Your First Whisky, Your Obsession Catalyst?

For me, it was a dram of the Talisker 175th Anniversary.

Nothing too great for me but a few years ago my brother gave me a bottle of Longmore 15 yr, hadn't opened it until a few months ago. I remember thinking this tastes really good. Since then I've been enjoying the varieties scotch has to offer. A 3 day weekend for me maybe I'll slip out the commission and check out the selection.

I learned (the wrong way) to drink Scotch in grad school when I shared an office with a fellow from Fort Worth. He put out a bowl of jalepeno peppers and a bottle of Johnny Walker Red. The procedure was to bite a jalepeno and then, of necessity, take a nice swig of the JW. It is a very quick way to overcome a newbie's aversion to peat. ("Hmmm" was not my reaction. More like "Holy s---!")

It's probably the first time I drank a Lagavulin 16 years old DE. What a shock! At the time I was with my job colleagues and we all agreed that if there ever was a drink made out of Clint Eastwood's guts, it had to be it. The taste, the smell, everything was Clint!

Red Breast 12 year old Pure Pot Still Irish Whiskey.

At my first SMSW tasting, the different flavor profiles of the three Scotches served peaked my curiosity. The Highland Park 21 sample was my "ah-ha" moment that confirmed to me that I needed to investigate further. No looking back now!

For me, it was Elijah Craig 12yo fell in love with the smell before i'd even tasted it.

I was on Islay on holiday with a few friends many years ago . We spent the week going through the Islays . When in Rome and all that. It was the whisky and the people and the Island . No place in the world can be more friendly. Every time I have an Islay I think of the place . I've been back often , of course , and I still love the sign on the single track road just as you're approaching Bunnahabhain.It says ' This way , Bunnahabhain , that way , other places '

I was always a blend and non-peated malt drinker. I just could not aquire the taste for peated, smoky single malts. My cousin was visiting from England about 10 years ago and he brought me a litre of Laphroaig 10 from the duty free. Hated it, gave it to a friend. On the advice of a friend my wife gave me a Bowmore 17 for Christmas about 5 years ago. Tried hard to love it but it didn't happen. Gave it to the friend. (I'd give my left one to have it now). Continued to enjoy my Balvenies, Glenmorangies and Macallans. About 2 years ago we were coming through a duty free and I thought I must be missing something, so I picked up a litre of Ardbeg 10, determined to give this peat thing my best shot. That was it, just like that I was hooked. It was one of those, "holy crap, I've wasted a lot of time avoiding this stuff" moments. It was kind of like when I finally got John Coltrane, Dostoevsky and raw oysters, You wonder why it took you so long. It pays to persevere.

@BlueNote Coltrane and raw oysters... so true!

2007 a friend brought Macallan 18 to a wedding. A couple rounds of toasts and I thought "this is way better than beer". Next was Glenlivit. After that I knew I'd be going through them all, so I walked in the liquor store and started at the bottom, cheapest single malt they had, Lismore no age statement. I then bought each bottle in succession based on price. I peaked at 3 bottles of Brora 30 in 2008 ($300 each - a bargain in hindsight), one of which I'll open later this month to celebrate my 50th orbit around the sun. Since that highwater mark I'm going back and trying anything I've never had.

@Wodha A very sound plan. I may need to copy you :)

Port Ellen 20y Rare malt 1978!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OBSESSION

Bowmore 12, then Lagavulin 16. I'm one of those people that got hooked on whisky specifically because of Islay malts.

Although I've been drinking some malts before (including some islay malts that totally put me off at the time) , the whisky that got me hooked is the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban. It was the first time I realized whiskies are a very special and complex drink. Something to sip, enjoy and venerate.

@michaelschout Me too. Islay should be listed as a gateway drug :)

What's interesting to me is now, after 3 years and over 100 varities later I'm not much of a Macallan fan. You give me one I'll enjoy it, but I've only purchased one ever and not again.

For me, it was The MacAllan18. Its my "Grace Kelly" of whiskies. My first crush. But unlike @Wodha, I can't get enough MacAllan. Anytime I'm in a liquor store or duty free and I see a Mac18, I always take her home. You always long for your 1st.

@Wodha I am the exact same way. I've had quite a few free drams of Macallans, but I've never purchased a bottle nor do I ever plan to.

Started collecting in 2001 as an investment, and before long had quite a few bottles. It soon dawned on me that should my "investment" not turn out to be as profitable as one would like, I'd better get used to the taste as a hell of a lot of drinking would be required.
I had read in many whisky books that Laphroaig was not one beginner, however at a friends engagement party, I spotted a 10yr old Laprhroaig. Not one for "dipping his toes in", I decided to put my trunks on and dive in! Laphroaig please barman! Great Stuff. Went home and opened up my 15yr old bottle and made sure all my family had "a go". My 27yr old 1980 FOL bottle remians unopened - but everyday I'm sure it winks at me !

Lagavulin 16 took me from 'curious about' to 'committed to' the hobby of whisky. The "campfire-in-a-glass" took my breath away and made sure that I explored things much more seriously.

Helyers Road Peated, from Tasmania, Australia.
My wife forced me to go on the distillery tour (imagine how much she regrets that now!) as I had no interest in whisky. At the end of the tour there was a sampling table, and I asked the lady... "Hey, what does peated mean...." Never looked back!

The first one that really ignited my love of bourbon was Eagle Rare. The BEST I've had, however—the most sublime, my "high water mark," if you will, was the bottle of Pappy Van Winkle's 20-year Family Reserve. So amazing.

A friend gave me a dram of Lagavulin 16 when I was in my early twenties. I hated it, and returned to my Jack/Coke, or whatever swill I was drinking then.

A decade plus later I'd gotten a job promotion and wanted to try something different. While wandering the liquor store I saw that distinctive green box and thought, "What the heck, maybe now that I'm older and wiser."

That first dram was a religious experience. I still wasn't sure I liked it, but I finished the bottle in under a fortnight. Now, four years and several thousand later...

My first memorable whisky was my first whisky. I was hitchhiking around Scotland and had spent the night at a youth hostel near Loch Lomond, and had decided to walk around the Loch to the next hostel. About lunchtime, I stopped in at a pub in a small village for a bite. I was drinking fizzy lemonade, but when I went to ask for another, one of the patrons at the bar, noticing my pack and realizing I was a visitor, told me "You're in Scotland, you can't drink that." I told him I didn't know anything about whisky, so I wouldn't know what to order, and he bought me a Glenmorangie. Possibly two. I don't remember which Glenmorangie it was. But from that point on, I was a whisky drinker. (Turned out, he was on his buddy's expense account, so it was no skin off his nose to buy for me. Interestingly, I don't think I had to buy my own whisky during that whole trip. There was always someone willing to buy an American hitchhiker a dram.)

Simply Ardbeg TEN

My first "real" whisky love was a Balvenie Double-Wood. I must've bought every bottle my local supplier had (which were few and far between then)!

@kharmin That's one of my favorite whiskies. Absolutely.

@Scotchester Have you tried Iowa Bourbon? Really quite nice, and affordable.

@golux13 I have not, but thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out!