It’s an unwritten assumption that when guests come to my home for dinner, the whiskey bottles will come out of the cabinet—sometimes pre-meal, sometimes mid-meal, sometimes during dessert. It could happen anytime.

Since some of my friends are new to bourbon drinking, it’s become a blast to get out the Glencairns, pour small tastes, and hear their reactions. Dinners that should have ended at 10 p.m. are now lasting well past that as guests linger, sample, and compare spirits in a completely informal setting. Perhaps just as fun is to go to their houses and find bottles on their shelves that…