Good single malt Scotch whisky is nearly overflowing across the shelves these days. Sherry cask this, double casks that, Highlands this, cask strength that, peated this, Speyside that… The labels and options feel like they’re endless. That can be a good thing in that you can get some seriously good Scottish single malt whisky pretty goddamn easily. You can also roll snake eyes and grab a bottle that’s subpar.
We’ve all been there and it sucks. Let’s avoid that, shall we?
With that said… Who’s ready for another classic single malt Scotch whisky blind taste test? Below, I’m pulling in 10 single malts from Scotland that all clock in under $100 — they mostly fall in the $50-$70 range really — and are generally easy (enough) to find, coast-to-coast. There are no special releases that you’ll only find behind the glass behind the register or hidden away on some high-end whisky bar menu. This is stuff you should be able to find on your next trip to a good liquor store.
That makes our lineup today the following single malt Scotch whiskies:
- Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky The Wee Witchie Aged for 12 Years
- Talisker Storm Single Malt Scotch Whisky
- The Glenrothes Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky “Whisky Maker’s Cut”
- Torabhaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky Allt Gleann
- The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky DoubleWood Aged 12 Years
- The Macallan Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 12 Years Old Double Cask
- Arran Single Malt Scotch Whisky 10 Years Old
- Kingsbarns Balcomie Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
- The GlenDronach Orignal Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 12 Years
- Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 14 Years
After blind tasting these wee drams, I’m going to rank each one based on taste and depth. It’s that easy, folks, so let’s just dive right in!
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Part 1 — The Single Malt Scotch Whisky Blind Tasting
Taste 1
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose opens with almost burnt toffee next to bright red berries, mild chili pepper spice, hints of oak, and a bit of cedar.
Palate: The palate leans into the berries by becoming jammy with more of that toffee and a mild sense of spicy tobacco arriving late.
Finish: The end is long-ish with a plummy chew next to that tobacco and malty spice.
Initial Thoughts:
Well, this is tasty. It’s very straightforward from the jump but then just kind of keeps going. It’s nice stuff.
Taste 2
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This sip amps up the peat a tad while bringing in the brine next to a clear caramel maltiness, honey-stewed pears, and a touch of charred beach driftwood.
Palate: The smoke at play here is more akin seaside campfire while the brininess is reminiscent of oyster liquor with a dry chili spice lurking in the background that’s just kissed with salted plum preserves.
Finish: There’s a hint of the bright berry leftover from the Talisker 10 with a touch more peppery spice by the end that leans towards a salted toffee that’s laced with faint campfire smoke and charred oyster shells.
Initial Thoughts:
This is just excellent.
Taste 3
Tasting Notes:
Nose: You’re met with candied orange peel spiked with hints of eggnog spices and a touch of gooey pine resin on the nose.
Palate: The taste holds on tightly to that candied orange while adding in a velvety vanilla cream generously dusted with those eggnog spices and a softer touch of almost sweet wood.
Finish: The finish zeroes in on the orange and nutmeg as the vanilla and oak fade away on the slow end.
Initial Thoughts:
This feels like a bourbon-y single malt but doesn’t really go beyond that.
Taste 4
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose on this one is subtly maritime with a hint of sea spray on cold grey rocks mingling with soft nutmeg, lemon and vanilla-laced shortbread, oyster shells, and a hint of burnt ends from a slow-smoked pork butt.
Palate: The palate leans into smoked salmon skins with a thick line of belly fat still attached as woody spices and dried apple skins lead to a sweet fruit throughline.
Finish: The finish has a hint of fennel and rye next to more sea spray, pepperiness, and a minor note of red fruit.
Initial Thoughts:
This is also a very good whisky.
Taste 5
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.
Initial Thoughts:
This is classic single malt. It also feels just thin enough to build a cocktail with.
Taste 6
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Apple cider with a cut of cinnamon and clove in the juice greets you with a clear sense of vanilla, nuts, and plums on the nose.
