Where to start my whisky journey? For me, the hardest step when starting to plan pretty much anything is that blank piece of paper in front of you, real or figurative. You stare at the paper and challenge yourself to take the first step. I don’t know about you, but for me, fear is not what stops me: it’s the sheer amount of choice ahead of me, the excitement of starting something new, and wanting to take everything in at the same time.
“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice in wonderland
So, to avoid making a mess the best idea is probably to “begin at the beginning” to quote Lewis Carrol. In my ongoing whisky journey map, I decided to name this the fore-end. And so I begin with the brands or bottles that have the most success worldwide. After all, they are the most likely whiskies that people might come across at the start of their journey and most likely many will be able to source these bottles to start exploring the world of whisky.
Or rather…
… this is how it should have gone in practice. But it was not, and starting off with a lie is really the worst way to begin this journey.
The truth is that this is not at all how my journey of whisky discovery really started. As I often do when a bug for something new gets hold of me, I get overenthusiastic. I spent too much time looking at YouTube videos and reading online reviews. As a result, bought 4 bottles which, retrospectively, I should have saved for later: Glencadam 10, Bunnahabhain 12, Kilkerran 12 and Kilchoman Loch Gorm.
To be fair, I liked two of them straightaway though I only really appreciated them with some more experience. The other two initially disappointed me. With time and experience, one has become one of my favourite drams. The second still hasn’t won me over, but that is part of learning. I will keep which one is which for another time, but guesses are welcome.
Mistakes and lessons learned
“I learn from my mistakes. It’s a very painful way to learn, but without pain, the old saying is, there’s no gain.”
Johnny Cash
This blog is, fundamentally, all about learning and because I am an involuntary, but assiduous, follower of Johnny Cash’s learning style, let me share the first two lessons I learned right at the fumbled start of this whisky journey:
1 – Whisky keeps for a few years (at least in a cool, shaded spot). Even if you don’t like the latest bottle you bought now, close it and go back to it at a different time. Maybe you are not yet ready to appreciate it, maybe it is a dram that only works for you in specific moods or weather conditions or maybe a little oxygen exposure will improve it. If it really isn’t your cup of tea, bring it out with friends: you may not like it but someone else might fall in love with it. When that happens, take the chance to be a great friend and gift them the whole bottle.
If even that does not work… there are always cocktails.
2 – Listen to people who have more experience than you… but not too much. I should have taken the hint from the research I did. If all the experts, real, self-declared or anointed by the web, say to start exploring scotch from certain brands before you move on, maybe stop and listen. It doesn’t mean the majority are always right, but more often than not, trust experience.
Restarting and pacing myself
So, very quickly, I stopped and rethought my approach. As you undoubtedly guessed from the title, I went back and decided to restart my whisky journey with the top-selling single malts worldwide, the ones likeliest for anyone to come across when starting to explore single malt: Glenfiddich and Glenlivet, the two top-selling Scotch single malts in the world, and Glenmorangie, no. 4 on the list.
If you are wondering why I skipped number 3 go to YouTube and search “most overrated scotch”… looking at you Macallan.
I would be lying if I said I was excited to start here. In a way it felt about as pleasant as having to practice scales to learn to play an instrument, but as you will read soon some of my prejudices got challenged for the better.
Would I restart my journey here given a choice? Which one reigns supreme among the most sold entry-level single malts in the world? Let’s not rush ahead too far yet, the fun is in the journey, one step at a time. Before reaching some conclusions and sharing more learnings from the first leg of the journey, I will review the Three Glens. Jump to any of the reviews below or to the final side by side tasting:
The clash of the Glens blind tasting
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