Top 10 reasonable whiskies to try b4 you die

I think there's a very big difference between recommending 10 whiskies to try before someone dies (and the list for a newbie would be different from a veteran) and a bucket list of 10 whiskies I would like to try before I die, given that some of the ones I think SHOULD be tried, like A'Bunadh and Octomore, I have already tried.

My bucket list includes (in no particular order):

1. Macallan 25 - I couldn't really appreciate it last time I had some

2. Black Bowmore 30 YO

3. Mortlach Diageo rare malts series

4. Anything from Brora

5. Bladnoch 10 YO Cask strength bottling (Raymond Armstrong provenance)

6. Aberlour A'Bunadh batch 42 (answer to life the universe and everything)

7. Ardbeg Corryvreckin (If I've tried it I don't remember it)

These are all expressions that I can pretty much predict I will be able to try. Either someone I know has them or I have a sample or bottle (like the A'Bunadh) but haven't tried it yet.

For 8-10 I think they are expressions that I have not yet heard of, or can't think of right now. I think it would be foolish of me to expect that all the whiskies I would ever want to try before I die have already been released.

Those of us who make a point of tasting virtually every reasonable whisk(e)y which comes our way are likely to have an untried list which consists almost entirely of rare and expensive whiskies. Most of the ones I haven't had which I would most like to try are likely to be nearly impossible to find and extremely expensive if they could be found.

What would I most like to try that I haven't had?

1) Booker's Rye ( I know a guy who once promised me a sample)

2) Old Fitzgerald 11 yo Bottled in Bond wheated bourbon, recently released

3) Zuidam 100 Rye,....should be feasible in the future

4) any UNSULPHURED 20+ yo Karuizawa; I've sampled two of them, both were sulphured; now ridiculously difficult and expensive to get a taste

5) Old Buck 70.6% ABV Panimoravintola Beer Hunter's Distillery Whisky, from Finland; I'll taste this one only with the help of a Finnish friend, I expect

6-10 would be from new treasures I haven't yet tried from Amrut, some of the Aussie distilleries, some of the German and Austrian distilleries, maybe Taketsuru 21 yo Pure Malt

Wiser's Dissertation, Wiser's 35 yo, Canadian Club 40 yo, and Lot 40 Cask Strength (my second taste) would probably all have been on the list if @Nozinan and @paddockjudge had not recently brought some down to me from Canada. My deep thanks to them for making those whiskies available to me.

There are plenty of whiskies on my “must try” list...Off the top of my head:

• WhistlePig Boss Hog
• WhistlePig 10 Year Old Straight Rye
• Laphroaig Lore
• George T Stagg
• William Larue Weller
• Thomas H Handy Rye
• Highland Park 25
• Old Pulteney 21
• Glenfarclas 25
• Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist

Good question. I would have to think about it for a while probably but off the top of my head I would say:

1. Amrut IS
2. Ardbeg Airigh Nam Beist
3. Macallan Cask strength
4. George T Stagg
5. Glenfarclas 25+
6. A good Glenfarclas Family Cask
7. The Arran Single Cask in my cabinet that I haven't opened yet haha
8. PVW 23
9. Kavalan Solist Vihno Barrique
10. Arran 18 (core range), I've sourced one just haven't bought it yet.

Good point(s) @Nozinan.

I'd take the word reasonable here to mean 'fairly accessible'. Also, he wont be selling many books if he only recommends 40+ year old rare malts . . . (incidentally, I met Ian Buxton at a festival last year and he seemed a very decent chap. He was heading the Glengoyne stall for some reason?! Shared a dram of the 21 with him and chatted about Ralfy whilst he encouraged me, ever so gently, to buy his book! I didn't and it got a bit awkward so I moved on )

Anyways, off the top of my head ten whisk(e)ys that fit the description above would be:

Ardbeg 10 and Oogy, Talisker 18, Glenfarclas 15, Springbank 12 CS, Quinta Ruben, A'bunadh, Nikka From the Barrel, Wild Turkey 101, JD Single Barrel Rye.

Obvious, perhaps, and a little underwhelming maybe; but certainly a list I'd be happy to recommend a fairly new enthusiast to. A 40 odd year veteran with a big pile of cash and it's a different story . . .

@RianC all of our experiences and preferences will vary. And since disposable income and liver capacity are not unlimited, very few of us will get to try everything we want. Also, desires can vary with time. Heck, there are whiskies I didn’t put on my first “list” just yesterday that I’d love to try, such as

• J.P. Wiser’s 35 Year Old
• Canadian Club 40 Year Old
• Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year Old
• Alberta Premium 25 Year Old
• Alberta Premium 30 Year Old
• Amrut Portonova
• Redbreast 21 Year Old
• any Bruichladdich Octomore
• any Bruichladdich Black Arts
• Jefferson’s Ocean Aged At Sea (any batch)

@OdysseusUnbound You need to come to a tasting in Toronto. I think there are a few of us who could knock 7-8 of those 20 off your list.

@OdysseusUnbound - Very true!

If I were to have a top ten desirable whiskys then I'd be searching out:

Highland Park 25 +, Glenfarclas 40+, any Islay from the 60s/70s but preferably Laphroaig, Lagavulin or Ardbeg, any Kariuzawa, Yamazaki 18, Macallan 18, Caol Ila 25+, Ardbeg 20+, 60s JW Black label and some of this 'ere famed Port Ellen.

Now, where's that lottery ticket