Dave, I have a good friend that lives about 1/2 the year in Ireland. Every trip he brings a few bottles of duty free Scotch. We comb through reference books looking for interesting drams of refreshments. Some we like, some we don't. But it is interesting to do taste testing. I suggest doing 3 taste tests of any whisky. It is surprising how your taste can change from day to day.

The thing about Scotch Whisky is the variety. There are about 300 distilleries in Scotland, some no bigger than your kitchen that only create a few hundred bottles a year. When someone says that they don't like Scotch Whisky I suspect that they have only tried 1 variety, probably something that the barley was cooked with peat giving a medicine type of taste.

Now about beer, Shiner Bock, Bass Ale and Beck's Dark are my first choices. My second choice would be something that is cold and wet. I do enjoy beer very cold. Not a big fan of warm beer.

It's another day in paradise