The 5 whisk(e)y to 'start off' with

I'd go with: 1.Ardbeg 10 - Slightly peaty but zesty, so shouldn't scare anyone. 2. Glenfiddich 15 - Nice intro to wood flavors in whisky. 3. Macallan 12 - Sherry intro, something more popular and generic instead of a Dronach. 4. Laphroaig 10 none cs - Peatiest of the bunch, will be your peat meter to love or hate. 5. A wild card, maybe a bourbon or a rye, maybe even an irish or japanese.

I'm going to base this on UK availability and pricing first and foremost but would imagine these malts are around, and not too pricey, in most places:

Old Pulteney 12 Highland Park 12 Ardbeg 10 Glenfarclas 10, 12 or 15 JW Green Label 15

Replaced AnCnoc 12 with the JW last minute as I think a malt blend would be a good way to go and the Green Label has a bit of everything.

I have a hard time introducing newbies to whisky in my cabinet because it's really not designed for the entry level. Luckily I remember my Teacher's College days, and have developed a lesson plan.

When available, and if time allows, I start with something like Glenlivet 12. It's drinkable but not challenging. I was re-gifted a 375cc bottle and I keep it decanted and well-gassed for just this purpose.

If not, then it depends on what I have open. Because I started with malts I like to start others with malts, so based on my current cabinet I'll use Johnnie Walker Green, then Redbreast 12 CS, Aberlour A'Bunadh. Then I would probably go with Benromach 10 (43%) and finish with Amrut Peated CS.

If I wanted to do a broader intro to all whisky categories, I would not be able to hit all the styles, and would probably do something like the following:

1. Wiser's Dissertation (Legacy if that one not available)

2. Redbreast 12 CS

3. Lot 40 CS

4. Booker's Bourbon 2015-01 (alternately Stagg Jr or OGD 114)

5. Aberlour A'Bunadh

I think the point would be to spark the interest. And hopefully have people come back often.

It would be like a dream come true to have people come often to help drink down my cabinet so I could open more, newer, and different bottles....

@RikS, I tried to resist this topic, but to no avail. I admire your selections and will attempt to stay within the spirit of your post.

Having access to a good supply of Bourbon and Canadian whisky, I am tempted to include those. Considering that you are UK based I would likely choose whisky more easily available in your region. I will present two line-ups. My objective is to introduce the novice to different grains and/or styles.

Five whiskies is a small yet practical number to begin with. More than five could easily overwhelm a novice...or anyone for that matter. I'll not be frugal nor extravagant. The lists will consist of whisky currently available at retail.

UK LIST £216 (prices from M o M) Your List £187/£221 with Glendronach 12/18, B'romach 10 at 57% abv.

Cameronbridge 25 Year Old 1991 (cask 12086) - Clan Denny (Douglas Laing) (70cl, 50%) £53.48.

Deanston Virgin Oak (70cl, 46.3%) £29.63

Oban Little Bay (70cl, 43%) £43.29

Talisker 10 Year Old (70cl, 45.8%) £24.12

Laphroaig Lore (70cl, 48%) £65.25

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Canadian List $360

Corn: Highwood Ninety 20 YO 45%, $59

Rye: JP Wiser's Triple Barrel Rye 43.4 %, $32

Bourbon: Baker's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 53.5%, $69.95

Barley: Oban Little Bay 40%, $99

Barley: Two Brewers Single Malt Peated Batch 07 46%, $100

@RikS - Nice question - conceptually, I would start w lower ABV and sweeter expressions - I have found that first-time whiskey drinkers are not in favor of spirit-forward or extreme smoke. It takes time to draw them down the rabbit-hole.

I would also want to know what their current spirit of choice is - if rum/sweet liquers, I would swap bourbon for scotch (Elmer Lee); if mezcal, I would go heavier on the peat (Ardbeg 10); if wine, a sherry or port cask (Aberlour A'bunadh).

Also going to limit to 3 as it is easier for the person to retain the information and enjoy the experience (no overkill).

So for a person, I know nothing about:

1. Wiser's Red Letter - more sweet than spice so a decent start to a virgin tongue - can also play up the Canadian angle (if a friend, I would upgrade to Dissertation - a little less cloying but more breadth to the flavor profile.

2. Balvenie 15 YO Rum Cask - still on the sweet side but more pronounced fruits and spices than the Red Letter - easing them slowly into the new flavor profiles that whiskey lives in.

3. Springbank 10 - finish w a medium peat that provides a tip of the iceberg to the full range yet does not engulf the nose/throat (positioned as a pre-cursor into stronger expressions at the next tasting).

