mmm... scotch....
i highly recommend branching out your palette into the realm of Irish whiskey. if there's one thing the Irish know how to do well, it's making damn good drinks -- and their whiskey is no exception.
any Irish Distillers Group whiskey, like Jameson's, is a good investment -- although I'm particularly fond of Bushmills, which is one of the oldest distilleries in the world (yup, even before those crazy Scots got into distilling). It originates from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and, despite being a bit controversial given it's Ulster-esque affiliations, that shit goes down smooth...
Here's a quick tutorial on the difference between Irish and scotch whiskey, if you're into background:
1. Barley is harvested and then dried inside a kiln. (Scotch whiskey is made by drying the barley over an open peat fire thus Scotch has a smokey flavor.) This difference in the malting process for both spirits is a major cause of their different flavors.
2. After the barley is toasted it is \"mashed,\" that is ground into \"grist,\" a coarse flour. It is then mixed with water. The mixing causes the starches in the grist to become sugars; this liquid is called \"wort.\" (This process is the same for both Irish whiskey and Scotch.)
3. Yeast is added to the wort mixture and the sugar begins to ferment. Forty-eight hours later the liquid becomes \"wash.\" (This is also the same for both Irish whiskey and Scotch.)
4. The whiskey is then triple distilled, meaning that the alcohol and water are separated. Distilling is done by boiling the wash (alcohol/water) mixture. Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water thus it steams off; at this point the alcohol content goes up from about 8.5 percent to 80 percent.(The shape of the stills contributes to the taste and character of the whiskey. Generally, Irish stills are larger than Scotish ones. Another, difference is that Scotch is only distilled twice in contrast to the triple distillling of Irish.)
5. The distilled liquid then matures in casks, for at least three years in accordance with Irish law.
