First time I visited the UK, in 2000, I had a few paper pound notes left in my pocket as I waited to board my flight home in Edinburgh. I hit the duty-free and picked up a couple of bottles, even though I had never before enjoyed whisky. My haul: a bottle of Loch Dhu, because it shared a name with the fictional town in a favorite BBC show, and a bottle of Balvenie 10. At home, I tried both. The Loch Dhu was truly terrible, as in it tasted to me like something someone who knew and enjoyed whisky would regard as objectively bad. The Balvenie was interesting but didn’t suit my palette. I gave away both bottles to one of my wife’s colleagues, who was astounded to get most of a bottle of Balvenie for free. About a decade and several trips to Britain and Ireland later, I developed a passion for whisky. Ironically, Balvenie became my preferred non-smoky single malt. And I still kick myself for not holding on to that bottle of Loch Dhu, considering what a collector’s item that whisky has become.

Posted by Scott Rogers at 2023-03-15 18:33:06 UTC