6 tips for new whisky drinkers from a new whisky drinker

There is a load of whisky advice online nowadays. Getting into whisky as a new drinker should be easy, right? Not so fast buckaroo. I caught the whisky bug almost one year back and realised things are not always as simple as they might appear. Some info needs context, some needs us to do some pre-work, and some need context. So I wanted to share 6 tips for new whisky drinkers from a fellow new whisky drinker. All are easy to apply. I am confident that these will help ease some of those insecurities we all have when we get into a new passion.

The advice below applies to building your own whisky experience. This goes hand in hand with educating yourself on whisky, which deserves to have a dedicated post at some point in the not so distant future.

This is a more wordy post than usual, but believe me, it is shorter than when I first wrote it. I felt it was important to express as clearly as I could what underlies each tip. The first four tips are connected in a logical thread to each other so I suggest you read them in order. The last two, around budgeting and engaging with the broader whisky community fit pretty much as an umbrella over this whole post. I have linked them individually so you can jump to specific ones if you so wish.

Without further ado, here are my

6 tips for new whisky drinkers

1. Ignore mainstream press advice

This is where I started, looking at lifestyle and industry online magazines. What I found very quickly convinced me to look to whisky creators instead as a source of advice. With some disclaimers, as oyu will see.

So why should you ignore mainstream media lists of their 5/10/20 best whiskies for beginners? Because more often than not they are advertising pieces. Some are blatant advertising from sponsors of the same publications that publish said lists. These usually will be almost entirely made up of spirits from 2-3 large beverage multinationals and nothing else. Some will contain almost exclusively new releases, reading more like a collage of press releases than a realistic or helpful list.

To be fair, some are not advertising. Still, they should really be called “5/10 whiskies to show off to your guests even if you know nothing about whisky”. If those appeal to you and you are reading this list, you have landed on the wrong blog. Not all is terrible. Some journalists clearly have a real passion for whisky. They do squeeze sound advice for new drinkers in these lists but still peppered with suggestions from paying sponsors.

Overall online creators, most of whom are passionate aficionados, provide much better advice. Before jumping into their advice there are 2 tips to help you filter the sea of suggestions out there

2. Forget categories… at least for now

If you are just starting in your whisky exploration the first task should be to first decide what appeals to you and your taste. You might have preconceived ideas of what kind of whisky you should like from friends, movies, books, etc. More often than not this translates to the belief that single malt (or sometimes bourbon) is the only “real” whisky. Please get rid of those preconceptions. This is the time to be honest with yourself and find something that can make you passionate for years to come. Don’t go for something you think you have to like and then will fizzle away into disinterest in a few months.

This is the time to sample promiscuously before deciding to commit. I think it is key to start with a broad horizon instead of a narrow one when you approach whisky. It is the time to use that initial curiosity to your advantage. If scotch is what you are interested in (and if you are in Europe like me that is likely), don’t limit yourself to single malts. Try blended malts and good quality blended scotch too. Heck, try some Irish whisky, both grain and single malt. And while you are at it, sneak in some Bourbon and Rye. At this stage, don’t go for expensive bottles. Or even better, find a good bar and sample (over different days clearly) what tickles your curiosity.

If you are in the US, along with Scotch and Irish whisky, you will have the opportunity to try a lot more different bourbons, ryes and American single malts we struggle to get access to here in Europe. And if you are reading from other states and continents, explore what is more available to you. If you can access affordable Australian, Kiwi, Indian, Japanese or Taiwanese whiskies these are definitely worth a try. I do envy you… just a bit.

Once you have found what appeals to you, and it possibly will be more than one single category …

3. Build a flavour roadmap

For this tip, I will assume you have after all decided that Scottish whisky is what you are interested in. You could adapt the same thinking to other types of whisky using the different flavour categories. For example, for Bourbon, you may try different mash bill types.

So, assuming you have decided Scottish whisky is your main interest, try a few single malts first. Before investing in bottles, I would suggest finding a good bar. Or take advantage of organised tastings. Even better, get together with like-minded friends and share some bottles.

The three main categories that are usually mentioned as the ones you have to try are bourbon cask aged, sherry cask aged and peated whisky. That is a decent start but I would expand this to 5 categories in total. Try 1-2 whiskies in each category before really kicking off your whisky exporation. A good barman or a more expert friend can help you with some suggestions for each category. In any case, I am adding a couple of tips for each type of whisky to get you started.

Bourbon cask-aged & sherry cask-aged are a must to find some direction. Some suggestions for each, which I will be reviewing starting in a couple of days are Deanton 12 or Glencadam 10 for bourbon and Craigellachie 12 or Tamdhu 12 for Sherry.

For peat, I look at the effect of these two types of cask ageing too as these can bring out a different character in peated whiskies. Try some bourbon-forward peated whisky (Laphroaig 10, Caol Ila 12) and some sherry-forward peated ones (Ardbeg 10). You could even do this side by side with bottles from the same producer. Try comparing Kilchoman’s Machir Bay (mainly bourbon) to their Sanaig (mainly sherry) as a good example. These can be quite different and some drinkers prefer one to the other.

