I seriously appreciate advice from you, Reynolds, and everyone else on this board and around the Internet. Drinking whiskey isn't an expensive hobby like sword fighting or "soccer" is, but expensive enough to kick yourself for wasting money on a product you don't like and have to either: chug to get rid of it cos you bought it anyway; throw it out, but that makes spending €30-50 even worse cos you're now literally throwing money in the bin; or sell it to someone else, but why would you want to enable someone else's poor drinking habits with a sub-par product? Really no way to win unless you know what to buy and how much to spend on it.
My first bottle was a William Lawson's, but my brother gave it to me for my birthday. I forced myself to like it because I didn't think whiskey could ever taste good (the old "nobody likes the taste of alcohol, you just drink it till you're drunk" expression constantly lodged in the back of my mind which I tried really hard to believe). Then I made my first purchase which was a Glenfiddich on the recommendation of friend. He made more recommendations, but none of the convenience stores offered these or anything of note and I was afraid a "specialised" whiskey store would just sell me something I wouldn't like because I don't know enough to call bullshit or recognise brands yet.
You may disapprove or disagree, but the Glenfiddich is certainly a step up from the WL. Or maybe they're the same shit, but it tastes better because I now drink from a cognac glass (or "balloon glass" according to Google). Thanks for the lists, by the way; I'll be keeping my eye out for those. If bottles you don't recommend are drinkable, I can't wait to try the ones you actually recommend. All in good time, though; €30 is still €30 for a university student.