What is the best single malt scotch whiskey for £30 or under?

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bworkz@reddit

Get a Glenfiddich 12 from ASDA, it's on sale. Or, even if it doesn't get enough credit, you can buy a Tamnavulin, you can easily find it under £30. The standard Old Pulteney is also a good choice but it smells like sea FYI.

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Tuarangi@reddit

Serious single malt fans can be quite snobby (I am one and I am and anecdotally on whisky tasting it's quite common) and a £30 single malt is rarely something I'd enjoy, some decent bourbons for that price but that sort of malt I'd use with a mixer. They aren't aged long enough for one thing and often lack the finish of the older drams that had time to mature.

I'd suggest going to The Whisky Shop and see if they have any of the unbranded ones they bottle in house which are from big distilleries but cannot be named. An alternative would be a few miniatures of unusual ones, they usually have a good selection for £10 or so and you could then get the person 2-3 50ml bottles to see if they like them. If you're at their house ever, see if you can see what bottles they have as it'll give you an idea of what styles they like

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Ambitious-Win-9408@reddit

Saying that a sub £30 single malt is only good for a mixer and equating that with being a serious single malt fan is incredibly snobby, to the point where you sound quite unserious.

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Tuarangi@reddit

I literally said I am snobby?

As I said anecdotally on whisky tastings (which I do a lot of, usually 2-3 a month) it's very much the prevailing attitude among serious whisky single malt fans, that you're looking at whisky at least 12, if not 15 or older malts for your relaxing pleasure drinking. I've tasted whisky that is 35-43 years old that costs high 4 figures to buy, you'd don't go out and buy 5-10 year £30 malts for that sort of serious drinker as it just doesn't compare

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Ambitious-Win-9408@reddit

Yeah, that's why I said incredibly snobby to the point of unserious. You know, I wrote a whole paragraph or so with counter points about what qualifies as serious and the kind of person who calls something like a glenlivet 12 or Glenfiddich 15 solera a mixer, despite having my own collection of bottles worth 20x to 30x those. Then I realised we won't be able to have a discussion about this as we're obviously very far apart in opinion.

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Tuarangi@reddit

The Glenlivet 12 is £44 in Tesco, Sainsbury's, £43 at The Whisky Shop etc so not valid for a "under £30 malt", it's also a very basic malt finished purely in American Oak which saves money and yeah a base for a mixer. Glenfiddich 15 Solera is £44 cheapest I could see at Asda so also not valid. If you're pushing that high you can get better than those like Arran 10 year quarter cask for not much more

Drink a dram of something like Glendronach 18 or 21, even Glenfarclas 105 or one of the older Arran bottles and then tell me more about seeing supermarket level whisky as much more than a mixer

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DimiRPG@reddit

Not a single malt but Maker's Mark is a great bourbon and you can often find it reduced to £25 in supermarkets. Excellent value for money.

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Striking_Smile6594@reddit

Maker's Mark is a cracking bourbon, and it's become my default bourbon for a few years now. You can often find it discounted to about £20-25 and whenever it is I often pick up a bottle. Whenever I hear a someone I know still buying JD and tell them to try MM instead.

Like you say, probably not helpful for a scotch drinker though.

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pip_goes_pop@reddit

I actually prefer Woodford Reserve. All personal taste I guess. I might try MM again, been a few years.

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Striking_Smile6594@reddit

Woodford Reserve is good, so is Bulleit, but Makers is my favourite of the supermarket Bourbons.

I'm just glad we have more choice now as opposed to a when I first started drinking Bourbon and you could only buy Jack Daniels or Jim Beam.

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OmniWise@reddit

Slightly over your budget at £38 on Amazon but Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky, is absolutely amazing and very very very low peat.

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Rastapopolos-III@reddit

Which is amazing considering they also make octomore which is the peatiest whisky in the world.

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Working_Bench_6780@reddit

Knockando is a nice whisky, it's out of your price range but putting it here so if anyone has not heard of it might try it .

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A97S_@reddit

Dalwhinnie winter gold, usually marked down to your budget when on offer. Smooth and inoffensive but delicious, probably your safest bet.

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WhatWeHavingForTea@reddit

I know we all have different tastes, but Winter gold is one of the most offensive drams I have ever had the displeasure of drinking.

