Bourbon is made primarily from corn (at least 51%) whereas scotch is all barley. It's like comparing adjunct lagers (macrobrews, generally) to a good microbrew. The flavor profile is just lacking. Plus, bourbon is all aged on new, charred oak barrels. To me, the flavors the bourbon leaches from the wood are just sickly sweet. Perfumey. Not for me.
Thanks y'all. I'm going to skip the Blue Label and try some of those single malts mentioned in the future.
Thanks for the thread, OP. Between this, some friends recommendations, and a reddit discussion, I settled on Macallan 12 yr. Sounds like it's still going to be a long haul to earn a taste for it, but I'm in for a pound. If it doesn't pan out, I'll have a solid scotch to offer guests. Cheers.