The Macallan needs no introduction in whisky circles. It is iconic, it is historic, and… it is expensive. The 12 Year Old Sherry Oak carries a recommended retail price of £95, with most UK retailers listing it somewhere above £75. In the US it retails for between $90-$100. While the whisky is unquestionably good, the price has, for a long time, left drinkers asking why they should spend that much on a 12 year old single malt, and what else might be worth trying instead.
There is a good deal worth trying, as it happens. Sherry casks are not in short supply, and plenty of distilleries fill them and charge considerably less than Macallan.
The five whiskies below each won a medal at a major competition in 2025 or 2026, each delivers the same dried fruit, chocolate and warm spice character people buy the Macallan 12 for, and each costs less. One of them was named the best single malt in the world last year.
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Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask, 40%, £33 / $55 – Spirit Gold 2026, 95 points
Aberlour sits in Speyside, and the 12 Year Old Double Cask is matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, with the two cask types married together before bottling. It comes out at 40% ABV, the same strength as The Macallan 12.
The whisky took a Spirit Gold at the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2026 with a score of 95 points, and a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026.
Our own Phil Dwyer picked out rich fruit, spiced milk chocolate, red grapes and toffee, and described the whisky as one “hidden in the shadows of some of its towering neighbors.”
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READ THE STORYThe Glendronach 12 Year Old, 43%, £49 / $60 – Double Gold, SFWSC 2026
The Glendronach distillery is in Forgue in Aberdeenshire, and its 12 Year Old spends its entire maturation in pedro ximénez and oloroso sherry casks. The whisky is bottled at 43% with natural color and no chill filtration.
It won a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026.
Of the five bottles here, this one lines up most directly with the flavor description on the Macallan bottle. Dark chocolate, raisin, and candied citrus peel all show up, and the sherry influence is heavy.
It is often named in online discussions of Macallan alternatives.
The GlenAllachie 12 Year Old, 46%, £42 / $69 – World’s Best Single Malt, World Whiskies Awards 2025
You probably saw this one coming.
In March 2025, the GlenAllachie 12 Year Old was named World’s Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards. The 12 also went on to take a Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition 2026.
Billy Walker bought the Speyside distillery in 2017. The 12 Year Old is matured in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso casks alongside virgin oak, then bottled at 46% with natural color and no chill filtration. Writing for Forbes, our very own Mark Littler noted a nose of fried banana and almond, with stem ginger, sultana and buttery vanilla on the palate.
Tom MacLaren, head of client services at Whisky Auctioneer, told Littler: “Lately, GlenAllachie has been my go-to alternative to Macallan 12.”
Indri Agneya Single Malt Indian Whisky, 46%, £58 / $70 – Gold, LSC 2026, 95 points
Indri Agneya is made by Piccadilly Agro Industries in Indri, Haryana, in northern India. The whisky is built on six-row Indian barley, lightly peated and double distilled in copper pot stills, then matured in ex-bourbon and pedro ximénez sherry casks and bottled at 46% without chill filtration.
Summers in Haryana are long and hot, which speeds up extraction from the wood, so the cask influence can be seen sooner than it would be in a cooler climate like that in Scotland.
At the London Spirits Competition 2026 it took a Gold with 95 points and was named Indian Single Malt Whisky Of The Year. The LSC judges described “a long, oily finish featuring spiced honey and subtle peat.”
The peat makes this a departure from the other four whiskies here, though the sweet, fruited character will be familiar, and I think the smoke adds just a little something extra.
Arran The Bodega Sherry Cask, 55.8%, £58 / $75 – Category Winner, No Age Statement Single Malt, World Whiskies Awards Scotland 2025
Arran The Bodega Sherry Cask is made at Lochranza Distillery on the Isle of Arran and matured exclusively in sherry casks selected from bodegas in Jerez. It is bottled at natural cask strength, 55.8% ABV, with natural color and no chill filtration.
It won its category at the World Whiskies Awards Scotland 2025 as a No Age Statement Single Malt from the Islands, and went on to be named Best Single Malt Scotch, Islands at the global awards. It was also shortlisted by The Whisky Exchange as one of the best Scotch whiskies of 2024, with the retailer calling it “an elegant single malt with rich layers of fruit and spice.”
Toffee, sweet spice, ripe fig, cherries, dark chocolate and mandarins all feature.
Is Macallan Still Your Go-To?
None of this is an argument against The Macallan 12. It is a well-made whisky with a long history behind it, and the people who reach for it are not making a mistake. The sticking point has always been the price, and with household budgets under pressure, a lot more drinkers are looking at what else the sherried category offers before committing £95 to a 12 year old single malt.
On the evidence above, the category offers a good deal. Four of these five bottles come in above 40% ABV, three carry natural color with no chill filtration, and every one of them has a recent medal to show for itself.
So what do you pour instead, or is The Macallan 12 still your go-to? Let us know in the comments.
If this kind of comparison is useful, we have also looked at whiskies cheaper than Johnnie Walker Blue Label and whiskies cheaper than The Macallan 18, along with a closer look at why The Macallan costs what it does.
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