Your First Date with Single Malt

So you want to get into Scotch but you’re not quite sure where to start?

If you’ve never tasted Scotch before and are a drinker of the Cosmopolitan variety, I’d first try Scotch in the context of a mixed drink. But I wouldn’t, I repeat, wouldn’t use a single malt, as I feel it’s a travesty to dilute good single malts with mixers. Instead, I’d opt for a blend, like Dewar’s or Johnnie Walker, with soda or water, starting out heavy on the mixer before weaning it out. If you aren’t quite Scotch and soda ready, you can always start with another type of whisky, like bourbon or rye. Both are extremely mixable and even suited to sweeter mixers. Case in point: Jack and Coke.

Now, if you already have a taste for whisky and have downed a few Maker’s Manhattans in your day, then you’re ready to move into the single malt market. Tomintoul is a good place to start. Distilled in the Speyside region of Scotland, a region in which a whopping fifty percent of single malt Scotch whisky is produced, Tomintoul is what I like to call a gateway Scotch. As marijuana may lead to harder drugs, Tomintoul may lead to heartier Scotches. It’s touted as “the gentle dram” and, baby, is it ever. With citrus, toffee and raisin on the nose, Tomintoul is crisp, clean and creamy at first taste. As it spreads across the tongue it brings a bit of heat and some mild spice before mellowing to a sweet finish. Start with the 10-year by drinking it neat with a tumbler of water on the side. Adding a drop or two of water to your Scotch is perfectly acceptable, and it will make the Scotch milder and sweeter.

Remember: Scotch drinking, much like life, is a marathon not a sprint. Relax, take your time and enjoy. After all, it’s about pleasure, not bravado. One doesn’t go from wine spritzer drinker to single malt connoisseur overnight. And if the wine in question is White Zinfandel, well, then quite possibly never.