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Six of the Most Underrated Single Malts

Time to expand your single malt horizons? Here are some of our favorite under-the-radar options.
  • Margarett Waterbury is a whiskey enthusiast and industry expert.
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GlenDronach Allardice
image via Whisky Kirk/The Whiskey Wash
Shopping for new single malts can be tough. Standbys like Glenlivet, Laphroaig, and Macallan are great, don’t get me wrong, but it pays to branch out every once in a while. Yet Scotch is expensive, so taking a leap of faith on a new brand can be unappealing.

If you’re looking to broaden your Scotch horizons, here are a few great underrated single malts that might just become your next favorite whisky.

Ledaig 18-Year-Old

The only distillery on the Isle of Mull, Ledaig 18-Year-Old combines classic Islands peatiness with a rich, fruity, almost leathery quality reminiscent of Lagavulin 18-Year-Old only with a bit more subtlety.

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Clynelish 14-Year-Old

Retailing somewhere around $60, Clynelish 14-Year-Old is a bargain, especially in light of its totally unique flavor. Somehow simultaneously sweet/perfumed and salty/smoky, it has a delicate freshness that’s a lovely alternative to heavier styles.

Tomatin 12-Year-Old

Tomatin also sent most of its stock away for blends for much of its history. Its single malt releases, however, are delicious – refined and understated, with a classic Speyside fruitiness. Sherry cask finishing adds richness without weighing anything down, making Tomatin 12-Year-Old a perfect hanging-out-on-the-porch dram.

Craigellachie 13-Year-Old

Recently released as part of John Dewar’s “The Last Great Malts of Scotland” series, Craigellachie has long been used for blends but, until now, hasn’t had its own single malt. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Nevertheless, the single malt release is distinctive in its own right. Craigellachie still uses a worm tub, resulting in a savory, almost meaty whisky.

GlenDronach Allardice

Named for its founder, the Glendronach Allardice single malt has an 18-year-old age statement. It’s also a bruiser of a sherry bomb, offering phenomenal richness and intensity like a fruitcake in a glass. 

BenRomach 10-Year-Old

Benromach got a facelift recently, with a sharp new bottle design and an expanded lineup. One of the new entrants was this release, a 10-year-old single malt that hit the market in 2009 and won gold in the 12-and-under Speyside category at the World Whisky Awards in 2014. Smoky and funky with a hearty malt backbone, the urge to make comparisons between BenRomach and Springbank is almost impossible to resist.

Margarett Waterbury

Margarett Waterbury is the author of "Scotch: A Complete Introduction to Scotland's Whiskies" and a full-time freelance writer and editor specializing in the beverage industry. Her work has graced the pages of numerous publications, including Whisky Advocate, Food and Wine, Spirited Magazine, Artisan Spirit, Edible Seattle, Sip Northwest, Civil Eats, Travel Oregon, and many others. She also boasts editorial experience as the former managing editor of Edible Portland and as a co-founder and former managing editor of The Whiskey Wash. In recognition of her talent, Margarett received the Alan Lodge Young Drinks Writer of the Year award in 2017 and was awarded fellowships for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers in 2017 and 2019.

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