Evening,

Need to buy and friend a nice bottle of whisky. Needs to be £30 or less. Have heard some of the Lidl offerings are pretty good, but not sure what else is out there.

Also need to be able to buy it in person in a ‘normal’ place, i.e. a supermarket, not online or a whisky shop 🙂

Recommendations please

I bought a bottle each of the ones below.

The Famous Grouse

Whyte And Mackay (sweeter)

Both good with a little bit of water.

I drink them at room temperature btw.

I like both. 😀

**** me Chewy. Now I know you’re trolling.

Two bottles of Aldi’s Islay?

Any idea on preferences – a branded highland malt on special at the supermarket might fit the bill?

I bought a bottle each of the ones below.

The Famous Grouse

Whyte And Mackay (sweeter)

Both good with a little bit of water.

I drink them at room temperature btw.

I like both. [quote][/quote]

The OP said, ‘nice’. 🙂

But, as I’ve said many times before, taste is personal & one mans meat is another mans poison.

Iv’e never had a whisky/whiskey that I didn’t like.

sc-xc – Member
**** me Chewy. Now I know you’re trolling.

😯 ^^^

IMO they are fine.
Not spectacular but fine. 😛

edit: they taste roughly the same to me … 😛

edit edit: I shall compare them to my other more expensive ones later … tbh … perhaps it’s just me but I really cannot taste that much of a difference.

Forget about my recommendation … go get those around £30.

Talisker Skye or Storm if you can find it on offer

Last time I saw him buy whisky it was Balvenie, but not sure that was a particular preference.

I appreciate that a good tasting whisky is very much a personal thing, but thought i’d best try and get something that is well regarded rather than picking by what the bottle looks like 🙂

See, I’m with Chewy on this. I love whisky but in reality could tell the diff between say Dalwhinnie & Glenfiddich.
I’d know an Islay though cos they all taste like Listerine. Apparently.

slackman99 – Member

Last time I saw him buy whisky it was Balvenie, …

My Dalwhinnie is almost finish.

My Old Pulteney is also almost finishing …

😮

The Aldi sherry cask is excellent for the money (£20).

highland park 12yo is £26 in sainsburys at the moment, that’s cheap for a 12 yo. nice packaging too, looks like a gift.
linky

Yes, and HP is perfectly drinkable whatever your taste.

If you can bear to shop online Highland Park 12 is £25 at Amazon with free delivery

If he was buying Balvenie then another Speyside from a supermarket should be ok. Tesco had Glenlivet Founders reserve around the £30 recently

Shopping online is only out due to my lack of organisation…..need to get it tomorrow 🙂

i’m beginning to wonder why i waltzed past it,..i’ve got a camping holiday all next week and a big fat cigar….looks like a trip back tomorrow!

Laphroaig quarter cask at costco for £24 looks a great deal and 48% proof 😀

Tesco had Glenlivet Founders reserve around the £30 recently

I’ve got the 15 yr French Oak Glenlivet for near £30 at Tesco before… Or might have been Sainsburys… anyway the 15 is way nicer than the Founders Reserve. Not a fan of the FR.

Edit: I think it was over a year or so that I got the 15 at that price and pretty sure it was in the run up to Christmas thinking about it… sorry I’m no use!

Sub – £30 favourites include Ardmore (seriously underrated, imho), Tomintoul and Arran single malts. All usually available in most supermarkets and all perfectly lovely.

Tesco recently had a range of quality whiskies in the cheap shelf, all around £25 including Auchentoshan American Oak, Tomatin and Dalwhinnie Winter Gold.

Whyte And Mackay (sweeter)

rhyming slang…..
Budget stretch
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=250350283
https://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=256706597
Both completely different flavours being from opposite sides of the country but both decent.

Last time I saw him buy whisky it was Balvenie

The one with the red label in Aldi that’s most expensive (£22?) is very close to Balvenie Doublewood* (I suspect that’s what it is). Having said that, the real thing is often in my local Morrisons for under £30. Bunnahabhain 12yo occasionally drops within your budget too. It’s like the Balvennie but sweeter and thicker*, if whisky can be sweet or thick.

*To my delapidated tastebuds.

but sweeter and thicker*, if whisky can be sweet or thick.

Whiskey can be many things, last bunch we were trying hospitals and iodine came out in the nose 🙂

https://www.thebalvenie.com/our-whisky-range/
Bit about their main range, had the plaseure of the 30 last weekend, I think the budget might stretch to a large one of those…
[url=https://flic.kr/p/UTtMEp]19400534_10102224556877591_8459341631626557053_o[/url] by Mike Smith, on Flickr
Note the Owl is what the Whyte And Mackay was held in once upon a time 😉

Also see if you can find BRUICHLADDICH THE LADDIE Ten on offer
Also
http://www.springbankwhisky.com/whisky/longrow/
https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/17955/longrow-peated
Don’t let the label put you off, all parts of the process from malting to finished is done in the village, the labels are getting worse as the man who does them is in his 90’s and going blind.

Do you know what they like beyond Balvenie?

If not I’d +1 the Highland Park. Or maybe the Yamazaki if you can find it in budget and want to be interesting.

Again, if you can find it, Benromach Organic is around that price point and is the best “bang for your buck” whisky I’ve ever found.

Stop by Tesco and you should be able to get Highland Park (which has now been rebranded to Viking something-or-other) or Ardmore for twenty odd quid.

Spotted last week so might still be available for that decent price.

Either would be a safe bet for a gift.

Thanks all. Looks like something at £30 or less is perfectly possible. I’ll have this thread loaded while I have a wonder round the shops.

Morrisons have a few on offer for 25, highland park, a couple of Jura, all reasonable for that money on today’s prices

I doubt the Japanese options will be in budget. I would go for a Talisker, or if you find it reduced, a Talisker Storm.

These would be my recommendations:

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/26000/auchentoshan-american-oak

or

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/28959/glenfarclas-12-year-old-litre

About £30 if you shop around.

Dalwhinnie Winters Gold is £25 in Tesco locally so I suspect the same all over. A decent bottle that’s often at £40

Ardmore (seriously underrated, imho)

Agreed, and I bought a bottle for £20 in Tesco recently

Tin Cup American Whisky is a nice one and available in price range..Perhaps not a Raw Scotch but a lovely smooth drink it is.

Jura Superstition is £25 at Sainsburys

Aberlour 12 is £28 at Waitrose…

http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=298615&source=sho_&utm_source=google%2Bshopping&utm_medium=organic%2Bgs&utm_campaign=google%2Bshopping&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIocOaoczi1AIVhrDtCh1EwAjdEAQYAyABEgKsJfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CMvogbHM4tQCFRCr7QodNpEM0Q

This is my kind of thread.

Arberlour £23 on amazon prime..

I know it’s a bit late but I picked up a bottle of Penderyn in Sainsbury’s for £30. Not a mad deal but a biting money off and another option in the price bracket

Is it any good now? I tried it when it was released and my overriding impression was that it would be quite nice when it was finished. (As in, more mature, not given a finish.)