TOP 10 WHISKIES UNDER £50

Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 43%

Caol Ila is just a short drive, and the first distillery you can get to from the Islay ferry terminal of Port Askaig.

In terms of volume of whisky produced, Caol Ila is the largest of the Islay distilleries, and thank god there is a lot of it we say.

Caol Ila 12-year-old is well-balanced and on the lighter side of many Islay whiskies, this is an excellent starting point for anyone venturing into the world of peaty whisky. This is also a very excellent daily dram indeed.

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Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 40%

The classic Glenfiddich 12-year-old, which has been the distillery's signature malt since around the turn of the Millennium, when it replaced the NAS Glenfiddich Special Reserve that was the previous entry-level whisky in the range.

Together with Glenlivet, Glenfiddich has long epitomised the very essence of the lighter style of Speyside, with much less heavy sherry influence than the likes of Glenfarclas or Macallan. Glenfiddich 12-year-old is an easy-drinking introduction to single malt whisky, and a great aperitif dram.

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Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 46%

We love a good Balblair here at Whisky-Online. This is the 12-year-old from the distillery's recently-revamped new range of age statement bottlings and if you're after a high quality 12-year-old Highland dram bottled at 46% without colouring or chill filtration, you can stop looking.

Despite being one of Scotland's oldest distilleries (established 1790), and with a host of classic bottlings from yesteryear, Balblair is still strangely underrated by whisky fans, but make no mistake - for an everyday drinker at this age and price range you won't find any better value than Balblair. 

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Tasting Notes

Colour: Polished gold.

Nose: Elegant bright lemon peel layered with creamy vanilla and crisp green apples.

Palate: Ground spices and dried orange slices enveloped in intense set honey sweetness.

Finish: Creamy and leathery with notes of sweet vanilla.

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 40%

Glenfiddich 15-year-old Our Solera Fifteen is bottled from the whiskies blended in the distillery's Solera, a very large old oak vat that is regularly filled with 15-year-old Glenfiddich matured in ex-bourbon, sherry and virgin oak casks. 

Glenfiddich's solera is always kept at least half full, making Glenfiddich 15-year-old Solera Reserve noticeably sweeter and fuller than the Glenfiddich 12-year-old. A round, mellow and hugely sippable dram that reeks of classic Speyside elegance and fruitiness. 

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Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 46%

Inchmurrin is one of the experimental distillery Loch Lomond's manifold spirit styles.  Loch Lomond's range seems to be being simplified in the latest revamp, with the focus narrowing towards three main single malt styles - unpeated Inchmurrin, heavily-peated Inchmoan, and a medium-peated mingling of both, bottled simply as Loch Lomond. 

Inchmurrin is made on Loch Lomond's unusual straight neck pot stills that have rectifying plates in the neck, allowing a much purer, higher strength spirit to be produced. Combined with the distillery's long fermentation times, the result is a light, elegant, fruity spirit. 

This particular Inchmurrin 12-year-old has been matured in ex-bourbon, refill bourbon and recharred American oak casks and bottled at 46%, a sensible decision that should give single malt fans some much-needed clarity and show what Loch Lomond's Inchmurrin is really about.

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Tasting Notes

Nose: Distinctively fruity with pear drops and toffee sweetness. Light notes of freshly cut hay in summer sun.

Taste: Seville orange citrus notes build in intensity before mellowing into peach and apricot. The fruit character gives way to creamy fudge and vanilla.

Finish: Medium length with peppery finish.

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 43%

One of the great Aberdeenshire whiskies, Glendronach distillery, and particularly the classic Glendronach 12-year-old, has led a rather chimerical existence over the last few decades, appearing in various guises and cask recipes - see our Glendronach 12 blog for (much) more detail.

There was a bit of a stramash back in 2021 when Glendronach 12-year-old dropped the Non Chill Filtered wording on the label. Our advice would be to taste it for yourself and decide. After all, it's still sherried Glendronach - so rest assured it will continue to be a fine whisky.

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Tasting Notes

Appearance: Deep amber-red gold.

Nose: Sweet, creamy vanilla, with hints of ginger. Spiced mulled wine and pear.

Palate: Rich, creamy, silky-smooth. Warm, rich oak and sherry sweetness, full mouth feel, raisins and soft fruits. Spicy with medium length and a dry finish.

Conclusion: Long, full and firm, slightly nutty.

Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 70cl / 46%

Inchmoan is one of the experimental distillery Loch Lomond's manifold spirit styles.  Loch Lomond's range seems to be being simplified in the latest revamp, with the focus narrowing towards three main single malt styles - unpeated Inchmurrin, heavily-peated Inchmoan, and a medium-peated mingling of both, bottled simply as Loch Lomond. 

Like its sister malt Inchmurrin, Loch Lomond's Inchmoan is made on the distillery's unusual straight neck pot stills that have rectifying plates in the neck, allowing a much purer, higher strength spirit to be produced. Combined with the distillery's long fermentation times, the result is a smoky, spicy single malt whisky.

This Inchmoan 12-year-old has been matured in both refill bourbon and recharred American oak casks and bottled at 46% to fully express the heavily-peated Inchmoan single malt style.

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Tasting Notes

Nose: Dry peat smoke with vanilla syrup and cracked black pepper.

Taste: Sweet, medicinal peat and smoked bacon lead into roasted coffee bean with spice notes of clove and star anise. Warming spiciness combines with green apple and pear.

Finish: Long, waxy peat with citrus hop note and gooseberry.

Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Distillery Bottling 3x5cl / 46%

A great mini gift pack from the guys at Glenallachie giving you a chance to sample the delights of 3 of the most popular core lines.

You have the solid 12-year-old, the award-winning 15-year-old and finally, Glenallachie's blended malt whisky Lum Reek that contains peated Speyside single malt whisky, peated Islay whisky and Glenallachie.

The bottles are presented in a cardboard gift pack, ideal for stocking fillers and gifts.

The pack contains
x1 5cl Glenallachie 12-year-old
x1 5cl Glenallachie 15-year-old
x1 5cl MacNair's Lum Reek 12-year-old blended malt

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Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Bottled by: Signatory Vintage 70cl / 57.1% / 100 Proof

A small batch Auchroisk 2010 13-year-old bottled in 2024 at 57.1% without colouring or chill filtration by Signatory Vintage as No.12 in their 100-Proof Editions range, which were launched just before Christmas 2023 and have been the best thing to happen for thrifty single malt fans for years.

This 13-year-old Auchroisk 2010 was bottled at 57.1% after full-term maturation in first fill Oloroso sherry butts and from the colour you know what you're getting - top class heavily-sherried Speyside under £50.  Perhaps Signatory have hidden a time machine in those massive warehouses.

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Blended Malt Whisky 70cl / 40%

Monkey Shoulder is a blended malt whisky from William Grant & Sons and was originally a marriage of three single malts from the company's Speyside distilleries Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie, although nowadays it's likely that some batches contain whisky from the company's quiet Lowland mega-distillery Ailsa Bay.

First introduced in 2005, Monkey Shoulder's longevity is thanks in large part to its easy-drinking nature - it's a well-rounded malt whisky with balanced sweetness and, crucially, its modern packaging and mixability have made it a firm on-trade favourite.

The name Monkey Shoulder', incidentally, refers to a condition that maltmen sometimes picked up while turning the barley by hand. It had a tendency to cause their arm to hang down a bit like a monkey, so they nicknamed it 'monkey shoulder'.

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