My dad has requested a good malt whiskey for christmas, but not Glenfidich,as he has loads of this, so come on you whiskey drinkers what would you recommend

AncNoc, got a bottle of this for my birthday, its stunning.

May I be the first to give you the usual STW response:

Whisky = Scottish
Whiskey = Irish

Anyway, enough of that nonsense. I am not an expert, but I know I like Talisker, some Ardbegs, Isle of Jura and the occasional Laphroaig.

I really like Macallan. Depends if he likes em peaty and smoky or not. Macallan's really smooth and butterscotch-y.

If it doesnt have to be Scotch, then may I recommend Penderryn, which is a welsh whiskey, its not cheap mind but its a real nice one, for a discerning whisky lover

What about a bottle of the new English one that was on the news? – it'll have novelty value if retained.

Ardbeg Renaissance – Will leave you change from £50.00. Just Fantastic !

Or a nice Benromach for under £30.00 – I just live up the road from this distillery, plus they sponsor the '3 Tens' MTB Race Series – And everyone who enters gets a free minature bottle 😯

+1 for Ardbeg
or Cael Ila
lagavulin
of any of the Islay malts

Laphroig Quarter Cask
Ardberg
Lagavulin

I like Talisker. Slightly smokey and iodiney.

If he likes smoky – Ardbeg/Talisker

If you're not sure, Macallan

Something around £50/18yo should be excellent

+4 for Ardbeg 😉

Assuming he's got a lot of Glenfiddich because that's what he likes, I'd ignore suggestions like Ardbeg and Talisker. They're great but he might hate them. :O)

Macallan was a fair shout. Aberlour, Glenfarclas, Balvenie, Glenlivet are others that might do.

Bushmills

http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-1619.aspx

Bowmore is nice and you can't go wrong with Glenmorangie, least not in my opinion.

HA HA HA, Penderyn. I would rather drinks tramps pi55 than that shite, and I can say that as I'm a taff but live in Jockland.

Scapa 16 year old, job done.

If you dont want to spend loads then one of the best whisky's you can buy is a 15yr old Dalwhinnie (on sale for £25 in Morrisons).

For something nearer the £50 mark (and presuming your dad likes smokey whisky) I would go towards an Ardberg Renaissance as previously recommended or a Talisker 57 degrees North. Both are superb quality, great value and fairly unusual.

> Bowmore is nice and you can't go wrong with Glenmorangie, least not in my opinion.

I'd second that. Or +1, as they say.

2nd the Dalwhinnie here, very smooth

Glengoyne is nice, very light and different as the barley is dried by air, rather than Peat smoke.. it really is a nice drink. 10 or 17 Yo are good, Or go all out and take the just relased 40 YO thats £3,750 a bottle – you can buy it online though !

It's Christmas – go for Benrinnes 15 or Mortlach 16 for that big sherry Christmas cake hit.

My favourites are :-

Isle of Jura

The Dowmore.

-1 for Ardbeg, really don't like it, but then with the exception of Bowmore Darkest I'm not a fan of Islays.

Macallan is always a safe bet – loads of different ages to suit budgets too.
For special occaision presents, the whisky shop does some of it's own bottling which can be interesting.
I'm also a fan of stuff matured in different casks (sherry, burgundy etc). May not suit a purist but can impart something different.

What's Dalwhinnie (sp?) like?

I've got a bottle of it unopened that I bought for myself for Christmas. I'd be interested to read the STW experts' opinions of it before I drink it.

nice. very light and mellow though

https://www.lfw.co.uk/diageo/flavourmap.html

have a look at the flavour map and choose something different to his norm from the same area.

Any Ardbeg or if not sure about the peaty ones try Springbank, a really ace Campbelltown whisky or Longrow which is a slightly peated whisky distilled by Springbank.

Tesco have Highland Park 18yo for £54

That won world spirit of the year a few years back.

Or The Peat Monster if you like value for money. You will still taste it the next morning.

All my usual recommendations have already been mentioned, so consider this a "plus 1" for…

Ardbeg 10y-o
Dalwhinnie 15y-o
Highland Park 12y-o
Springbank 10y-o
Talisker 10y-o

the 'Peat Monster' – Smokey.

Dalwhinnie is too bit subtle for me, Dorset_Knob – one for the experienced imbibers IMO.
I've not been drinking whisky long, and right now I'm only interested in big phenolic, sledgehammer to the palate, type malts. I expect this will mellow with age. Ardbeg is the king here, although I'm drinking a Lagavulin 16yo at the mo – £29 from Costco and a class malt. Actually not that overpowering in terms of peatyness. My wife takes the occasional glass and she can't stand excessively smoky whisky.

Scapa

Mmmm Talisker

Bushmills 18yo. Fantastically smooth.

Old Poultney, any age
Scapa
Highland Park
Slightly biased as I'm from the area , and prefer a smoother taste to the Islay mafia.

Isle of Jura Prophecy

Its a minter

link to heaven

Plus one for springbank. It's unlikely that he won't like it and it's unusual.

Don't buy the welsh one! Expensive and pretty poor.

If you can find a Japanese whisky they're worth a go, normally speyside in style with a bit of sweetness.

I'd avoid the islays unless you know he likes them