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A97S_@reddit

Fair enough man, to each his own, I’ve have said lagavulin 16 or a MacAllan if his budget wasn’t insanely low - options are limited. Glenfiddich 12’s also a decent shout if you can find it in this bracket I suppose, probably better.

If it was my boss I’d try to stick £30 on a gift card to the Whisky shop or something - I know I’d rather a 30 quid discount on something decent to a bottle of pish.

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WhatWeHavingForTea@reddit

Yeah I quite like a Macallan, but if sticking with Dalwhinnie, the 12yo is like liquid gold.

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behemuffin@reddit

This might sound a bit snobbish, and maybe it is, but most single malts under £30 are likely to land as a "bless 'em, they tried" sort of gift, rather than a "wow, what a treat". Although it is possible to get a decent bottle on that budget, if you want a special gift level bottle, you'll want to be spending more like £50. And trust me, as a scotch drinker, we're a little bit over being gifted Glenfiddich, which is a 'safe bet' scotch for people who aren't really into it.

If you can't up the budget, depending on where you are, you might be able to find something like a distillery tour or a tasting experience. Or what about a pair of nice whisky tumblers or Glencairns? Think outside the box a little bit and you'll end up with something your boss will appreciate a lot more.

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sgbea_13@reddit

Might sound snobbish?

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behemuffin@reddit

Might sound snobbish, might sound like I know a bit about what I'm talking about, having put some time and investment into an interest of mine.

Decent scotch has shot up in price, like lots of things, over the last 5 years. If OP's boss is a casual scotch drinker, ignore my advice and fire away with a bottle of 'fiddich. If they're more of a connoisseur, then a whisky snob's opinion might be worth taking into account.

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Trick-Newspaper-9906@reddit

Whisky, as with all things, is 90% hype and bollocks, and 10% based in reality. Makers, ages, barrel types, grain, etc, all have a limited impact on flavour, but at the end of the day most people won't be able to tell the difference between a £25 bottle of Aldi Single Malt and a bottle that costs 10 times more.

That doesn't mean I'm anti expensive whisky, it just means it's no different to paying for label with clothes.

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behemuffin@reddit

No.

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sgbea_13@reddit

But your thinking doesn't make sense. Imagine someone wanting to buy a piece of jewelry for someone else. Are they a casual wearer, or do they only wear the cleanest diamonds which are way out of your price range?

We're talking whisky here, not supercars! :D

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behemuffin@reddit

It's OK not to have the same interests. I couldn't give a shit about supercars or diamonds, but if you're into them then I'm sure your thinking makes sense to you.

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behemuffin@reddit

To extend your first analogy - say you've got a friend who collects top quality diamonds, and you gift them something entry level from H Samuel. Will they smile and say thank you, and genuinely appreciate the gesture - if they're a decent person, of course. Are they likely to wear them? Not so much.

OP obviously cares about the gift beyond having their boss appreciate the gesture, or they wouldn't be here asking the question.

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axomoxia@reddit

Lidls own brand.

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G30fff@reddit

the peaty one in the non-tubed bottle is excellent. Not a single malt tho

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Top-Tip-6919@reddit

Totally agree

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vbrbrbr2@reddit

At that price point just get them something else.

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Beartato4772@reddit

Yeah, for us normals there's good stuff at those prices, Talisker Skye can normally be had for that for instance.

But if they're an obsessive, they're working above that level.

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WhatWeHavingForTea@reddit

Cardhu or Jura are often on deal in supermarkets for less than £30. Both are a respectable bottle of drams that would suit most whisky drinkers. For a little bit more, Dalwhinnie 12 is a fantastic whisky, but will be at least £40

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dangerousfingers@reddit

Singleton of dufftown

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Top-Tip-6919@reddit

Old pountney 12 year old. And will die on that hill.

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MysteriousTelephone@reddit

In ASDA there’s normally at least a couple on offer. Usually I’ll see something like ‘Old Putney’ or ‘The Singleton’ for under £30.

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Candy_Lawn@reddit

we buy the singleton a lot, its very good for the price.

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dbxp@reddit

They have a pretty good range on sale now, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Laphroaig etc

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Choccybizzle@reddit

Fucking hell people it’s a gift, telling them not to bother just makes you sound like a wanker. I’m sure the boss will appreciate the gesture regardless.

