Beginning in the wonderful world of whiskey

[reerdo]

Hi there everyone,

I have been browsing through the forum and the site in general for the last few days trying to soak up the knowledge that is here as I look to embark on a journey into the world of Whiskey.

As way of starting this post I thought it best to briefly go over where I am coming from as I seek your advice for my first steps into whiskey.

When I first started drinking (at the age of 18 obviously ) I quickly discovered that I couldn't stand beer, it just wasn't for me, the taste just didn't appeal. So fairly quickly I started drink spirits going with the ever common JD and coke (until a mixup at the bar once lead to a random combination of JB Tia Maria and coke being my chosen drink).

As you can imagine when going out up London once I had started working that combination made any night out rather expensive so I knew I never wanted to try beer again so looked around for other options and started trying some ciders and realised that fruit ciders appealed to my rather sweet tooth in a way standard apple cider never did.

Fast forward to today as a 33 year old I have found that the sweetness of both cider and a standard JB and coke is not something I enjoy as much with say a nice Sunday dinner as I once did, also finding the bloating of the fizz taking away from the enjoyment of the meal further. Leading me to look at the world of more refined whiskey drinking to actually saviour the whiskey as part of a meal.

So after all that to the question, with my history of only ever having mixers with my spirits taking the edge off the flavour and 'burn' plus a sweet tooth (though fading as my palate ages) where would be a good place for me to start?

I have been trying my best to read up on recommendations on this forum and across the web but fully admit to being totally out of my depth. One thing I have taken away from my reading is that I should limit the 'burn' factor in the whiskey I choose when starting out as to not allow myself to be put off and to accept that I need to seperate the burn from the flavour at the start so I don't discard options out of hand.

So I guess from writing this I have actually helped myself narrow down a more exact question. I am looking for a good starting whiskey that has a limited 'burn' that has a flavour leaning to the sweet side. I am happy for it to be a fairly basic taste as I say this is but the beginning.

In advance thank you for any assistance and time you give to my first foot steps . . . .

[allyby]

I would say the best starter is probably Glenmorangie 10, learn the aromas before tasting and savour your first sip, then compare it to the nose, it's fun learning so take your time to try and understand the flavours.

There's plenty of tasting hints and tips on youtube.

[arqueturus]

If you like sweetness then consider the sherry finished Whiskies out there such as Glenmorangie Lasanta although that does push the price up a little which might be off putting.

One that I can personally vouch for that is very very smooth and has a lovely sweetness is The Glenlivet 15 French Oak - you can get this for £40 from Waitrose iirc

[dramblersanonymous]

Aberlour 10yro is a decent place to start. Can be picked up for less than £25 a bottle. One of the most succesful gateway malts I know of is balvenie 14yro carribean cask. A bit more expensive but really really accessible in terms of palate.

Try and book a little tasting session. Lots of bars doing it, try four or five styles/regions and see where it takes you. Or you could go onto one of the big whisky sites (MoM banner at the top of the page ^^) and try one of their tasting sets. The speyside set looks sensible.

[reerdo]

Thank you for all the suggestions so far and there are a few names that have popped up from my research and also advice from colleagues that you have seconded here in these posts so that is extremely encouraging from my novice point of view.

[ralfy legend]

Welcome , when I started it was aberlour and glenlivit12 and fiddich 12, starting out easy made the journey very appealing and satisfying , not many will agree but the low priced aldi and lidls nas whiskies now days ease you in slowly with some still fun to be had, the nas aldi speyside is a ok whisky for it mere £17.49 price, enjoy and keep us informed on your journey.

[reerdo]

Well using the shopping links on this very site I have gone through Just Miniatures to buy the following:

Aberlour 10
Glenfiddich 12
Glenlivet 15

Also a Auchentoshan Three Wood after a high recommendation from a mate at work.

I have an alert set up for a Balvenie 14 Carribean coming back in stock

Also making a trip to the Whiskey Shop this weekend as well

Thank you for all your advice

[dramblersanonymous]

Good luck! Hope you enjoy them!

Some people will find this blasphemous, but a measure of whisky with some ginger ale and a squeeze of lime is a tasty and less sweet alternative to JD and coke. Grouse works well for this.

[reerdo]

There is so much info on here it’s almost overwhelming but fantastic fun to read through at this stage of my journey, but where do you guys get your knowledge on the different whisky from? Is it all just trial and error or word of mouth? Or through other channels?

[ralfy legend]

Trying the whisky is always the best way but I'm totally blown away with all the different whiskies we have so I YouTube the whisky from ralfy.com which helps me fuel my excitement only next purchase,

[reerdo]

So while out for the good wife’s birthday do a light spot of shopping, dinner and a movie without the boys I picked up a miniature Balvenie 14 year old Caribbean Cask that I plan on trying tonight if I get a chance

[Ihasadram]

+1 on the Aberlour. It's not one of my favorites at the moment because I've gravitated towards more peated scotch, but I wish I'd encountered Aberlour when I was starting out 20 years ago at about your age. Like many, I started with Glenmorangie, and I think I was fortunate in that regard. But I think I would have branched out earlier if my second scotch had been Aberlour. If you want to try a peated scotch, a lot of those can be very challenging, but I think Lagavulin 16 would be a friendly introduction.