I'd like to buy my friend a bottle of scotch for his birthday but I'm not sure what to get. Do you drink scotch, and if so, are you loyal to a specific brand? If you are why?

Seriously, how does he like his coffee, beer and wine. Let’s start there.

I lurve Lagavulin! It is super smoky and wonderful. As whiskys go I’m as loyal as finances permit.

At low tide I drink anything in front of me.

Yepp. lagavulin is the bomb.

I don’t know about the coffee and wine but as far as beer goes I know he’ll drink anything from a High Life to a porter, although he prefers the porters.

Not much to go on but based on porter I’d agree that smoky Lagavulin is a safe bet. If he hasnt had a single malt before it might be a delicious revelation to him.

You might go with a nice Macallen 12, 15, or 18—it’s a pretty neutral one.

Scotch though is a particular taste—I wouldn’t touch Oban with a 10 foot pole.

Glenmorangie is a great scotch.

Not everyone likes the peaty Scotch… I like Lagavulin but my husband hates it.

@disasterandrew I love my dark beers, but can’t stand peaty whisky.

If I wanted to eat dirt, I’d make a mud pie.

Laphroaig is another good single malt, but as other scotch drinkers have said here, it’s sort of a love ‘em or hate ‘em.

I’d go Irish rather than Scotch (whiskey rather than whisky), and go for a Bushmills 10 year old single malt. Absolute nectar!

I love both McCallan and Bushmills.

Liquor is placed on shelves in liquor stores, with premiums on the top shelf, the solid sellers on at eye level, and the less expensive brands towards the bottom. All of the brands that are comparable in quality are on the same shelf.

I used to do a lot of work for various distilleries, and when we would blind taste test, Dewar’s White Label was consistently picked as a favorite in blind testing, by people who self-identified that scotch was their liquor of choice. It’s a good home bar selection.

Macallen 18 or Glenfiddich 18.

I did buy a Macallen in Scotland that was aged in Madeira casks, but i believe it was only available there. you could check, though. it tasted like liquid toffee. amazing

For a more mellow flavour in a single malt try Highland Park.

I like some of these; haven’t tried them all.