Y.W. Editor:
have been drinking single malts for over 30 years, long before the yuppies discovered them. Unfortunately, though, you are correct, and the yuppies have turned a nice hobby (I collect as well as drink) into a status thing.
However, you should not feel smug. The yuppies have discovered bourbon as well.
Luckily, as a Modern Orthodox Jew, I do not have to keep my scotch and bourbon separate. While I would never, ever, mix them in the same glass, I hold that it is permissible to have bottles of each on the same tablecloth for a kiddush or l’chaim. For drinking one right after the other, I would have to say that one should consult one’s own halachic authority.