As someone who doesn’t drink much bourbon and whiskey both surprised me in how much I liked them the first time I tried them. It could just be that they were higher quality examples I tried but I can see how people can become connoisseurs. Also I can see how people can easily take either too far given the high alcohol content. A couple of sips had me quite buzzed, but then I’ve met 5 year olds with more alcohol tolerance than I have so that doesn’t meet much