Finally, try a funky whisky, but maybe not a super funky one. Funky whiskies are often said to be best left to more experienced drinkers. I disagree. Experience has taught me that some new drinkers can find their sweet spot with funk from the get-go. The worst that can happen is that you won’t get what the fuss I straightaway. But if you discover this is what you love (like I did) why wait months? In that case, give it some time and try again in a few months. Glen Scotia double cask and Craigellachie 13 are a couple of good entry-level whiskies with some funk.

Now that you know what appeals to you, it is finally time to start building your collection.

4. Take advantage of the community suggestions

In my first tip, I mentioned online reviewers -YouTube channels, Blogs, Discord communities and more- as a great source of tips for new drinkers. I do need to put a disclaimer forward before you dive right in. As new drinkers, we need to understand who the main audience of these creators is and that is, mostly, other experienced whisky enthusiasts.

This is not because the community wants to shut new drinkers out, quite the contrary. It is just that the small (relatively to others) online whisky community has been around for years and many of the people in it have grown with it. We are the latecomers.

If that is the case, is there content geared to new drinkers? Absolutely!

First of all, I suggest you follow my blog and sign up for my newsletter so you can keep up to date on what I am learning as a new whisky drinker. I would love to hear your takes on your experience in the comments to learn from you. Self-promotion aside, there are a few sources which have helped me greatly.

One of the creators that specifically caters to new drinkers, especially on the education side of things, is First Phil Whisky. His Whisky Basics playlist is a great source of information and the 15 whiskies to start your collection video is what made me jump from casual drinker to geek. He also has a public discord server with a great crowd of people (yours truly included), which you can access here.

Another great place to look at is the Online Scottish Whisky Awards, or as they are more commonly known, the OSWAs. This is the only award I know of which is fully run for whisky geeks for whisky geeks, reflecting the voice of the online community. The OSWA nominations, especially in the best value category, are a great point to start looking for community-endorsed value whiskies. A recent longer-form video that is making me consider some of the next whiskies I would like to sample is Aqvavitae’s recent vPub on the topic of permashelves, or the 10 whiskies you always keep at hand and replace.

There are tons of other well-made and informative creators out there, each with some newbie-friendly content. Explore and find those who speak to you. If you would find it useful to have a list of my favourites, let me know

5. Budget, budget, budget!!!

Whisky is not a cheap hobby, if you haven’t noticed. And it is only getting more expensive.

Getting into whisky as a newbie is like being a kid in a candy store… there are new bottles to discover as far as the eye can see. And that is just the regular releases. Wait until you discover special releases and Independent Bottlers. The latter two are especially insidious in triggering FOMO and great at draining your hard-earned cash away. I am not even going to talk about what the hunt for unicorn bottles like Springbank can do to your budget.

The risk of going overboard with spending at the start is high. It takes a moment to go from FOMO to spending more cash than is sensible. Seeing a couple of bottles which you are convinced will disappear from the shop shelf tomorrow can easily lead to going crazy on purchases and then realising you spend way more than you wanted to. Hunting for the bottles you want is undoubtedly fun. Yet, more often than not, some of those bottles that you absolutely need to grab today before they disappear will either be back with a next release in a few months or are not going to make or break your whisky journey.

Also, consider your consumption. None of the whisky aficionados I know buy whisky to get drunk but to enjoy it slowly almost as a meditation form. The risk is that of ending with a collection that you are unable to consume and will be left to gather dust is high. You would be amazed how many whisky lovers realise that they are in this situation after a couple of years of chasing bottles for their collection.

Budgeting is the best way to go. Decide how much you want to spend per month/trimester/year and how many bottles you really need and stick to that. Heck, keep some extra funds to give yourself a special bottle as a present for your birthday and special celebrations. But stick to that. Never forget that whisky is a luxury that should come after your regular expenses, your vacations and taking care of your dear ones.

6. You don’t need years of experience to have an opinion… engage with the community

Having an active and overwhelmingly friendly online whisky community is great. It’s even better once you actively engage. But let’s be honest: if you are an introvert like me, that can be scary.

Let’s take a moment to talk about imposter syndrome. When we enter a new environment, be it for work or as a hobby, most of us will have a little voice in our heads holding us back. A little voice that tells us that we have not earned the right to speak up, to express what we think, especially when people who have been in that environment for much longer than us. I know that this has been the case for me more times than I care to admit. After all, what we think is probably old news to those more expert than us. Or worse, we might be saying something that makes us look stupid. As I keep telling myself, don’t overthink it.

Just remember two things.

First, those we look up to, used to be where we are today. They experienced the same curiosity, struggles and lightbulb moments just like you and I are experiencing now. And because of this, many enjoy sharing their passion and helping newcomers. Some will even go out of their way to help new passionate whisky enthusiasts.

The second point is that we all, newcomers and experts alike, are drinking whisky because we enjoy it, not because we do it professionally. OK, maybe one or two of us do work in the industry, but you catch my drift here. The point is that we drink for OUR enjoyment. What we like, the tasting notes we jot down and our idiosyncrasies around whisky are not right or wrong. They simply reflect how each of us experiences whisky. Remember this when you speak with other whisky enthusiasts, and respect other people’s taste and they will respect yours. Or to put it simply don’t yuck another person’s whisky yum.

I hope you have found some usefulness in these tips for new whisky drinkers. If there is something I missed or you are curious about, new whisky drinker to new whisky drinker, leave a comment below or drop me an email. And if you have other tips that helped you, please share them in the comments. Like you, I am still learning.

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