Ok someone educate me a little on Whiskey/Scotch.
I never gave it much thought as every time in the past that I had whiskey straight it was unpleasant. I have learned this is because I have never had anything decent before...
Recently a friend brought a bottle of Benromach Single Speyside malt scotch whiskey aged 18 yrs. It was sooooo good. I NEED to learn more.
What makes a scotch or whiskey smooth vs burn like gasoline going down?
What should I look for?
A TON of things go into 'smooth'.
For starters, proof, or ABV is going to have an impact. Something 80 proof is probably going to have less of that alcohol burn than something with a higher proof. This doesn't mean that a high proof is going to always 'burn' or seem 'proofy', but frequently it does. When we say 'it drinks hot' what that means is that you are getting that alcohol burn.
Then the grain that is used can have the spirit be peppery or light or malty or others. This doesn't give it a burn, but it can give it some pepper or some 'funk'.
Then time aging. Easiest way to think about it is barrel aging is like a filter. The alcohol sits in the barrel and soaks into the barrel and then gets pushed out of the barrel, again and again. This happens slowly if the barrels are in a colder climate and faster in a hot climate. Something can age in scotland for a decade and be as dark as something aging in texas in a single summer. At the same time think of how effective a filter is if you force stuff through it instead of slowly, so you age faster but you don't necessarily age 'as well'. Age for too long and you can get 'over oaked', think like over steeping a tea bag.
Then barrel type. The VAST majority of whiskey is aged in oak. Some whiskey like bourbon MUST be aged in new oak. Others have different requirements. Most scotch is aged in either ex-bourbon barrels(bourbon can only be used once so people re use the barrels to get more flavor out of the oak) or ex-sherry casks to impart some of that sherry flavor.
I can't find anything really on Benromach 18, but I can find Benromach 15 and Benromach 21 so I'm gonna base things off of that. Benromach is a Speyside distillery which is normally lighter/sweeter and kinda grassy or lightly herbal OR 'sherried' with a lot of rich fruit flavors. The 15 is a combination of ex bourbon and sherried casks and the 21 spends life in sherry casks. So I'm gonna guess 86 proof and vanilla/caramel/fruits/chocolate with no peat.
tl;dr: drink nicer whisky that isn't meant to be shot or mixed.
If you have a local friend who has a big whisky collection and ask him to educate you. I've never met a big fan who wasn't SUPER interested in sharing and seeing someone develop into the hobby. If no one local comes to mind just say and I'm more than willing to put you together a 'tasting' kit that will cover the gamut of major categories.