Scotch whisky in the $60 to $70 range is where you start breaking into the good stuff. Still, it depends on what you’re looking for. There are some bold peated whiskies at this price point that might be a little too much right next to super subtle peated whiskies that you might fall in love with. There’s also a ton of entry-point — think 10 and 12-year-old — unpeated whiskies that’ll taste amazing until you get your hands on their 18 or 20-year-old siblings.
It’s a lot to figure out, so I’m calling out the 10 Scotch whiskies that I think you should try at this price point. For the list, I gathered 10 whiskies that I recommend for anyone from a newbie to a pro. Because the truth is that no matter how far down your whisky road you are, there are still solid whiskies to be found at around $65.
When it comes to ranking these whiskies, it’s a bit looser. We’re still very much in the “Welcome to the party” level of Scotch whisky. These are all mixing whiskies for the most part with a few sippers thrown in near the end. That basically means that I’m looking at the depth to find the best whisky at this price point.
Finally, when it comes to the price, these are all priced according to delivery services in Louisville, Kentucky (Drizly and Total Wine). Local prices and availability will vary.
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10. GlenDronach Original Aged 12 Years Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $62
The Whisky:
This Highland malt is blended by Scotch icon Dr. Rachel Barrie to highlight the beauty of the Scottish Highlands. The juice is a blend of whiskies aged for 12 years in Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez sherry casks before vatting, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with spicy berries next to tart apples with a hint of lemon/lime and old leather.
Palate: The sip leans into a honey sweetness with vanilla beans, dark plums, and spicy malts.
Finish: The finish smooths out with a mineral water softness as old cedar boards mingle with a raisin tobacco chewy spice on the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is a great place to start any whisky journey. This is a stone-cold classic unpeated malt that delivers a great profile. That said, I’d generally use this for a killer highball or cocktail before I’d use it as a sipper.
9. Dewar’s Blended Scotch Whisky Aged 18 Years
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $63
The Whisky:
The heart of Dewar’s is Aberfeldy whisky. This blend is a testament to Master Blender Stephanie MacLeod’s prowess in bringing good whisky together to make great whisky. The juices are aged for 18 long years in American oak before they’re vatted into a large oak tun and allowed to rest before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: There’s that signature Aberfeldy honey on the nose with hints of almonds, stone fruits, and red berries next to a hint of dried leather, Christmas spices, and maybe even some tobacco leaf.
Palate: The palate dials all of this in with a marzipan vibe next to floral honey, bruised apricot skins, and dark chocolate-covered red berries with a hint of tartness and bitterness.
Finish: The end is soft, silky, and brings a final bite of sweet oak with a slight tobacco chew layered with dark chocolate and marzipan.
Bottom Line:
This is a nice blended whisky. It’s perfect for highballs or over a ton of ice in a rocks glass. It also works as a decent cocktail base with a penicillin or Scotch old fashioned.
8. Benriach The Twelve Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $65
The Whisky:
Dr. Rachel Barrie’s reimaging of BenRiach has been a stellar success. This dram is a marrying of 12-year-old malts that matured in ex-bourbon, ex-sherry, and ex-port casks before vatting, proofing, and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a bold nose full of apple and pear candy, plenty of blooming heather scrub, and blueberry juice and stems with a hint of dark orange chocolate balls.
Palate: The taste boils everything down to a silken palate of stewed pears with cinnamon sticks, sherry-soaked prunes, freshly milled oats, orange-infused marzipan with dark chocolate frosting, and a slight espresso bean oily bitterness.
Finish: The finish creates a creamy espresso macchiato vibe that’s spiked with that dark orange chocolate note and a final hit of those stewed fruits.
Bottom Line:
This is a solid Speyside that works as an intro to the region and a killer cocktail base. That said, no one is stopping you from pouring over some ice and enjoying it that way too.
7. Compass Box Peat Monster Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $69
The Whisky:
Compass Box is one of the most interesting blender/bottlers working today. This expression is the perfect example of the craft of whisky blending, with six masterfully married peaty barrels coming together, focusing on Caol Ila and Laphroaig. A touch of Highland malt is added to bring in hints of dark spice to balance all that Islay peat.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is peaty but not ridiculously so, thanks to the subtlety of the Caol Ila in the mix.
Palate: There’s a really rich and sweet apple/pear vibe that cuts through the earthy peat while a vanilla cream brings about a velvet mouthfeel.
Finish: The smoke returns but is tied to the fruit — like a bushel of smoked apples, pears, and apricots next to a touch of ashy smoke — on the finish.
Bottom Line:
This peated whisky pulls no punches. It’s bold and vibrant but a little intense. So maybe think about this as a float over a cocktail to add some earthiness and smoke. You’ve been warned.
6. Bruichladdich Port Charlotte Heavily Peated Islay Single Malt 10
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $68
The Whisky:
Bruichladdich really has fun with peated whisky. This expression keeps the peat phenols in the mid-range, leaning high. The casking is a mix of first and second-fill bourbon barrels and second-fill French wine barrels. That utilization of second-fill oak means there’s a very light touch of wood on this peated whisky.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Imagine a dark chocolate orange drizzled in salted caramel and served on a wet leaf of seaweed on the nose.
