'Must Drink' whisky

[barneyisourhero]

Hello, first post on here, but I have been looking for a while.

I've only been getting into whisky for about a year now and have sampled about 15 or so. My taste seems to be varied, I have enjoyed smoother, lighter whiskys like Glenmorangie, more full bodies ones like Glenfarclas and peaty ones (although only tried the lighter ones so far) like Highland Park and Bowmore.
Most of my whisky's have been in the £30-£65 bracket, and im probably not really going to consider spending more than say £75 on a bottle at this stage, mostly for financial reasons but also due to the amount of whisky in this price bracket.

My question is, what is the 'must try/have/drink' bottles within this price range? Are there some real crackers that punch way above their weight?

Im asking because, like many other I guess, it takes me an age to consider my next purchase with so many to chose from!

I'll put in a list of the ones I have tried in a rough order of preference with the most liked at the top! (I should add that there isnt really any in the list which I have disliked at all).

Suntory Yamazaki distillers edition - wow! I have been really impressed with this one.
Glenfarclas 15
Arberlour a'bunadh
Glenmorangie Quinta Rubana
Glenlivet Nadurra
Highland Park 12
Old Pulteney 12
Balvenie Caribbean cask
Glenmorangie 10
Glenrothes Select Reserve
Macallan Gold
Bowmore small batch reserve

[Quaich1]

[sorren]

Hi barnie and welcome to the forum,
Firstly you've already had a few of the must have whiskys from your price bracket, it's a good list most of us would have given you... Don't be afraid to buy the Glenfarclas 15 again, it's a fantastic whisky and is thought of as the best of the core range( other than the 40 ) the abunadh is another must have and as its a batch release you have an excuse to keep buying it... So a few more to add.. In no order..
Glendronach 15,
Dalwhinnie distillers edition..
Glenlivet founders reserve..
Auchentoshan threewood..
Auchentoshan 18... Just inside your budget
Balblair 97...
Balblair 03...
Glenfiddich 15..
Glenfiddich distillers edition..
Balvenie 17 doublewood ( £70 in sainsburys )
There are so many more that could be mentioned but these are some of my every day drinkers that are worth the money... Enjoy your journey

[raithrover]

Hi

Talisker 10 springs to mind and Clynelish as something different. Also encourage you to look at some independent releases (Cadenheads, Signatory etc) who can offer great value in your price range. If you order online then you'll have access to such releases. Check out Springbank and Longrow as well.

[Diademo]

It seems that you enjoy wide cross section of single malts (Speyside, Highland, Island:). Many distilleries have nice selection of quality and tasty 14 to 18 years old malts (up to your limit £75). Most of them are already mentioned here.

Maybe it should be interesting to try different cask/wood types (sherry, bourbon, wine finish:).
For sherried malts you can't get wrong with Glendronach or Glengoyne; for ex-bourbon casks you have many options, give it a try to some less known producers as Glen Moray, Balblair or Auchentoshan (you will have opportunity to try well-established brands on many occasions); Glenmorangie is good starting point for different wine finishes but one of the biggest selection has Edradour (and they are fairly priced too).

[TheWM]

It's all subjective really. When you say 'must drink whisky' that means a number of things to different people. To me it means (rather than best) trying something different to open new avenues to explore. For example whilst I had had a number of peated smokey drams in the past, nothing prepared me for the delights that were found in Ardbeg 10. Or the 'ashtray' of Lagavulin 16. That opened my eyes to other distilleries on Islay and made me understand my own taste better. For example, I love a sherried whisky and I love a peated whisky. The two for me, however, do not mix. So whilst you will hear lots of brilliant reviews about Ardbeg Uigeadail, you won't find the same admiration from me.

Depends how many bottles you want to try/go through too. If you're a one bottle a month guy and want to have ensure that everything you drink is to your palate (rather than cringe every time you go to the drinks cabinet) then initially stick to the distilleries that you know and 'surf' their ranges. If, on the other hand you fancy exploring to find something that you haven't found before then you needs to be buying a new bottle from a new distillery 25% of the time. Make notes too. I started but stopped and when I try and look back a lot of stuff melts away in a haze.

