The first drink of whisky is rarely a romantic awakening. More often, it’s a bad date that makes you delete the app and give up.
A Bell’s and R White’s Lemonade from the corner shop. The JD and Coke in a nightclub that seemed full of life and hope then, but now you wouldn’t enter at gunpoint. A Famous Grouse your gran swore by as medicine, dabbed on your gums like a cure-all.
The first cut is the deepest, and for many people, the first whisky is a car crash in a glass. Just look at the evidence from Team Master of Malt and our followers.
The first drink of whisky rarely looks like this…
The first whisky had by m’colleagues at Master of Malt:
“Bell’s or Teachers’ blend. Awful.”
– Steven Richards
“Laphroaig 10, in a hotel in Wales, it was nice, but it was a big peat bomb for an introduction.”
– Charlotte Gorzelak
“The first I recall ever being served Maker’s Mark + mixer when I had ordered rum. That was a shock and I didn’t like it, because it wasn’t what I was wanting or expecting when I sipped it…”
– Emma Symons
Laphroaig 10 Year Old is a brilliant whisky. But it’s a bit like your first taste of fish being an oyster. Ease yourself in…
Your first whisky – from the Master of Malt followers
Twitter (X)
“A teen toasting 1st gig with our short-lived metal band «Killer Instinct», guitarist (Rab) & I scoffed a bottle of Southern Comfort & Irn Bru 🤘🏻 Was sick as a dog 🤢 Came to love 🥃 sharing a more responsible sip with father-in-law. Ardbeg my epiphany 🙌🏻 Still can’t face SoCo 😬”.
– Cliff Mann (@KingsofYearron).
“I started my whisky journey in 2011. After reading and watching a lot of reviews, the 1st two I bought were Glenlivet 18 and Highland Park 12. I was looking for picks for someone new to it that wouldn’t scare them off. I’ve climbed the ladder since then”.
– Bob Caron (@Bob_Caron).
“As a youngster, it was Bells or Dewar’s, and I didn’t like it at all😬 I much preferred Vodka or Rum and even had a spell drinking Quantro or Bacardi Gold. Having joined the RAF at 17, there weren’t many drinks I hadn’t tried… But I think the reawakening to Whisky was being posted to RAF Machrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre, living for a while in Campbeltown opposite the Spingbank Distillery I was tempted by a malt and the rest as they say is history😁👍 Much as I love a good Springbank I’d have to say my Favourite today is The Dalwhinnie 15😋🥃🥃🥃👍”.
– Derek McLeish.
“Think it was a mouthful of a bottle of Grant’s I bought my old man. He didn’t drink it, so I said it can’t be that bad and took a swig. Took me years to try whisky again and even longer to sample blended but not Grant’s”.
– Jamie Parker.
Nikka Whisky From The Barrel has persuaded many that whisky is the drink for them
“Couldn’t stand the stuff until I headed to Islay on a stag do. Suddenly changed my mind sitting in Lavagulin doing their sensory tasting. It was Lagavulin 16 that got me into it”.
– @pillhill92.
“Had Jim Beam Red Stag…..basically tastes like cherries….throw some coca cola in and you’ve got Dr Pepper…..which is fine until “Dr Pepper” exits……Balvenie 12 Year Old opened my eyes not only to what whisky could be, but I’ve never looked at a bourbon or rye again, Scotch is the only whisky for me”.
– @jamie__watts.
“First ones were your typical bourbons as a teenager, standard Jack Daniels/Southern Comfort, but soon got accustomed to drinking the Southern Comfort neat. Always wanted to get into Scotch, so got my tongue used to Haig Club, seeing as it’s stored in bourbon barrels. But the first proper thing that I touched and never looked back was Nikka From The Barrel. Nothing since has quite the same hit”.
– @krisfk90.
Instagram continued…
“I was 15 at a party. I drank about half a bottle of Bell’s with lemonade. Walked home, mainly sideways and vomited on everyone and everything at home. My parents carried out a bedside vigil, all night! I woke the next morning without even so much as a headache. They were both knackered and had Christmas dinner to prep and serve to 8 people. Even the smell of whisky made me retch. Then I was bought a bottle of Tamnavulin Red Wine Cask Edition a couple of years ago. I now have a fine selection of single malts!”
– @p4ul64.
“Had a Bells at 17 which I shotted like vodka. Horrendous mistake 😂 Laphroaig 10 pulled me in about 6/7 years ago and haven’t looked back since!”.
– @damo0623.
“My first whisky was either a Bell’s or a Jack Daniel’s, something like that. Kept trying it for years, each time enjoying it more. What really made me fall in love with it was @spiritofyorkshire ‘s STR Rioja finished whisky, absolutely incredible stuff! 👌🏻 🥃”.
– @whiskywinechoices.
There’s no one kind of whisky drinker. This world is open to all of us. You just need to find the dram for you.
What can we do about this?
If whisky’s first impression is usually a disaster, the fix is obvious: stop setting people up to fail. Don’t hand a teenager a cheap blend and flat lemonade and call it a rite of passage. Don’t let whisky live only as an aunty’s folk remedy with honey and lemon. And please, for the love of peat, don’t make Laphroaig 10 anyone’s first sip if they’ve never previously declared any love for the bold, the rebellious, the dissident.
Better to start softer. Something rounded, fruity, forgiving. Ask questions: Do they like cocktails? Are they into sweet drinks? What flavours do they usually gravitate towards? Maybe they actually like the sound of peated whisky and would like to start there. That’s okay, it’s all about understanding.
Because whisky is rarely love at first sip. Think back: did you like your first coffee, olive, or cigarette? Exactly. Acquired tastes need time. Which means we also need to be fair to our first whiskies. Are they really so bad, or were we just not ready? You will find plenty of people who love some of the drops people have said they didn’t like in this article, and for good reason, too. I guess you have to ask, is there even such a thing as a bad whisky…
The right whisky will have you as happy as this chappy
The Last Drop
Everyone knows someone with a disaster story about their first whisky. The trick is making sure the second sip is better than the first. If the gateway dram isn’t a stumble into vomit or confusion, the whole journey becomes more inviting.
Whisky lovers, we need to see ourselves as ambassadors. We owe new drinkers a proper introduction, so they see whisky’s infinite possibilities. So they join our far-reaching communities. And so they banish those first awful impressions.
We all owe it to a drink this good to give it the respect of a second chance.
Beginner whiskies
If you’re trying to help someone fall for whisky without traumatising their taste buds, these drams are safe bets. They’re approachable, characterful, and won’t make anyone wish they’d stuck with lager.
Glenmorangie 12 Year Old – The Original
Bright, fruity, and ridiculously easy to drink. Think citrus, vanilla, and peaches. A classic starter malt that gently eases people in.
Aberfeldy 12 Year Old
Honeyed, soft, and full of orchard fruit. It’s the sort of whisky that makes beginners go, Oh, this is what whisky can taste like?
Redbreast 12 Year Old
An Irish pot still beauty with layers of fruitcake, nuts, and spice. Rich, warming, but never overwhelming.
Amrut Peated Single Malt
Light, fruity Indian malt with a wisp of peat. Tropical fruit sweetness balances the smoke beautifully. It’s a gentle intro to peat, not a swin on a stormy Islay night.
Nikka From The Barrel
Japanese whisky that’s rich, complex, and dangerously drinkable. It shows beginners there’s a whole world of flavour beyond Scotch.
