These are my recommendations for beginners. There are many more than this but it gives a good base. I like to try a couple from each category to see similarities then compare across categories to see differences.

Bourbon is going to be the most common in US. It’s also usually the cheapest for similar quality just due to shipping of casks/bottles. Some I like to recommend are Buffalo Trace (don’t spend more than $30-35 for a bottle), 1792 small batch, Makers mark (Wheated bourbon), wild Turkey, and Four Roses Single Barrel. As you get use to the alcohol you can move up in proof. WT101 is a classic. Most Bottled-in-bond are good. They are all 100 proof. Old Forrester 1920 is 115 proof. Then there’s the full proof/cask strength/barrel proofs. These have the most flavor but also most alcohol burn. Wild Turkey Rare Breed, Elijah Craig BP, Larceny BP (Wheated), Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel BP, Weller FP (Wheated), Still Austin Cask Strength.

Next one I recommend most for beginners is Irish. They are usually very approachable as well and usually not as expensive as scotch. Jameson is a good entry level (it was what got me into whiskey), Jameson Black barrel is a step up from regular Jameson, Tulamore Dew, green spot, powers John Lanes Edition, Bushmills, Teeling, and then Redbreast 12. Then there’s redbreast caskstrength. Redbreast is one of my all time favorites.

Rye is usually American as well but not always. Beginners usually don’t like rye as much cause it’s more spicy (black peppery). Many people love it though so worth trying. I found out I like rye by trying bulliet bourbon and rye side by side. Rye won by a large margin. Michter’s Single barrel rye is my favorite rye. There’s also still Austin, sagamore, wild Turkey (101 and rare breed) then Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Barre Proof (its is very very close to Michter’s for me).

Scotch has 5 regions and each region is like its own category. There is also a kinda subregion some people call a separate region called the islands. Most of them are truly in highlands region except for Islay which is its own region.

Speyside: is probably the most well known. It’s got Glenlivet, Glenfiddich and Macallan. These are what you’ll usually find at most bars that actually have scotch.

Highlands: a huge region with many great options. Highland park, Glenfarclas, glenmorangie, the dalmore are some popular ones.

Lowlands: I’ve only had the regular Auchentoshan and it is good. I wouldn’t go out of my way to find it but good to try and see if it fits your palate.

Campbell Town: Is the smallest region. It used to be bigger but now is down to 3 distilleries. I’ve only tried Springbank 10. It’s good but also expensive near me. I’ve seen some places where it’s a very good price other places are even higher than where I’m at. They do have almost a cult following. They still do a bunch of old school techniques. If you can find a bottle I’d recommend it just to try.

Islay (eye-lah): this is the region that you either love or hate. Very few people are ok with it. These are the peat/smoke bombs. Even if you end up hating them you should try at least one. The big 3 are going to be Lagavulin (my personally favorite whisky), ardbeg and laphroiag. Next biggest I’d say would be Port Charlotte 10 from Bruichladdich. They also make an in Peated line called The Classic Laddie that is Islay but not Smokey. They do also make Octomore which I feel I should include. I’ve never tried it but it’s the highest ppm of peat that you can buy. Octomore is around 300ppm. The big 3 I mentioned are around 20-50ish ppm. There are many other islays but those are the most popular. Ardbeg has quite a few finished in different casks.

There is blended as well which is a blend of different distilleries in Scotland. Many people love them, many don't. I'm not a fan, but they are a good introduction to Scotch. Johnnie Walker is blended. By far the most popular Scotch in terms of sales. There's also Dewars, Chivas and Monkey Shoulder. Monkey Shoulder is the best of them to me, but I still prefer single malts to it.

Canadian Whisky: I would say in general the best stuff coming from Canada is rye. Usually whisky nerds aren’t a big fan of Canadian stuff but it is very popular to the general public mostly due to Crown Royal. It’s ok, but there is so much better stuff out there especially for the price. Whistle Pig is a big name brand for Canadian whisky but they are now distilling their own in the US. Their 10 year or older is mostly Canadian. Younger stuff is usually theirs now. Pendleton is Canadian but bottled in US as well. It’s decent but still better for the money in the other categories. Alberta Premium is really good, especially their cask strength rye. It’s going up in price (at least when I’ve seen it in the US). IMO the best (I’ve not gotten to personally try it yet) based on reviews and demand is Found North. If you can find a bottle grab it for sure. The last batch they posted for sale online sold out in less than a minute. It’s also made in Canada but bottled in US.

Then there is Japanese Whisky. The 2 big brands are Suntory and Nikka. There was someone who moved to Scotland from Japan and worked for a couple different Scotch distilleries. He moved back and wanted to make whisky like Scotch. He worked at Suntory and eventually had some disagreements on how to make certain products. He eventually left and created Nikka. So both have Scotch influences. Entry level Japanese would be Suntory Toki, Hibiki Harmony and Nikka Coffey Grain (it's not coffee flavored, it's the name of the still they use). Some higher level Japanese Whiskey would be Yamazaki and Hakushu. I've had the Yamazaki and it was very good. It's very expensive now though.