It’s still entirely possible to find outstanding scotch whiskies for under £100, with plenty of impressive options available. Although scotch whisky prices have reached record highs, many distilleries remain dedicated to offering excellent bottles at accessible price points.
This carefully selected list of ten whiskies highlights a diverse range of flavor profiles from across Scotland, offering both classic choices and a few hidden gems. Some may be easier to source than others, but a quality whisky bar will likely have several of these on hand for tasting, allowing you to explore and discover your ideal dram.
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Sherry Cask Finish
BUY NOW: £59.25
This is the whisky I was waiting for Laphroaig to release for years! It finally arrived in 2021/22 and to say that I was jubilant would be an understatement.
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Two-thirds of this stock is fully matured in ex-sherry casks for its whole life, with the other third having a finish in ex-sherry casks. Bottled at a mighty 48% ABV and still brimming with all of that classic Laphroaig peatiness, if not slightly subdued by rich, treacle-style sherry that just takes a little bit of the Islay edge off.
Complex, delightful, and everything I want in a heavily peated, sherry cask whisky.
Ledaig 18 Year Old
BUY NOW: £85
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Sticking with the peated options for now. You’re going to be hard-pressed to find any 18 year old liquid below £100 a bottle, but then Ledaig comes along and makes us all smile. A single malt with formidable levels of smoke at a younger age becomes more balanced and level with cask influence as it steps into its latter teen years.
Older peated whisky, to me, is the most complex spirit on the planet. You get all of the regular flavors of whisky, but then this wall of culinary-style smoke that backs off as the casks begin to take over the flavor influence. Without a doubt, one of the best value spirits in the world of spirits as a whole.
Balblair 15 Year Old
BUY NOW: £74
Stepping away from peat for a while, let’s talk about those rich, indulgent sherry cask releases that everyone finds themselves reaching for at some point.
Balblair makes some of the most underrated single malts in Scotland. The 15 year old expression is by far my favorite, and it gives most of the premium brands a huge run for their money when it comes to complexity.
Finished in Olomouc sherry casks for the final three years of its life after being matured in ex-bourbon casks, this is one of the most tropical, sweet, sherry-driven styles of whisky in the world. Every time I go back to it, I’m reminded of how delicious it is. I’d even say it’s a better profile than the 18 year old, as that begins to step into a darker, more savory style of sherry influence.
The Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Cask
BUY NOW: £77
This whisky and distillery has such a reputation that you have to talk about it to some degree, even if the entry-level sherry matured bottle is nearly touching £100.
The Macallan 12 Year Old Sherry Cask was one of the first whiskies I tried where a little light bulb went off in my head. I got it, I understood what people wanted with a sherry influence.
That first zap of brightness was over a decade ago now, things have changed, but this still remains one of the best and fastest-selling single malts in the world.
Matured solely in ex-sherry barrels and bottled at 40%, it is warm, orange, chocolate, and a little bit of wood from the oak influences.
Glen Scotia 15 Year Old
BUY NOW: £61
To the southwest coast of Scotland now, and Glen Scotia! The only Campbeltown single malt that you can easily buy all over the world. Matured its whole life in ex-bourbon casks and having nearly every flavor under the sun inside that bottle – this is a whisky to try if you like a little bit of everything from a glass of spirit.
It is unpeated but has huge, round oak notes, sweetness from the ex-bourbon casks, saltiness from its coastal origins, and bottled at a wonderful 46% ABV.
The whole Glen Scotia range is quite a marvel of styles, they can get any flavor you’d want into a glass. If you’ve never tried anything from them before, this is the one I’d tell you to jump in at. It’s an incredible benchmark for unsherried, unpeated malt whiskies across the world.
Springbank 10 Year Old
BUY NOW: £52
Much like talking about The Macallan, we can’t miss this option off the list. Sadly this will be the most difficult bottle for you to source, which is purely based on demand. Long gone are the days of finding these things gathering dust on a shelf.
Springbank is a two-and-a-half times distilled, mildly peaty single malt that just hits all of the right spots. Once you’ve tried this single malt it is rather hard to forget.
Older releases are even harder to source, the 10 year old is a sweet spot for me. It has all of this salty, smokiness about it, but then some of the most tropical fruit notes you’ll ever smell and taste in a younger whisky. Open it if you can find one, or buy a sample of it from a bar or a website. This single malt is almost a rite of passage for all whisky drinkers across the planet.
Bladnoch Vinaya
BUY NOW: £38
Lowland whiskies are in a huge renaissance right now, sadly they’re either over £100 a bottle or relatively young and not a key indicator of a style. However, Bladnoch is one of the rarities that still exists in the Lowlands. It’s had quite an unfortunate history but is now up and running again.
The Vinaya is an entry-point single malt that is typical Bladnoch, in my eyes. It is a fruity, chocolatey style of lowland single malt that is bottled relatively high and easily available. It isn’t the most complex thing you’ll try, but it’s so approachable and welcoming as a style that you can’t help but love it.
The older Bladnoch whiskies do jump up in price quite a bit, but if you can find a cool shop/store pick of one, they tend to be of incredible value.
Kingsbarns Dream To Dram
BUY NOW: £53
Another Lowland whisky, and one that reaffirmed how good some of the newer Lowland distilleries are, especially at younger ages and affordable prices.
I know summer may have passed us by, but this is the perfect summer single malt for anyone. A grassy, fruity, zesty style of whisky that delivers on all fronts of being a ‘classic’ Lowland style. By that I mean a delicate, softer style of single malt that is typically unpeated and encompasses an easy drinking approach to Scottish single malt whiskies. Those rules don’t necessarily apply to Lowland whiskies anymore, but in a classic sense, Kingsbarns absolutely nails it.
Craigellachie 13 Year Old
BUY NOW: £39
Let’s dive into what makes Craigellachie so delightfully offbeat. Sure, the village might be best known as the place where Macallan calls home, but Craigellachie’s own single malt flew under the radar for years, mostly popping up in bottles from independent bottlers. Then came 2014, and suddenly, things changed with the launch of their core range.
Their 13 year old single malt is the most affordable—and easiest to find—release in the lineup, but it’s also one of the most unique Speyside whiskies you’ll come across. They use these old-school worm tub condensers (think of them as a vintage way of turning alcohol vapor back into liquid), which give the whisky this rich, waxy, almost salty edge. It’s a style that’s versatile in any cask, and if you think you’ve already tasted everything Speyside has to offer, well, this one might just surprise you. Pour yourself a glass, settle in, and let Craigellachie take you on a little journey.
Loch Lomond 14 Year Old
BUY NOW: £49
Ending this list with a personal favorite whisky of mine, Loch Lomond 14 Year Old. The first time I tried this I was blown away by the level of flavour in it. As soon as it hits your tongue it morphs from sweet, into salty, then spicy, and then finishes on those gentle smoke notes…but the liquid is unpeated.
I emailed Loch Lomond and asked what was going on with this. To keep it simple, it’s finished in Limousin oak casks from France for the final part of its maturing life, these casks are quite heavily charred and impart a delicate smokiness to the whisky.
I can’t count how many bottles of this I’ve gone through since its launch a few years ago, but it is a constant on my bar for all sorts of reasons – the main one being that it’s just wonderful.
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