Going from my own experience with getting people like my mother and brother into whisky, I’d go:

• Glenfiddich 12: I have a soft spot for this one. It’s fairly straightforward with pears, toffee and green apples and quite accessible.
• Lot 40 Rye: even my brother-in-law, who doesn’t like “straight” whisky (i.e. no mixer) really likes this one. It beautifully showcases how broad rye whisky can be.
• Redbreast 12: I’d stick with the standard 40% version as it’s more approachable for a noob. It’s the textbook example of Irish Single Pot Still Whiskey and is, in my limited experience, fairly consistent from batch to batch.
• Wild Turkey 101: this remains one of my favourite bourbons. Despite the higher proof, it’s very easy to sip and it has a nice variety of flavours.
• Highland Park 12: This is a little bit of everything. A little peat, a little smoke, a little sherry.

Have to say that I’m a little surprised at the number of ardbeg and laphroiag suggestions. I think if one is going to be introduced to a peated whisky Lagavulin 16 would be a much more subtle intro. As it is, my goal wouldn’t be to pick the best whiskies I could think of. In fact I would likely go with whisky most wouldn’t deem very complex in order to allow people a chance to connect their palate with what a given whisky is saying them rather than being confused. The biggest breakthrough for me with scotch was learning to sip and taste after a university experience wherein liquor was gulped, shot, or mixed. Sipping? What is this new devilry? I digress. 1) glenfiddich 12yo. Low ABV. Straight forward flavour profile. 2) Balvenie 12 dw. Slightly more complexity than the aforementioned. 3) Glenmorangie 18. Nectar of the gods. 4) Lagavulin 16. Intro to peat with some of the sweet from the previous whiskies. 5) highland park 18. I know this has gotten some hate on here lately, but when the good it’s very good.

@nooch - Could go either way with the peaty ones. Perhaps save it until the last one you try but if you're going to try a peaty whisky you may as well 'go nuclear'

@RianC the scorched earth peat policy!!! Sweet. In that case: Octomore 7.1. The ppm is super high - but I think we all know that that doesn’t mean it tastes like a bog. Apparently anything past 65ppm is redundant anyway. I gave the 7.1 to a foodie friend of mine who has a pretty refined, adventurous palate and he loved it. Said it was one of the most interesting things he had ever had. So - what I would give might depend on who I’m giving it to.

@JayRain, I like your approach. That is some careful thought and your progression is logical; however, choosing Red Letter is a total mindfuck for a novice. Red Letter is 12 - 15 YO double column distilled corn whisky (may or may not contain some rye...I say may not) aged to "maturity" in experienced bourbon barrels and finished in new oak. It is all about the oak, not the grain, not the still style, just the oak...and it is a stunner. You've completely ruined this newbie on the first bottle. My hat is off to you! With no direction on this play, I would do exactly the same thing. Quick share - a bit of Lot No 40 CS added to Red Letter 5:1 totally destroys it. RL flies best solo.

@paddockjudge RL does ok with a 52 YO single malt added...

@nooch, nice selections...but you may have broken the bank on this one. A novice is not likely to bust the $200 bubble, or even $100 on an early go at it....still, those are some nice selections with a considerate approach.

@paddockjudge I would agree if I bought any whisky at the LCBO. I don’t. I guess I’m thinking about what I’ve paid for bottles or about what I would give a visitor. The only bottle I couldn’t get for $120 or less is the HP18...and if one is planning on becoming a whisky fiend they best recognize that the habit starts at $55 a bottle. I got into whisky 5 years too late. Whenever I hear prices for the early 2000s I want to rock back and forth in a dark room.

@Nozinan, Only in BRITISH COLUMBIA, where Unicorns fly free.

@nooch, you are preaching to the choir. The last bottle of Scotch purchased by me in Ontario was more than two years ago, and nothing for at least a year before that... it was subsidised with the return of a Dalwhinnie 15 YO, given to me by a group of bar tenders after a tasting that I had led for their benefit...I picked up a Glenlivet 21 YO Archive at the bargain basement price of CDN $224.95 at the local LCBO.

Five years ago I was pulling bottles from New Brunswick and Alberta. The pricing in Ontario has forced us into that dark room for many years already.

@paddockjudge I’m curious as to your thoughts in the GL 21. I’ve had it, but my palate had already been...massaged...by various other Malts and I confess that I don’t think I could pick it out of a lineup if I had to. It was a brief flirtation.

