Want To Turn Your Friend Into A Whisky Lover? Gift Them These Whiskies!

To be friends with someone that doesn’t love whisky the same way you do can be tough. It could be worse if your best friend, or even your partner doesn’t drink whisky at all. That is the reason you could ask any whisky lover if they have schemed and plotted to get their friends to like whisky, and they will say yes.

Now if you are here, you too are obviously looking for advice on how to turn your non-whisky loving friend into someone that shares the same penchant for it. If you have managed to get them to agree to try whisky with you, you have won half the battle friend.

It is quite obvious that you will need to tone things down for your friend in order to get them to fall in love with whisky the way you did. Which means we might want stay off the cask-strength bottlings, and the peaty monsters from Islay. You might also want to keep them off Rye whiskeys, and other intense stuff.

Whiskies for beginners must always be the standard, pleasant stuff that allows them to ease into a world that is vast, complicated and just so interesting to explore! For this reason, The Whiskypedia brings you a list of the best whiskies for beginners to tempt your friend into this beautiful world. It might not always turn out in your favour, and we want to save you from making an investment too big. Therefore we have prioritized no-age-statement expressions of some exceptionally pleasant whiskies to help

Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition Blended Irish whiskey

There is a Jameson for everyone, and the Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition is literally for everyone. Whether you are a beginner or a hardened veteran that loves cask-strength whiskies only, this is a Jameson you can just not dislike. If you are planning to entice your friend into the world of whisky, there is nothing better than the Caskmates Stout Edition to get them started.

This is one of Jameson’s best new releases, full of delicious dark chocolate, mocha, vanilla and butterscotch flavours. Any whisky newbie would love this combination of flavours with the renowned Jameson triple-distilled smoothness. The whisky is full-bodied, quite rich and heavy from being finished in ex-Stout barrels. Some quality stuff from Jameson that your friend will certainly fall in love with.

Chivas Regal Extra Blended Scotch whisky

A stellar no-age-statement release from Chivas Regal that is incredibly rich, flavourful and retains every bit of smoothness that Chivas is loved for. A good proportion of the single malts in this blend were matured in Oloroso Sherry casks. This helped infuse an excellent sweet and spicy character into the spirit.

The Chivas Regal Extra is extra smooth, and the brilliant balance between rich flavours and smoothness has helped it land multiple gold medals over the years. Flavours of caramel, sweet dried fruits, Christmas spice and nutmeg form an admirable set of tasting notes. The Whiskypedia recommends this whisky as a must try for anyone that isn’t familiar with whisky.

Longmorn Distiller’s Choice Single Malt Scotch whisky

This no-age-statement release from Longmorn joined the Longmorn 16 to form the distillery’s newly established core range. Earlier, Longmorn only had one expression in the market for many years. The distillery has enjoyed a tremendous critical success but the lack of a wider release held Longmorn back from universal acclaim. The Longmorn Distiller’s Choice is a move in the right direction from the Speyside brand.

While the Longmorn 16 is an expensive proposition, the Distillers’ Choice outs Longmorn within the reach of many more whisky lovers. While a very good single malt nevertheless, Longmorn Distillers’ Choice is an even better whisky for beginners. It has been matured in three different barrels, Sherry, Hogsheads and Bourbon, resulting in a lovely combination of flavours and aromas.

Ballantine’s Finest Blended Scotch whisky

Not a lot needs to be said about the Ballantine’s Finest that hasn’t already been said. It is a top selling blended Scotch whisky, selling more than 200,000 bottles every day! The secret behind its astonishing popularity is an excellent recipe that Ballantine’s have been following to the tee for more than 110 years. This is a no-nonsense Scotch that nearly every whisky lover has tasted at least once in their lifetime.

Introducing your friend to whisky with the Ballantine’s Finest is a great idea because there just aren’t many whiskies like it. The creamy texture is best in class, and the delicious orchard apples, sweet vanilla and hazelnut flavours make everything better. Ballantine’s Finest is not just an amazing whisky for beginners, it is an amazing whisky first.

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch whisky

We saved the best for the last because no good whisky list is ever complete without a mention of Aberlour in it. One of our favourite Speyside distilleries, Aberlour have mastered the double cask maturation technique. Testament to their expertise is their core range of single malts made up by just three extraordinary expressions.

The 12 Year Old Aberlour is the brand’s standard bottling, and it is just so good. It is deep, intense and richly flavoured with a heavy Sherry influence. There is an impeccable sweet and spicy balance, with loads of tasty dried fruit, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla pods. The Aberlour 12 has a long, satisfying finish, which really is the cherry on top. This is a great Scotch whisky for anyone to begin their whisky tasting journey with.

Frankly, we couldn’t think of anything better to end our list of whiskies to help turn your non-whisky loving friend into a lifelong whisky lover.