Sips, a drop of water or two, with a good quality single malt or an extremely good quality blend (nothing Johnny Walker for example). Depending on the Scotch there can be Smokey caramel flavours, peaty salty, heavy flavours, some lite fruit tones, etc.
Its not for knocking back in shots, blends are nice with mixers, but if youre sipping a Johnny Walker red you are probably going to think this is shit because it is.
If you ever get the chance to try a really nice single malt I suggest you give it a try with just a couple of drops of water to open it up a bit. Then some gentle sips, enough to coat your mouth and spread the flavours.
Its like a nice cigar. Very rough if youre doing it wrong, very enjoyable if you do it right. I know most people will say "yuck, cigars are gross too", but the point is that there is a way to approach these things that make them much more enjoyable to the point where people genuinely like them and the routine that goes with it.
I love a good single malt, but im not a fan of laphroig. Too peaty.