McClelland's Speyside Single Malt

This one is marketed as a cheap introduction to the four main malt regions. I disagree that this should be used as an introduction, because the novice may not go any further after starting out with any McClelland or MacGavin (the one that I am now comparing this one to). These are both decent drinks, but also nothing to write home about. I chose the much more expensive route to find out where my tastes lie, and then tried these budget malts. Since I prefer heavily sherried Speysiders, I chose to compare two budget Speysiders side by side.

The MacGavin's is not even listed here, and probably because their Speysider tastes like a smoky blend and does not stick to the true definition of the region. This McClelland's Speyside does indeed stick to the region that it claims on the bottle. How good of a Speysider is it? It's flavor is a bit more pronounced than a Glenlivet 12 and I would choose this one first. However, it poses no contest to the heavily sherried Speysiders that I prefer. So, I would put this one in a class of being better than a blend, but holding no contest with the likes of an equally affordable Aberlour 12. This is one to keep on hand when one's senses become dulled after drinking 2-3 drams of the better ones in a collection, and the good stuff needs to be saved by switching to this one. Also, for any chronic mooches, this is a good one to keep on hand. However, this one is still good enough to tell the mooch that mixing it with cola is a mortal sin.