The "acquired taste" thing seems variable from person to person. I loved peaty Scotch from the first sip, as did a friend of mine. I like Laphroaig, but have others I like better, like Ardgeg 10 and Lagavulin 16.
It sure is.
A friend of mine didn't care for any single malt scotch we tried. On a "what the heck" impulse I poured him a taste of the standard 10 year old Laphroaig and he liked it right away. After that he began to enjoy more and more of the ones he didn't like before.