Palate: The palate opens as those plums turn into prunes as orange peels mingle with sweet oak and a hint of tobacco spice.
Finish: The end is long, full of that sherry, dried fruit, and sweetness, and returns back to the chewy tobacco spice.
Initial Thoughts:
This is also a really good classic unpeated malt. There are no bells or whistles but it kind of doesn’t need it.
Taste 7
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This has a bourbon vanilla vibe on the nose with a bunch of cinnamon sticks soaked in apple cider and then cut with orange oils.
Palate: That cinnamon takes a sharp turn toward chili spice on the palate with a soft caramel maltiness and a hint of apple candy.
Finish: The end sort of meanders through apple cider and used cinnamon sticks with a vanilla and caramel malted cookie base.
Initial Thoughts:
This is decent whisky that feels like a cocktail malt.
Taste 8
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The light nose opens with a sense of banana bread, pineapple skins, and floral honey with a moment of wet brown sugar and pancake batter.
Palate: That pineapple gets sweet on the palate with a sense of winter spice and dark red berries dipped in vanilla-chocolate sauce.
Finish: The fruitiness builds at the end toward more pineapple, mango skins, and kiwi while the spice leans into some soft wood.
Initial Thoughts:
Again, this feels like it’s built for cocktails and highballs more than anything else. There’s nothing wrong with that.
Taste 9
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This opens with spicy berries next to tart apples with a hint of lemon/lime and old leather on the nose before diving into a rich marzipan dipped in dark chocolate and brandy.
Palate: The sip leans into a honey sweetness with vanilla bean cream, dark plums, and spiced malts with a Christmas nutcake vibe tied to soft candied citrus, berry, and nuts over dark spice cake.
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.
Initial Thoughts:
I want more of this immediately. It’s great.
Taste 10
Tasting Notes:
Nose: The nose draws you in with a sense of burnt orange layered into dark chocolate and then melted over a singed marshmallow with a hint of malted vanilla cookie tying it all together.
Palate: That dark chocolate drives the palate with a hint of waxiness and woody winter spice next to whole black peppercorns, fresh tangerine, and a whisper of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Finish: The dark chocolate, woody spice, bright orange, and sharp spearmint all collide on the finish with a sense of soft malted sweetness and faint old oak staves.
Initial Thoughts:
Goddamn, this is so good. It’s so deep and delicious without being overwrought. I really like this whisky.
Part 2 — The Single Malt Scotch Whisky Ranking
10. The Glenrothes Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky “Whisky Maker’s Cut” — Taste 3
ABV: 48.8%
Average Price: $85
The Whisky:
The bulbous bottle from The Glenrothes is all about the sherry. The expression spends an undisclosed amount of years in first-fill sherry casks. When those barrels are just right, the whisky is then batched and vatted before being proofed down only slightly.
Bottom Line:
This kind of felt like a malt that got a little lost in the bourbon barrel. It’s perfectly fine. But I’d recommend using this as an intro single malt for bourbon fans to get their footing and then moving on. After that, this is well-suited to mixing whisky-forward classic cocktails or highballs.
9. Kingsbarns Balcomie Lowland Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Taste 8
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $44
The Whisky:
This whisky is from a new(ish) Lowland distillery in Scotland. The whisky in the bottle is a single malt that was aged in ex-bourbon and ex-red wine barriques (a slightly bigger barrel by a few gallons). Those barrels were vatted and proofed with Lowland water before bottling.
Bottom Line:
This felt and is a cocktail whisky. Use it accordingly.
8. Arran Single Malt Scotch Whisky 10 Years Old — Taste 7
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $65
The Whisky:
This is Arran’s entry-point bottle. This is classic unpeated malt that’s left in ex-bourbon to age for a decade before vatting, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
Again, use this for mixing up nice and easy whisky cocktails and highballs. It’s perfect for that.
7. The Balvenie Single Malt Scotch Whisky DoubleWood Aged 12 Years — Taste 5
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $67
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.
