Comments on Scotch from JoeP

here's a somewhat simple way of thinking about scotch. there are blends and there are single malts. blends tend to have a more balanced taste -- that makes them popular and well liked and that is kind of the point of blending. single malts have a more distinctive character and tend to vary regionally. the older, more expensive stuff tends to be more smooth and complex, while younger scotches tend to me more brash and less sophisticated. there is also a trend now towards casking in oak barrels used for sherry, port, and such, making them kind of subltly "flavored." i mostly look down on this trend. anyway, in my simple model, you can further divide single malts into highland malts and Islay malts. the most popular highland malts are the best-selling (in the u.s.) glenlivet, glenfiddich (the two best selling in the us), and macallan. although the older more expensive stuff can be quite tasty, i am a big fan of Islay scotches, which are distilled on an island dominated by peat bogs that conveys a smokey taste. the most popular islay scotches are laphroig and lagavulin. another very nice scotch is talisker, from the isle of sky. kind of in-between islay and highland. if i was getting steve a bottle, keeping in mine my bias towards my own personal tastes, i would get him lagavulin 16 ($65-95) or talisker. you can even find christmas-y gift boxes that come with cute little glasses -- i know i've seen talisker sold in this fashion.