@nooch, it is a malt lover's dram. Not a hint of peat or smoke. The sherry is soft and the bourbon does not dominate. Twenty-one years has softened this whisky and at 43% it does not attack the nose or the palate, but rather, it caresses and tempts the senses...okay, enough, I'm tempting myself and the Secretary of War is in the room with me....luckily I had one poured already!...but it took a few starter sips to get it right. A vatting of 2:2:2:1 G'livet 2, Macallan CS, Laphroaig Cairdeas 2015 and as an afterthought CC 40 YO. A bit sharper than I thought it would be. 49.6% abv.

I think I may have misunderstood the original question. I interpreted it as which 5 of my bottles I would use. Not which I would recommend they buy to get into whisky.

If I was getting into whisky now, I wouldn't buy 5 bottles, paying upwards of $300, until I knew I might actually enjoy drinking it.

Just going off of my first whiskies I bought:

1: Highland Park 12 2: Glenlivet 12 3: Ardbeg 10 4: Jack Daniels Single Barrel 5: Arran 10

A mix of sherry cask, peat, bourbon cask and American. One could argue to throw a "sherry bomb" and a rye in there as well. But these 5 were the first 5 bottles I purchased for myself about 3 years ago, and it got me hooked.

Makes interesting reading this thread.

Going from my own route into whisky I would choose these 5. In the order I discovered them...

Aldi Bourbon - This was where it all began for me. I used to pick up this for £12 in my local Aldi. I loved it. I remember those times when I only had one bottle on the go and didn't buy another until I had finished this. Long gone now!

Colonel E. H. Taylor Small Batch - A big jump in price and taste. Bought on a whim whilst on holiday in the USA. It catapulted me into a whole new world of whisky. Still my favourite bourbon.

Amrut Fusion - Instant conversion. Got me interested in something other than bourbon.

Benromach 100% proof - My first smokey one. Not love at first taste but it grew on me.

Ardbeg 10 - Love at first taste.

@casualtorture - Arran 10's a good shout. I omitted a lighter malt like Glenfiddich or Glenmorangie from my list but something like Arran, that just has a bit more going on (due to presentation I reckon), would be a very nice intro whisky.

For someone with no whisk(e)y experience buying bottles is like playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey. What the new whisk(e)y person needs is experience. Try before you buy, so that you are not stuck with bottles which do not thrill you. What I would recommend is for this person to taste 50 very different whiskies over time and then decide on the first five bottles based on those experiences. I make no assumptions that anyone should start off with 'the light stuff'. I know noobies who hopped on Uigeadail as their favourite out of 30 at tastings.

The best thing is if you have friends with large collections who are willing to share. Otherwise you may have to shell out big money at bars and restaurants to get the experience.

There is a range of what people like and do not like. There are not any universally well-loved whiskies in my experience, though a few come close.

As @Victor says so much of it is relative to the palate of the person. For example I have never really warmed to the Redbreast taste profile. Just has never done it for me.

Here's my list though if I was trying to get a person into whisk(e)y gently:

1. Bourbon - Four Roses Single Barrel
2. Scotch - Lagavulin 12
3. Irish - Teeling Single Grain
4. Japanese - Hibiki 17
5. Rye - Thomas H Handy

@MuddyFunster:

Here's my list though if I was trying to get a person into whisk(e)y gently:

Lagavulin 12

Ha!

@Nozinan I too misunderstood - I thought it would be what I would be supplying them to start their journey and not that they would be actually purchasing

@Victor Well put.

@paddockjudge Thanks for the deeper explanation of the Red Letter process - very much appreciated.

I had the opportunity to try a couple of bottles and recall the start as a sweet/caramel taste w a rich mouthfeel. I would not expect a novice to be able to distinguish initial taste from finish specifics (more of a recognition of a spice building in your buds) but perhaps I am under-estimating the average palette.

The intent was to start w easy to drink that would appeal w sweet notes and wanted to go w a Canadian expression (build that national awareness/appreciation when they are young). Red Letter & Boss Hog (which I consider the prior releases to be Canadian) are my favorites but the ABV would likely be too high for a newbie to appreciate the BH.

Thanks again - your generosity in imparting your wisdom is top notch,,,jr

@MuddyFunster Nothing much gentle about Lagavulin 12. Maybe the 16 would be a better starter.

Maybe gentle was the wrong word, but I don't think introductory whiskies need to be mild and low proof or moderately flavoured. Handy is such a unique flavour that I'd give it to a newbie. Lagavulin 12 was my first peated and I loved it. Have to point out that I'm not that big into a lot of Scotch. My palate tends to go for bourbon, rye, peated scotch, japanese and new world malts.

@MuddyFunster, I agree with you. For the novice, an introduction to whisky need not be muted, nor boring, nor tame. Whiskey drinkers are born, not made. Beginners require training wheels, but newcomers who have already knocked a few back need only a bit of guidance.... and access to the good stuff.