Funny story (one that I may have told before):
Back when I was a much younger man, not long before I was wedded to my wife, I was helping a friend of her older brother's with a move. At the end of the day, we cracked a beer and he then handed me a 3/4 full bottle of Ardbeg and said, "Thanks, bud, take this home with you". Not thinking much of it and having VERY little (if any) experience with whiskey (let alone Scotch whisky) at the time, I took it home and decided to invite a good buddy of mine over to share a nip of it.
I found a couple of pint glasses (all I had at the time, if memory serves), poured us each about a finger's worth, and then we just kind of sat around and looked at it. I finally dredged up the courage to take a sip.
Before this lauded elixir hit my tongue though, I got a big ol' face full of its aroma and I hit a full stop.
"Buddy, this smells like the breath of a demon. In fact, I've smelt ashtrays that smell better than this!"
My friend looks puzzled and then picks up his glass and gives it a good whiff - after all, he did consider himself a bit of a connoisseur. Eyes clearly watering, he powers through and takes a healthy sip, almost instantly spluttering but not quite gagging.
"I think I drank liquid smoke! WTF is this sh!t?!"
We both look at the bottoms of our glasses, thinking that the finger's width dram that swished around there was as large as an ocean and we had no idea how we were going to power through - both being of the mind that we don't waste good booze. In that moment though, we were not too sure that we were in possession of "good" booze and thought maybe I had been the victim of some obnoxious prank.
It took us the better part of two hours the finish two fingers between the two of us. Afterwards, I took some beers out of the fridge, we relieved our ashen throats, and we swore to never drink such a vile dram ever again. I placed the bottle in a cupboard and I never saw it again (honestly, I have not a clue what happened to it).
Fast forward to today, my buddy and I often reminisce about the day we first experienced a proper Islay, usually while we are sipping on any number of great Islays and enjoying a fine cigar or three - it is easily our favorite regional Scotch.
All that to say: Islays can be an acquired taste but once you grab ahold, life is so much sweeter.
