Apéritif-drams that don't spoil appetite?

Kilchoman Machir Bay springs to mind

Something like a Glenmorangie 10 would be a good option. Nice and light and full of flavour.

Never had a dram that spoiled my appetite. My uncle likes to have a Scotch before dinner, and we've had every type of dram, sherry, peat, bourbon-matured, 43%, cask strength.

Not all at once of course.

Never seems to affect the appetite.

If I'm BBQing I like to have a peaty scotch because it tends to be less affected by the smoke from the cooking.

Perhaps a lovely, light, fruity green apple glenlivet 18

@Alexsweden

Or a salty rich mouth-coating saliva-inducing Springbank 12 YO CS?

These kinds usually get average ratings from me, just because the style isn't what I'd usually reach for. I think these fit your description:

Glencadam 10 (just be sure to add a little water)

Oban 14

Glenfarclas 10

a Springbank

Mackmyra Brukswhisky would be a very interesting option

And if you want to step up in price, perhaps Aberfeldy 21

AnCnoc 12 is a nice late afternooner. Also Dalwhinnie 15 and Arran Robert Burns are light and easy drinking. But as @Nozinan says, no good single malt of any style is likely to spoil your appetite.

Glendronach is the first that comes to mind - fond of Scapa as well as a lighter, sweeter bite.

@Nozinan, never tried it unfortunately. Hoping to do so in the future. Yesterday when I was looking around I found that the springbank 12 CS was temporarily unavailable at the store

@JayRain GlenDronach is one of my fav distilleries, but I find their stuff too rich to drink before dinner... the sweetness & fruitiness affects the taste of savory food to a large degree, I find.

Think I may need to look at the lowlands and some of the lightly peated malts to find the right apéritif Scotch.

As others have already mentioned - Oban 14 yr, Ancnoc 12 yr, and to add afew of my own - Old Pulteney 12 yr, and for something with a bit of spice - the Cragganmore 12 yr.

I wonder if the danger here is not so much spoiling your appetite as much as spoiling your palate. In which case, I'd think peaters are eliminated for most meals. I'd lean toward a nice clean Irish, like Knappogue Castle, or your basic Jameson or Bushmills.

Though I do love Nozinan's idea to stimulate some saliva with a Springbank 12 CS.

@Alexsweden, your temporary outage of Springbank 12 CS might be a blessing depending on which batch comes in as a replacement!

I infer aperitif to mean: savory or salty enough to trigger the saliva and whet the appetite, yet light enough (in flavor and mouthfeel) so your brain isn't fooled that you've actually ingested something substantial (like something cooked or especially sweets/dessert). So preferably not too sweet or smoky. All the better if the aperitif has an enticing aroma.

I think all criteria are best met by: OP17, Oban 14, Springbank 12 (or Hazelburn), Bunnahabhain 18, Glenfarclas 10, and Glendronach Octarine. (Like you, I also would reject all other Glendronachs as aperitifs, but their Octarine is an exception and might even be the perfect choice-- not too sweet but rather briny and vegetal, very interesting.)

If you're willing to give up the saltiness, then the other 3 I mentioned would fit (Glencadam, Aberfeldy, Mackmyra), as well as Arran Original, Arran 10, any Glenmorangie Private Edition but especially the Companta, and maybe some Lowlands malts as you mentioned.