I tend to gravitate towards Lowland Scotches. They tend to be smoother, more wood and malt than peat and flower. They're also the underdog Scotch, rarely taken seriously by people who treat the loud Islays as the benchmark and anything less bold as inferior.
My oldest and most expensive Scotch is a lowland from St. Magdalene's in the town of Linlithgow. Most of my lowland Scotches are from closed distilleries (Rosebank, Littlemill, Linlithgow) who become harder to find as their casks get older.
Lowlands tend to be one of the "gateway" whiskies that can connect a lover of Irish Whiskey into Scotches. If you or one of your friends insists on Bushmills and thinks that all Scotch tastes like chewing on a Band-Aid, you might consider a Lowland from one of the still active stills of Auchentoshan, Bladnoch, or Glenkinchie.
Last night I picked up a bottle of Auchentoshan's Select bottling. It'd been at least a year since the last time I had this, so in a fit of nostalgia and price, I brought it home. This bottling doesn't have an age statement, but tends to land in the 7-9 year range. By that point the cut of the grain whisky is edged out by the wood and you have a young but smooth drink.
Auchentoshan is owned by Morrison Bowmore, and as a result the Auchentoshan distillery is one of the contributors to their McLelland's brand. If you would like to taste what this would be at around five years of age, the McLelland's Lowland would be the thing to pick up. It would be an educational exercise to get that, this Select, and the ten year bottling to taste how the whisky ages.
