Hi my daughter would like to buy me a single malt for christmas can anyone recommend some nice ones for under £40 as would like to give her a choice to choose from .
Thanks Ady

The Dalmore 12yr or 15yr

Caol ila is great imho. 96 distillers edition is what i’m on now. Really good.

Most supermarkets will have the Lagavulin 16y at £40.99.

Can open, worms everywhere!

Too many to choose from. What types do you like?

Try here.

If you dont know what you like then you need to find out. Speyside are probably the easiest on the pallette. Islay probably have the taste which requires acquiring. All good though. Especially with a good bunch of guys to share with.

Enjoy

Russell

Get her to buy you a sampler selection from a good whisky shop.

If you don’t know what you like: two £20 bottles; one Speyside and one Islay.

I noticed today that Asda have lighter ones on the top shelf and smoky,peaty ones on the bottom shelf, which I thought was a good idea.

Ard Beg (Supernova)- very different but my choice when someone else is paying

Ardbeg, as above, for me – it’s completely personal taste with malts really – Ardbeg 10yo just stands out to me for some reason. It has a note of TCP to it, which doesn’t sound too appealing, but becomes really nice once you’re used to it.

I’d recommend Glenmorangie, too. It’s more of a drink for the missus than a man’s whisky, but as they brought the Ardbeg distillery back from the brink then respect has to be shown.

Ardbeg and Dalwhinnie.

Complete opposites, but both delicious.

The sampler set is your best bet if you don’t yet know what your taste is. For myself, I like a little bit of peatiness – just a very little and that makes Bunnahabhain and Bruichlaiddich a perfect choice for me. I’ve currently got a bottle Bruichlaiddich Rocks which I picked up from Morrisons – it claims to be unpeated but it still has that subtle smoky tar edge to it but is also very smooth.

Sampler set is the way to go – other than a tour of Islay. Actually you can consume a lot of free whisky on multiple distillery visits – I think I’ve just had an idea for a biking/distillery version of the pub crawl. It can be done.

Aberlour A’Bunadh

Cask strength. Sherry cask finish.

Nose: Full flavours, slightly smoky with red apples and a fine sherry character

Taste: Intense fruity flavours. Buttery and creamy with a syrupy fruit sweetness. Soft on the palate with a rich chocolate orange-like note

Finish: Long mouth warming feeling and mellowness. Slightly peaty with a honey and spice aftertaste

Oddbins have some in at the moment.

Rusty Shackleford – Member
Most supermarkets will have the Lagavulin 16y at £40.99.

+1

If you’re wanting reviews of whiskies.

I’m an Ardbeg fan as well, as it happens.

Aberlour A’Bunadh – meh…..it was OK, but not to my taste.

This is why a taster is a fine idea.

You’d better know what you’re messing with if you’re getting into the A’Bunadh. It’s serious stuff (and good too) but it’s not a malt to start the night.

Personally speaking, £40 well spent on single malt will get you…

Bruichladdich 15 – for a seriously classy bottle of well made whisky.
Talisker Distillers Edition – Just over £40, don’t be afraid, not the Talisker you might expect. Fantastic, classic, drinkable, perfect?
Springbank 10 (with £10+ change) – Awesome whisky, just lovely, from the only distillery still malting its own barley. Please don’t make it popular, you might just spoil it.
Bunnahabhain 12, everyone likes it, they just don’t know it yet. Friendly, not around for long once it’s open.
Longrow 10 for an interesting change. Superb quality with a little peat.

Ardbeg, arguably still not back to its best after a few changes of ownership, but still trading on its reputation.

If you’re only starting to drink malts, I’d recommend the ten year old version of any of these:

Macallan 10YO
Glengoyne 10 YO
Jura 10YO
Edradour 10YO.

All very palatable without being too bruising.

In a similar vein the Bruichladdich is a good shout if you want to try an Islay malt with a bit of peat to it.

Tamdhu, Islay, Talisker or a nice bottle of Penderyn sherrywood.

