I'm 45. I'm a Man.

I love a good whiskey, but I've never found much to like about Scotch. Try as I might, I haven't been able to develop an appreciation for the taste of peat.

But last night, a breakthrough.

A neighborhood friend with a penchant for the stuff hosts a Scotch party every six months or so, giving us neophytes a chance to try things we wouldn't usually. I go mostly for the camaraderie, though I try gamely to enjoy the tipples.

Last night, the first two Scotches on offer were more of the same for me, but the evening's final pour was a revelation.

Bruichladdich's The Classic Laddie "is unpeated, floral and complex." It's also "trickle distilled from 100% Scottish barley using much of the original Victorian machinery." You should know that "the methods employed by the craftsmen to coax the spirit into being continue unchanged." And that it "matures for all its life in warehouses on the shores of Loch Indaal and is bottled at the distillery using Islay spring water."

I don't know much about all that, but I do know that it's the first Scotch I actually wanted to drink. And for that, it's a blessing.