Palate: The smoke kicks in on the palate with those wet seaweed leaves thrown on a smoldering pile of pine to create a massive billow of smoke everywhere, as hints of buttery white wine and strawberry jam-covered scones linger in the background.
Finish: The finish leans into the bready nature of the scones with a dry straw edge that’s followed by a mouthful of seaweed-heavy grey smoke.
Bottom Line:
This is another boldly peated whisky. It’s not for the faint of heart. Still, there’s a lot of complexity under all that smoke that’s worth seeking out. Though you may need an ice cube or two to help coax it out.
5. Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $64
The Whisky:
This whisky is an independently bottled expression. Beyond that, not much more is known besides that it’s from Islay and heavily peated.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with a heavy campfire smoke with a hint of lemon pepper, fresh ginger juice, and honey malt cookies dipped in an almost burnt dark chocolate.
Palate: The palate leans into smoked honey and burnt orange with a deep sense of gingerbread and plum jam next to notes of burnt espresso and smoldering camp stoves.
Finish: The end feels a bit like a campfire that fizzled out overnight and has gone cold next to burnt honeycombs, apple chips, and caramelized malts.
Bottom Line:
This is a pretty intense sipper. It’s truly smoky AF. Still, there’s a lot to be found in its depths as a sipper and worth spending some time with (if you can get past the initial billow of smokiness).
4. The Balvenie DoubleWood Aged 12 Years
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $64
The Whisky:
This is the whisky that launched the “double aging” trend back in 1982. This unpeated single malt spends 12 years mellowing in ex-bourbon casks before it’s transferred to ex-sherry casks for a final maturation of nine months. Finally, the whisky is vatted in a “tun” where it rests for three to four months before proofing and bottling.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft and floral honey mixed with a hint of vanilla extract, sweet red berries, and wine-soaked oak.
Palate: The palate meanders through light touches of marzipan with a hint of cinnamon and fields of plum trees with a whisper of tree bark and leather lurking in the background.
Finish: The finish lets the spicy malt kick in with a dose of hot cinnamon and honey tobacco.
Bottom Line:
This is a really solid unpeated malt with a great balance and depth of flavors. Use it in your favorite whisky cocktails or just sip it over some rocks. Either way, you’re set.
3. The Dalmore Aged 12 Years Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $64
The Whisky:
This Highland whisky is a gateway whisky that feels like a classic. The juice is aged in ex-bourbon for nearly a decade. The whisky is then transferred to former sherry casks for that crucial finishing touch of maturation for around three years. It’s then proofed down to a very accessible 80 proof.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Oranges studded with cloves mingle with a deep dark chocolate foundation and a hint of eggnog creaminess and spiciness.
Palate: The palate goes even deeper on the orange and spice as heavy vanilla arrives — the husks, seeds, and oils are all present.
Finish: The end is fairly succinct and touches back on the chocolate with a bitter mocha-coffee vibe and more vanilla.
Bottom Line:
Quintessential. This is unpeated entry-level single malt at its best. It makes a mean cocktail or serves as a mean sipper on its own, especially if you’re looking for something easy on the palate.
2. Talisker Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 10 Years
ABV: 45.8%
Average Price: $66
The Whisky:
This is one of the most awarded single malts ever. The juice is matured in ex-bourbon casks in Talisker’s warehouse which is literally feet away from the sea. The subtly peated malts take on a real seaside feel as those years tick past, creating a whisky that will not disappoint.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with this soft sense of pitted orchard fruits next to a thin line of beach campfire smoke far off in the distance with a hint of minerality and bright spiced malts.
Palate: The palate has a hint of an oyster shell that leads to dried pears and apricot with a hint of warmth and spice malt next to dry sweetgrass.
Finish: The end is full of lightly smoked plums with a touch of cardamom and cinnamon next to sea salt and a final whiff of that beach campfire way down the beach somewhere.
Bottom Line:
This whisky has the perfect balance of peat, brine, and fruit. It’s devilishly simple while carrying true depth. It’s wonderful in a cocktail or neat.
1. Johnnie Walker Green Label Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $69
The Whisky:
Johnnie Walker’s Green Label is a solidly crafted whisky that highlights Diageo’s fine stable of distilleries across Scotland. The whisky is a pure malt or blended malt, meaning that only single malt whisky is in the mix (no grain whisky). In this case, the primary whiskies are a minimum of 15 years old, from Talisker, Caol Ila, Cragganmore, and Linkwood.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Soft notes of cedar dance with hints of black pepper, vanilla pods, and bright fruit with a wisp of green grass in the background.
Palate: The palate really delivers on that soft cedar woodiness while edging towards a spice-laden tropical fruit brightness.
Finish: The finish is dialed in with hints of cedar, spice, and fruit leading toward a briny billow of smoke at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This is a whisky that’s so much greater than its equally great parts. This is one of the best blended malt whiskies you’ll ever find.
Source: https://uproxx.com/life/best-scotch-whiskeys-under-70-ranked-2023/