This week I have mostly been drinking the Macallan select oak and it’s really very smooth. if you’re new to malt whisky you can’t go wrong with some of the old 10 year old standards – Glenmorangie, The Macallan, Highland Park or even Jura ( one of my favorites). You should try some of the more hard core ones out there just to check your palate, my father-in-law almost had to strap me to a chair to get me to try Laphroig but now I love it

BELVANIE ‘DOUBLE WOOD’
ON OFFER IN ASDA OCASSIONALY FOR 20 NOTES (RRP 27)

SWEET, MELLOW BUT DANGEROUSLY MOORISH 🙄

I don’t know anything about whisky but recently I’ve been drinking Laphroigh 10 yr old. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. So I’ll have a bottle of that thanks.

Recently enjoyed a Glenfiddich 18. A very special wee dram. I also enjoy some obscure finishes from my local pusher, burgundy or port finish work very well… I’ve yet to have a bad one. Ask an expert or check out the Loch Fine Whisky website, hours of happy hunting.

A friend of mine recently bought me Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible. Not only does it give you endless ideas for what to try next, it is a fantastic read. Some of his reviews are just bonkers. He does Irish, Japanese, bourbon (check out the Knob Creek entry) etc as well. Well worth a look.

On the whisky itself, I’d go with the sampler idea. Then you can work your way through some different options to see what you like.

What’s a good ‘beginners’ whisky? (that doesn’t cost a fortune!)

The only time I’ve ever really tried whisky its been the of the really peaty variety at a friend and I’ll be honest it didn’t taste that great – probably due to my untrained palate. So what is a good brand to ween yourself into whisky drinking?

driller has it about right.

I would also recommend
Edradour Caledonian (rather than the standard 10yo)
Aberfeldy 10yo (lighter than a lot of malts)
The Glenlivet

Edit – muffin man any of the above plus perhaps Highland Park. Keep away from anything Islay if you don’t want peat and smoke

Hamo, there is a world of whisky out there, i can concur with so many of the names put forward. If you like the big, peaty Islay whiskies then i’m going for Lagavulin 16yo. For a mellower dram (and when you’re used to Islay whiskies then pretty much anything from the mainland is a mellower dram) then i’ll throw Benromach, Cardhu and The Glenrothes into the ring as well. The Balvenie 10yo is an abvsolute cracker if you can get hold of it, the 12yo Doublewood seems to be the standard now but to be honest, a whisky that ‘light’ doesn’t last five minutes with me, which is why i stick to the Islay whiskies… 😀

A “beginners whisky” Muffin Man? Any of the mellower ones i mentioned above or perhaps the Dalwhinnie 15yo. Stick to Speyside or Highland whiskies and you won’t go far wrong.

For anyone with half an interest in decent whisky then Wooobob is right, Jim Murray’s Whisky Bible is a must have.

A bit of a curve ball if you can find it, Yamazaki 10yo. Sweet, very quaffable, although i’m not so sure you should really quaff whisky but hey ho.

Oh yeah, and get some talisker for your hipflask…

I’d recommend Glenmorangie, too. It’s more of a drink for the missus than a man’s whisky,

Quote of the day!

Ardbeg’s pretty light on it’s feet as well, isn’t it though?

To the OP: Maybe tell her to get to a whisky shop/decent offy and ask for advice, so you get more of a surprise?

A couple of you have mentioned sample packs – can anyone point me to a good online sample set for a whiskey beginner?

Hi all thanks for the advice i think a good starter selection would be a good idea just to find the type i like

A Glen Ord is a bit more unusual

+1 for Dalmore. Simply delicious.

Dalwhinnie is very easy to drink. Far less “harsh” than some whiskies.

That as well as Highland Park and Laphroaig float my whisky boat.

I was recommended and tried a Rosebank as a beginners whisky. Didn’t really do it for me and still don’t drink it. This Xmas is my mission to like it! Bought my father in law a Murray McDavid Ltd Edition, very nice.

Singleton

If your not sure if you like whisky… I recommend Glenfiddich 15 year old Solera reserve… end of discussion 😉

Light Whisky – 15 YO Dalwhinnie – wee dash of water and an ice cube sipped in front of a roaring wood fire on Skye – Nice

Wee bit stronger Clynelish 14 YO.

Ice in Whisky… are you a septic?

Burn him!