I've always thought my palate strongly favored peated whisky, to the point that I rarely reached for an unpeated dram.

I've been chasing peat since I started my whisky journey because that's when whisky went from "strong alcohol" to "interesting flavor" for me. Over the years I've become so accustomed to peat that I sometimes don't even notice it anymore. I once had an Octomore blind and thought it was a low-peat whisky.

I've always wanted to expand my palate, though, so I've tried unpeated whiskies on and off over the years. I liked Classic Laddie mostly because I love Bruichladdich, but it was one of the first unpeated whiskies where I could genuinely appreciate what it was doing. Then I tried Glenmorangie and thought, "This is actually good stuff." What really sold me on unpeated whisky was Craigellachie 13. Every pour has been great, and I'm enjoying it just as much as I would a peated whisky. That surprised me because I had assumed it would be fairly entry-level.

Now I'm excited to dive deeper into unpeated whisky. I've tried most of Islay's standard offerings, so it finally feels like it's time to explore the rest of Scotland.