Consider different markets too. Irish and Japanese stuff recently has gone through the roof, but there are plenty of countries making good whisky. Australian (Tasmania) whisky is really good stuff and there are some really excellent numbers coming out of India, Taiwan and England, for example. And then you have the massive US market which is another chapter in itself.

Also some people deride it but I found the whisky flavour map to be a great help for a novice, just as sometimes from looking at some bottles you don't often(rarely) know how the flavours might compare to others you like.

We've all been in the situation that you've been in and in short whilst you'll get excellent recommendations on this forum, this issue is your journey, plan it well, and most of all enjoy it.

[opelfruit]

That price bracket is a real sweet spot and I'd say one that most of my purchases fall into....I just buy many in that bracket. Generally, once you hit £100.you're either paying for rarity or for a name and not really the quality of liquid in the bottle, generally. I find the best quality to price ratio for me personally is up to about £70, once I get beyond that I usually feel disappointed with my purchases unless they are stellar.

To the long list I'd add;

Old Pulteney 17yo - probably the best in their range.
anCnoc 16yo
Glencadam 10yo - entry level but punches waaay above its weight in quality.
Clynelish 14yo - again great bang for buck.
Hibiki 12yo for the Japanese side.
Hakushu 12yo if you can get it for under £65.
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[sorren]

As you can see there is some pretty good advice and recommendations above, and as usual a wide range, the wm sums it up well.. It's a personal journey... We all go separate ways, that's the fun, all palates are different, and a lot depends on what makes a whisky special for you, its not a bad idea to buy half bottles when trying a new whisky ( if you can find them ) I don't bother too much with 5cl as you don't get the true feel in such a small bottle..

[Whisky Dog]

I think you may enjoy stepping up the peat level and would suggest looking at Laphroaig, Ardbeg and Lagavulin.

Take a look at Laphroaig 10, 10 Cask Strength and Quarter Cask. From Ardbeg I would suggest the 10 and Corryvreckan and Lagavulin I would say the 16 year old and the 12 year old Special Release of which there is a new release every autumn, the 2014 release is still available from TWE and is excellent.

As you already enjoy sherried whiskies you may just love a big peaty sherried whisky, I can recommend Kilchoman Machir Bay, Ardbeg Uigeadail, Lagavulin Distillers Edition and Laphroaig PX Cask which is exclusive to travel retail.

[barneyisourhero]

Great, thanks very much for these replies. There are many whiskies here that I havent yet looked in to and im sure my next purchase will be based on this. I'll update this thread and let you all know which one I have gone for and how it was for me.

Good advice too on the note keeping, i tried a brief version of this but seem to have lost them somewhere.

I have to admit that I havent yet been tempted to get anything over the £100 bracket. I guess because if it wasnt clearly better than any of the other one's I had already tried then i'd be quite disappointed. Saying that, id love to get a 1979 whisky one day (year of my birth), just to keep as an extra special treat. I'd probably never open it though, which kind of defeats the point!

[opelfruit]

If you are going to buy a whisky from your birth year then better be quick as theyll only get more expensive the older you get!

I'm ok at the moment as stuff in the early 30's is still within my price range, but people like sorren are really in trouble as 60 year old whiskies are impossible to come by and even harder to afford!
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[sorren]

You cheeky s***.... I just turned 44 I'll have you know...
Although whisky from my birth year 1971 are getting pretty pricey..
Barney as it happens I just bought another bottle of 1979 auchentoshan, sherry matured, possibly one of the best drams to come out of the distillery in my opinion..... But there are not many left,

[opelfruit]

Sorry, couldn't resist it..We've been getting on a bit too much so needed to add a bit of spice back in.

Don't get me started on the best to come out of 'toshsan!!


_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[raithrover]

Had the BenRiach Solstice this evening and would recommend checking that one out. Lovely peated malt and a decent price.

[sorren]

And to think I thought we were friends, you just used me to get information on whisky, I feel so used.... No more advice and free samples of Auchentoshan for you, I hope every one finds out your really a closet Auchentoshan lover...