The best part of Scotch whisky at the $60 to $70 price point is the width and breadth of the whiskies that you get to try. There’s a lot of great whisky at around $60 per bottle across a range of styles and regions. There are some masterpieces of both peated and unpeated, blended and single malt, and specially finished varieties that just sing on the senses.
Below, I’m naming 10 bottles of Scotch whisky that we fully and completely love. Each of these bottles offers something a little different but they are all delicious. Naturally, I ranked these bottles as some are deeper, more nuanced, and simply more unique than others.
The prices for these whiskies will vary too depending on your location — but they won’t vary that much. The price links to buy these bottles are set for delivery via retailers like Total Wine in Kentucky. Let’s dive in!
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10. ARDRAY Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 48%
Average Price: $64
The Whisky:
This new Beam Suntory whiskey was made from prime Scotch whisky barrels (both grain and malt). Beam Suntory’s Chief Blender of Scotch, Calum Fraser, worked with Suntory’s best Japanese blenders to make a truly unique and new Blended Scotch.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: Ripe tangerines mingle with fresh pear and sweet apples fresh from the orchard next to a hint of smoked pork fat stewed with cumin, oregano, and more orange vibes.
Palate: The soft orange takes on a floral note on the palate as vanilla buttercream creates a silken mouthfeel next to very thin lines of smoke from a backyard smoker that’s held plenty of meat over the years.
Finish: The smoke takes on a sweet orange depth as a dusting of white pepper leads back to the dry oregano with a fleeting whisper of smoked pork fat tying it all together at the end.
Bottom Line:
This is a great place to start at this price point. This is an excellent on-the-rocks sipper that also makes a mean citrus-forward cocktail.
9. Smokehead Islay Single Malt Scotch
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $64
The Whisky:
This whisky is an independently bottled expression of some serious barrels of peated malt from Islay. Beyond that, not much more is known.
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 the whisky you pour when you want to throw a whisky drinker into the deep end of peated malt. It’s bold and very much a love it or hate it pour. That said if you’re looking to add a note of smoke to a cocktail, pour this over a float to test the waters.
8. The Macallan Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 12 Years Old Double Cask
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $66
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 in maturing this much-beloved whisky. Then the whisky goes into another sherry cask for one more maturation run before bottling.
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 to the chewy tobacco spice.
Bottom Line:
This is one of the most classic single malts there is. It’s amazingly easygoing with an endless sippability. It’s also a great place to start your Scotch cocktail journey.
7. The GlenDronach Orignal Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 12 Years
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.
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, berries, 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.
Bottom Line:
The GlenDronach is one of the best whiskies to pour for American whiskey drinkers looking to get into the Scottish tipple. There are a lot of connecting flavor notes that’ll feel familiar but rendered through a malty lens. Start by making whiskey-forward cocktails with this one and go from there.
6. 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 great single malt to get a handle on Speyside’s unpeated malt. It has everything you want from the style while offering serious depth and easy sipping (or cocktail mixing).
5. The Dalmore Aged 12 Years Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $63
The Whisky:
This Highland whisky is a gateway whisky that feels like a classic. The whisky was 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:
This is another great option for Scotch-curious American whiskey drinkers. There’s a lot to love about this whisky if you’re a rye or bourbon fan already. It’s also a great replacement for bourbon in any whiskey-forward cocktail.
4. 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 the quintessential on-the-rocks Scotch pour. It’s deep, fun, and refreshing in a glass of ice as a slow sipper.
3. Aberfeldy Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 15 Finished in Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Wine Casks
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $66
The Whisky:
This year’s Aberfeldy 15-year Limited Edition takes classic unpeated Aberfeldy malt and marries it to California wine country. The whisky is filled into Napa Cabernet Sauvignon casks that were hand-picked. Once that whisky is just right, it’s vatted, proofed, and bottled.
Tasting Notes:
Nose: This is jammy whisky on the nose with a sense of blackberry pie, blueberry muffins, and fresh raspberries in cream with a light summer floral vine — kind of like sitting under a wisteria tree on summer’s day.
Palate: A lush and creamy cinnamon cake drives the palate toward dark chocolate-covered espresso beans and floral bunt cake with a dollop of berry compote.
Finish: The end leans into the cinnamon bark as dark chocolate and dark berry mingle and sweeten toward a soft and delicious finish.
Bottom Line:
This is where we get into the special stuff. This has a fantastic finish with oaky red wine that just works. That makes this a great food pairing whisky or a nice base for a bold cocktail with a lot of seasonal flavors.
2. Talisker Storm Single Malt Scotch Whisky
ABV: 45.8%
Average Price: $67
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.
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.
Bottom Line:
This is the best peated malt at this price point. It’s nuanced and deep while still being 100% approachable as a sipper or cocktail base. Pair this with some oysters, chowder, or smoked salmon and you’ll be all set.
1. Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aged 14 Years
ABV: 46%
Average Price: $60
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.
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.
Bottom Line:
This is the best whisky at this price point, full stop. It’s amazingly delicious and nuanced and delivers a deep and satisfying profile that just keeps giving. It’s wonderful in whiskey-forward classic cocktails or as a sipper (neat or on the rocks). This is also a fantastic pour to get bourbon fans hooked on Scotch once and for all.