I do drink them straight up, like to have the ice and water on the side for plain thirsty, not as a chaser. Aged is where some of the blends really rival single malts. A friend of mine in Hong Kong keeps a stock of some thirty year old Ballentine's. Surprisingly good. I like speyside single malts, there's probably a dozen distilleries that put out nice ones between 12 and 25 years old for under a hundred.