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OK, a couple of notes about single malts:

1. Older isn’t necessarily better. Older IS always more expensive.

After whisky (NB the Scottish spirit has no ‘e’ in it, and the American does) has been in the barrel between 10 and 18 (or so) years, it really doesn’t pick up anything more in the way of good traits. You can find some really disagreeable 25+ year single malts out there at $100/bottle prices. Stick with something in the 10 to 18 year range. You’ll be looking at $25 to $50/bottle.

2. There are several regions of Scotland and they each have their own traits. There are the malts from Skye, Islay, and the western Highlands which are slightly to very smokey - more than most people can stomach unless you’re a committed Scotch drinker. Talisker is the most approachable of the smoked malt whiskies, whereas a malt like Laphroig or Lagavulin has nothing but adherents or detractors - there is no middle ground.

Then there are the “Speyside” malts, the lowland malts, etc. The most popular are the Speyside malts, of which there are dozens, varying in price, quality/consistency and availability.

The single best malt for beginners and as a universal gift that any malt drinker would appreciate USED to be Macallan, but since the Japanese bought it, the quality and character has gone downhill, IMO.

A couple of good Speyside malts would be Aultmore and Craggenmore.

The Spey region has about half of the malt distilleries in Scotland, so there are a lot of choices there.

Dalwhinnie is a distillery between the central Highlands and the Speyside region, and is a nice, clean malt.

In the central Highlands, I like Edradour. It is difficult to find, but it is a very nice malt, with unique characteristics.

OK, moving further northwards, we come to the Northern Highlands, which has some malts with very unique flavors, but much more appreciated than the ultra-smoky malts of the western Highlands, Islay, etc. The malt named “Highland Park” is very good, as is Glenmoragie. The latter has a hint of smoke to it, but it is subtle, unlike the monstrous smoke of Laphroig or Lagavulin.

I know I keep going on about how harsh the smoked malts can be, but it is true. Have a few shots of Laphroig or Lagavulin in the evening and your farts all the next day reek of burning peat moss. (I do NOT exaggerate)

OK, so with that delicate intro, let’s finally talk about the Islay island malts. There are (or were, last I knew) eight of them. I’ve consumed bottles of all of them, so I feel that I’m on very strong ground to say something constructive here. For someone who is a real malt whisky drinker, most all of them are the “varsity” level malts. Getting a bottle of one of these from someone tells me that they’ve done their homework - IF they have taken a look at what I drink and they’ve noticed that I can like the peaty malts.

As I’ve mentioned before, there are some people who cannot abide the Islay malts. For those of us who truly love malt, we like these whiskies because, quite frankly, when we have a party and the inevitable whisky poseur shows up, we know that our Islay bottles will remain untouched. Poseurs take one whiff and they’re content to drink Johnny Walker all night long, leaving our Good Stuff alone.

Of the Islay malts, Bowmore is the most approachable. A very good malt, it is often the most easily available. It is perhaps the least smoked.

Next up would be Ardberg. Pretty difficult to find, but good as well.

Then there are two that are pretty difficult to find anymore, that are about the “mid-level” on the smoke & peat, Bruichladdich and Bunnahabhain. They’re both good, but I’d rate them as ‘advanced’ for most malt drinkers. They’re going to be spendy bottles if you can find them. My preference would be Bunnahabhain.

Now we have a debate as to which is the strongest: Lagavulin or Laphroig. To me, I think Laphroig is more drinkable than Lagavulin. When I last bought Lagavulin, it came in a unusual pottery flask, very unique. Lagavulin, IMO, is the most smoked, but is more drinkable than Laphroig. That’s just MY palate - everyone else is free to disagree with me. This is a purely subjective thing here.

3. OK, you’ve got a task to accomplish: sucking up with a bottle of single malt. If I were giving a bottle to someone who I know is a malt fan, but I’m unsure what his tastes are, I’d go with something like Edradour. It is a complex whisky on the nose, it isn’t easily found, you had to hunt for it, and it would show you’ve done some homework, rather than just grabbing the first bottle of Gledfiddich (aka “Yuppy Mouthwash”) off the shelf.

If I couldn’t find that, I’d look for Highland Park.

Those are my preferences and what I would give to someone who is a fan of malt. YMMV. Any more questions, just flip me a note and I’ll help as possible.