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YogiFair@reddit

I really enjoyed Aberlour

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Glenlivet is sometimes on offer for around £30 and a much higher level whiskey than the usual Glenmorangie or Glenfiddich.

It also has the advantage of being "in the middle" of the taste scale. Hint of peat, not enough to put off a non-peaty taste, but enough to satisfy one who likes it.

It's always the go-to choice if you don't know their specific taste.

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SGRiggall@reddit

Penderyn Welsh Single Malt is bloody lovely and you can find it between £20-£40 depending where you look

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CaptH3inzB3anz@reddit

Penderyn Legend is fantastic

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icycheezecake@reddit

At that price I would 100% look for an aberlour 12yr single malt it's one of my favourites and it's not mentally priced, think it's normally £34 or something but seen it on clubcard/offer for less sometimes like £25 ish

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kotare78@reddit

Do you know if he likes peated or non-peated? Laphroig, Ardbeg are classic peated whiskies. Highland Park, Glenmorangie, Arberlour are nice non peated and not too dear.

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ClevelandWomble@reddit

This is possibly the most important question. Peated whiskies taste like antiseptic to people who are not fans. If OP isn't sure, they should probably give them a miss.

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HMSWarspite03@reddit

Have you seen any of his whisky? That should help you in your search

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CooStick@reddit

Aldi’s Speyside is gorgeous.

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Car-Nivore@reddit

This is why I loved living near the 'Buccaneer Garage' up in Elgin, Scotland, about 15 years ago as he always has some decent bottles for £25. Even Smokehead as a relatively brand new label was a decent price, but I can't find that anywhere now for less than £60.

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The_Ignorant_Sapien@reddit

No such thing, there is single malt whisky though.

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milkandket@reddit

Glenfiddich 12 is really popular with a lot of my mates, you can usually pick it up for around £30 when it’s on offer somewhere Closer to £40 usually otherwise

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BarryIslandIdiot@reddit

It's a decent enough whisky. I always have a bottle on hand. I also have a 15 which I got for just over £30.

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EldritchCleavage@reddit

Craggy more is good.

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Different_Possible_5@reddit

Lidls single malt Speyside is lovely. £18 a bottle

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behemuffin@reddit

I prefer the Islay, but yes, Lidl's single malts are loads better than anything else in that price bracket.

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NrthnLd75@reddit

Find out what they like, then wait for something in the £45 range to be on sale. This happens so often I think the original prices aren't necessarily "real".

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thefogdog@reddit

auchentoshan is my fave whenever I see it. Not always under £30 but often on sale at places like Tesco.

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whumoon@reddit

Glenmorangie. If it's good enough for an immortal Highlander it's good enough for your boss.

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mooncrab@reddit

If he's into scotch, and you have that budget, I would just get him something else. Get something you know about that would be new to him.

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MinimumIcy1678@reddit

Laphroaig 10 year is often £28.

Only if you like smokey peaty whisky though.

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MinimumIcy1678@reddit

Laphroaig 10 year is often £28.

Only if you like smokey peaty whisky though.

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Grotzilla1@reddit

Glen morangie

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coffeeespren@reddit

Talisker Skye

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IronDuke365@reddit

See, I don't like that one. Too smoky for me. Kinda highlights that whisky is a personal preference, and there is no point buying any old bottle

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coffeeespren@reddit

Well it's not my favourite but they asked for under £30 and that was the best I could think of

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dbxp@reddit

It's difficult to find whisky for that price now with the duty changes. Have a look at Asda as they have a bunch on sale now. Glenmorangie is currently on sale, very good but not overly peaty so suitable for all tastes and a bit less common than Glenfiddich which is like the default.

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Pyriel@reddit

Talisker Sky is nice, and is currently 44% off from Amazon

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Different_Possible_5@reddit

Can't go wrong with a founders reserve too.

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Lazy-Kaleidoscope179@reddit

Don't try buy whisky (without the e btw) for a whisky drinker if you don't know what they like. They're all different and you'd be lucky to guess right. I've been bought all sorts I don't like over the years.

Also you can't get anything decent for £30. Talisker 10 and Laphroig 10 are often £35-40 in Amazon and that's the best at this price point, if you really have to buy something. But I'd advise against it.

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