A nervous response after Scotch perhaps could be striking (8)
I believe the answer is:
dramatic
'be striking' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'a nervous response after scotch perhaps' is the wordplay.
'nervous response' becomes 'tic' (a nervous tic).
'after' says to put letters next to each other.
'scotch perhaps' becomes 'dram' (I have seen 'Small Scotch' mean 'dram' so perhaps 'scotch' could also mean 'dram'. I am not sure about the 'perhaps' bit.).
'a'+'tic'='atic'
'atic' after 'dram' is 'DRAMATIC'.
'could' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dramatic that I've seen before include "Sudden and striking" , "Like theatre" , "Striking, impressive" , "Relating to theatre and acting" , "Sensational, thrilling" .)