Glenlivet is among my favorites.

I'll have to check this stuff out. Not familiar with Sauternes (it's probably in the minority, given the region from which it originates).

my wife actually usually has a prety good palate. greatly improved from when we first got married and she thought chivas (the regular one) was amazing. she used to prefer bourbons, but lately shes been maturing into the scotches with me. ardbeg uigedail is currently her favorite. she says its got a very distinct flavor and she would know that one right away. that will be put to the test at some point...



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re: brandies

i havent really had many brandies other than slivovitz, which is a type of plum brandy. not a big fan of it, although imo it bears a fair resemblance to tequila. not a huge tequila fan either, tho.

definitely, see #37 in the map below
there is quite some white wine grown in bordeaux, mainly dry with entre-deux-mers (#25) being excellent with seafood
but apart from sauternes and some other small areas the top wines are the reds in bordeaux

Do you know which region you had it from and if it was homemade?

i think most of em are made in eastern europe, but idk. not homemade tho.

if you found your way from whiskey to whisky you should try to get hold of this year's whisky award winner, first time it's a whisky from australia:

This is where you went wrong. Trust me on this. The mass produced stuff is utter garbage.
If you ever have the chance to go, or have friends going, be sure to get some again from a village.
You won't regret it.

(Get the stuff made from quince if you want a pro-tip. In Croatian it's called 'dunja')

yes and no
if you mean huge bulk stuff sold at quite low price in bottle shop you are definitely right
and you will get for the same price far better local (*)/homemade stuff
but you can get quality in shops as well though it will cost you a little (?) more

(*) some spirits/liquers/etc from boutique producers you will only find in the local area

Well, I was talking about the factory made stuff. Not some local entrepreneur that makes 500litres in one go the traditional way.
Still though, just good old traditional plum rakija, the best is found in the Lika area in Croatia (imo). Been all around Croatia and Serbia. Best stuff I've had was in Lika, made by that stereotypical Balkan granny from the movies
It's crazy cheap too (~50kuna for a litre).