Classic Malts Selection, a division of Diageo that packages and markets together expressions from small Scottish distilleries, recently launched eleven single malt scotch whiskies that are standing tall and proud on the shelves now.A tasting at the newly opened Den of Hollywood offered samples of six of the eleven single malts, guided by Master of Whisky Edward Adams, a.k.a. “Dirt”. If your nickname is Dirt and you wear a kilt, you must be a Master of Whisky. Or perhaps only Whisky Masters can have earthy nicknames and wear kilts. Either way, Dirt knew his stuff, and guided the uninitiated and the apprentice whisky fans through a flight across some of Scotland’s signature regional distilleries.As soon as I entered the Den, a glass of Singleton 12 from Glendullan appeared in my hand preceding a proffered plate of sliders. Singleton received a score of 92 from the Beverage Testing Institute, above Macallan, Glenlivet, and Glenfidditch of the same age. It has a rich, smooth taste that went down easy and set the beat for the rest of the dance. On a flavor map of single malts, Singleton is just about dead center in a four-square grid within the poles and antipodes of delicate and smoky, light and rich, leaning a bit towards the rich side and a few hairs closer to delicate than smoky.The official tasting began with a Dalwhinnie Distiller’s Edition (Suggested Retail Price $75), meaning it was a special year (1985) that spent a little more time in a different cask; Oloroso sherry in this case. It’s very light, with a golden honey background and some light accents of the sherry oak. If it’s early in the day or you’re a first time whisky drinker, try this. There’s enough to enjoy without any real punch.Second was an Oban Distiller’s Edition (SRP $100), which is very close to the Dalwhinnie, but presenting a bit more smokiness. Dirt gave us tips on tasting the whisky, the only rule being “whatever works for you.” Some guidelines are:

Hold the glass up to the light and notice the color. The darker it is, the longer it has been in the cask.
Swirl the whisky around and notice how long it takes the liquid to drip back down (the “legs”). The longer it stays up, the more viscous and creamy it is.
Take a good sniff, opening your mouth if it’s too strong.
Then indulge a small sip on the tongue, prepping yourself for the main course.
Enjoy a good swig and let it run down the sides of your tongue and down your throat, allowing the alcohol to rumble around your gums. If it’s a hefty blast of booze, exhaling after swallowing will help the burn.

All the malts I tasted where diluted with roughly equal part purified water; none were tried neat. This is perfectly acceptable and encouraged, as water helps unlock the flavors from the alcohol. But I think I added too much H2O to my Oban, as it was my least favorite of the bunch, though still plenty tasty.Third was the most expensive whisky we tried, the entirely handcrafted Royal Lochnagar Select Reserve, which hasn’t been available in the States for at least ten years. Of course I liked this one the best. Made from only two stills, this was the rarest at the table, and it’s the only whisky allowed to carry the “Royal” name: the distillery, third smallest in Scotland, has been in production since 1845 and is built on the British Royal Family’s Highland home. Queen Victoria was quite fond of it, as am I, though it carries a $210 price tag for each bottle. If you can find and afford some, do enjoy with a group of friends. It has a very complex profile that’s perfectly balanced between sweet and rich, woodsy-smoky (Dirt describes it as a campfire) and fruity. We had an extra tasting sample at our table, and I not very nonchalantly drank it without resorting to armed combat with the cheese cutter.The Den provided us with three cheeses and crackers, plus smoked almonds, to accompany the tasting. Each cheese and almond would add another element to the whisky flavor; for example the blue cheese was in the upper weight class of the next two whiskies, and matched well with them.We came to the Talisker Distiller’s Edition (SRP $80), with an unmistakable smoky flavor. The peat taste went away after a few seconds, though, leaving just a trace as the Ameroso sherry cask sweetness kicked in. Dirt describes drinking Talisker as being hit then hugged by the whisky; it’s one of his favorites. It is made from the only distillery on the Isle of Skye. This is a good scotch to have with a pungent cheese after roasting marshmallows at a Dockweiler Beach bonfire pit (remember, alcohol is illegal on California beaches).Lastly, we finished with a Lagvulin 12 (SRP $75), a 115-proof cask strength sucker puncher from Islay (pronounced aye-lah). Cask strength means there’s no cold water filtering as the whisky moves from cask to bottle, which reduces the proof. Its color is light blonde, like the pretty but deadly children from Village of the Damned. Sipping makes your eyes glow afire as your head fills with prehistoric vegetable char. It took a lot of cheese and water to hose out the smoke stuck between my teeth.With the wide variety in whiskies, there are exponential differences in the kinds of cocktails you can create with them. Imagine the basic whisky sour: bourbon (American) whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and an emulsified egg white. But try it with a blended Scotch, or experiment with a single malt. Sure, there may be some disasters, but the right combination could be outstanding.Don’t be afraid. Dirt described a story of a woman who added Coca-Cola to her whisky, sipped it, and added more. Someone looked on aghast and accused her of ruining a great Scotch, to which she replied, “Yeah, but it’s the best Coke I ever had.”Slàinte mhath!