Bottom Line:
This is where we rise up a notch. While I’d still highly recommend using this for cocktails, this can work over some rocks on a rainy weekday when you really don’t want to have to think about your whisky pour.
6. The Macallan Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 12 Years Old Double Cask — Taste 6
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $59
The Whisky:
Where many scotches spend time in ex-bourbon and then ex-sherry casks or some combination therein, this expression spends all 12 years of its maturation just in sherry casks. The barrels are imported from Jerez, Spain, and hand-selected for their excellence to mature this much-beloved whisky. Then the whisky goes into another sherry cask for one more maturation run before bottling.
Bottom Line:
This is good. You’ll easily see why people love The Macallan when sipping this. Still, I’d rather use this to make a killer cocktail. This feels like a true elevator for whisky-forward concoctions.
5. Mortlach Single Malt Scotch Whisky The Wee Witchie Aged for 12 Years — Taste 1
ABV: 43.4%
Average Price: $53
The Whisky:
This single malt hails from a tiny yet beloved Speyside distillery. The actual whisky is also made on their smallest still, nicknamed “Wee Witchie.” That juice then goes into ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks for 12 years. Finally, those whiskies are married, proofed, and bottled.
Bottom Line:
This just feels better built with a clearer profile/voice. I still would use this for dope whisky cocktails primarily. That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying this over a big ol’ rock though.
4. Torabhaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky Allt Gleann — Taste 4
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $59
The Whisky:
The Torabhaig Distillery is the new kid on the block on the Isle of Skye. This whisky is made from heavily peated malts and blended to highlight the seaside vibe of that northern island. The whisky was made back in 2018 from two bespoke barley varieties. It then went into first-fill and re-fill ex-bourbon casks before a touch of water for proofing and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This one has serious depth and nuance with a familiar peated smokiness that’s more akin to smoking meat on the beach. Sound good? Get some!
3. Talisker Storm Single Malt Scotch Whisky — Taste 2
ABV: 45.8%
Average Price: $72
The Whisky:
This no-age-statement whisky has an interesting aging process. The whisky is aged in a combination of used barrels and re-charred barrels. Basically, they take old barrels, strip the charring, rebuild those barrels, and then re-char them to Talisker’s standards. The process adds a new layer of depth by rejuvenating the staves. The whisky from those barrels is then blended into a darker, smokier, and deeper single malt.
Bottom Line:
There’s a subtly to this that’s extraordinary. The balance of soft peated beach vibes, spice, and dark fruit just works. Try this over a rock and then mix it into your favorite whisky cocktail.
2. The GlenDronach Orignal Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 12 Years — Taste 9
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $66
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.
Bottom Line:
I love this pour. That said, it’s a second today purely because this feels like a holiday pour more than any other whisky on the panel. I’m saving this one for holiday cocktails and sipping while cooking big meals.
1. Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 14 Years — Taste 10
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $54
The Whisky:
Glenmorangie’s 14-Year expression spends 10 years resting in used American oak casks. Those barrels are vatted and the whisky is re-barreled into Quinta Ruban port wine casks from Portugal for another four years of mellowing before batching, proofing, and bottling as-is.
Bottom Line:
This was all-around an excellent whisky. It felt evergreen. There’s no way to go wrong here. No season it doesn’t fit. No time of day or week it won’t slap. Drink however you like to drink your whisky.
Part 3 — Final Thoughts on the Single Malt Scotch Whiskies
There wasn’t a bad whisky in the bunch. That said, unless you’re looking for an everyday cocktail whisky for yourself, I’d skip the bottom three entries and go straight for the middle of the pack — numbers seven through five will make a great cocktail, highball, or on-the-rocks sipper.
Then there’s the top four. They’re all great in their own way. Each one offers something very different. You know what to do — read those tasting notes, find something that sounds like you’ll love it, and then hit that price link to bring it home. Enjoy!