanta, The Quinta Ruban and The Nectar D'or. I had the add all the "the's" or I might offend them (who knows). Ive read a lot of the mixed reviews and I'm just hoping they are better than my Original Bushmills. Going to get together in the next couple days with my Brother and try these along with a Redbreast 12 he is picking up. Looking forward to the experience.

@Jahjehwa, don't be shy. Just do some research and try a lot of whiskies. You will find plenty to love.

@Jahjehwa Yes, there is a lot to try. So many 'standards' out there. But speaking about Bushmills I can only do my best to highly recommend you the Bushmills 16yo Three Woods: dark fruits and chocolate, raisins, sherry, nuts, ... I love this one!

@Victor Yeah I think after these ones I will be looking to try something smokey and peaty, maybe like an Ardbeg 10 might be what I go after for some kind of variety. Trying to get a few more people involved so we can always bring a couple new bottles to try when we get together.

@Jahjehwa, a few friends with a few bottles each, that is the easy, economic, and chummy way to learn whisky. You can't have too many friends and too many whiskies!

And Ardbeg 10? Sure. You will probably like it at first. If not, you will probably like it later. Almost everyone does.

@Victor , I'm defiantly all about being chummy.