Top 5 Under £45 (or equivalent) Malt Whisk(e)ys

Not tried the Ledaig 10. I take it it's a good one?

I think my top 5 would tally with yours a bit:

Ardbeg 10 (although I've noticed it's creeping towards £50 now) Springbank 10 Kilkerran 12 Clynelish 14 Benromach 10

I had a tough choice but decided to leave out Bunnahabhain 12.

@Wierdo - MoM Ardbeg is still at £40 ish but yeah, it wont be long . . .

Very similar choices. Ledaig 10 is really good imo but it seems a bit of a Marmite malt. 88-89 for me.

The last two choices I could possibly swap for others - the Clynelish 14 being one of them. I like the Bunna 12 as well but there are others, not that many though, that I'd pick out first.

I've heard they sell Benromach 10 in Scottish Sainsbury's and it's often on offer . . . I'd have either a custody battle or a heck of a lot of B10 if I lived up there

Waitrose are selling Clynelish 14 for £31 which I think is a very good deal as MOM have it at £43, so I brought 2 bottles.They've also got Ardbeg 10 on offer at £37.

The Clynelish they didn't have in store so I had to order it through Waitrose cellar (I've just checked and they're sold out )

@Wierdo - Thanks for the heads up! That is a great deal for the CL14 no wonder they've sold out!

Waitrose have some good whiskys and I picked up a Bunna 12 for £28 a couple of months ago . . . felt like I was stealing.

I can't afford to do my weekly shop in waitrose (more like Aldi!) but I pop in there every couple of months or so just to check what whiskies they are selling. They tend to do a bit of a better range than most supermarkets and like you say they have some good offers.

I've stayed keeping an eye on Waitrose cellar. They have over 100 whiskies in there and you can get them deliveried to the store for a fiver which when you're saving a tenner of the bottle is worth it.

@RianC @Wierdo My line up would be similar to yours too - I wouldn't have the Arran, and I still haven't tried the Ledaig but it's on my list. Definitely Benromach 10 and Kilkerran 12. I still have a soft spot for Talisker too. Still trying to decide what unpeated malt would be in my line up - maybe the Bunna 12 with it's big sherry and earthy notes.

when I lived in the UK I used to follow a "what's hot" discussion about deals available (OK only the Whisky one). It was a great place to get a heads up on special offers around the place. Always fun to watch the supermarket price battles at Christmas!

@Wierdo - Who can!? ;) We have a shop very close to our house and go for occasional weekend treats (and the fish counter is decent - and fresh!)

'tis merely a coincidence that I happen by the whisky isle each time . . .

@Hewie - I'll check that out later, thanks.

Whereabouts did you live? Are you from the UK or were you over for work?

@RianC We lived in West Berkshire but it was only for about 18 months. We thought it was going to be for longer but we had a bit of a surprise with a 3rd child. It was a beautiful place to live. NZ is stunning, but the UK has a different type of beauty (and a lot more old stuff). The site I used to keep an eye on was www.hotdeals.co.uk Seems to have a lot of Amazon ads now though. I just search for whisky and use the filters to search for last 7 days.

@Hewie - I had a glance earlier and there were lots of Amazon products but some good deals. Glenfarclas 25 for £90! Another site I'll have to keep checking now . . . lol

My partner's Dad is from Reading area and we had family friends down there as a kid but it's not a part of the country I know that well - a bit too close to that there London for my liking ;)

Very picturesque rolling English countryside from what I remember? I had plans to visit NZ many years ago but it didn't happen for one reason or another. Shame, it does look stunning and every Kiwi I've met has been very friendly!

@RianC we were in a village called Hermitage outside Newbury, not to far from Reading. I loved being able to walk out the door and wander through the woods. Shame rent was so expensive - on one income we were too broke to travel around too much. If we did it again we'd love up north. Very picturesque and much cheaper. Yes, it can get a bit compulsive following different sources for whisky deals. It takes me a while to save up my pocket money so I'm always on the lookout deciding what my next bottle will be.

@Hewie - Well I'm biased but the north is by far the best part of the country . . . and full of love

I know what you mean - I'm constantly looking for good deals but it does seem a bit of a compulsion at times! Quite pleased to have got an Ardbeg 10, Bowmore 12 and Naked Grouse for £80 this month though; so it pays off, sometimes.

@RianC, for sure: You gotta grab those deals when they present themselves!

I can think of two times this past year when I didn't really have a lot of extra coin in the whisky piggy bank, but I still jumped on some great deals when they popped up. No regrets.

@MadSingleMalt - Aye! I've bought more this year that have been 'deals' as opposed to bottles I've really sought out or desired.

I'd like to think I'll pass on similar deals next year in favour of buying less but more 'high end' bottlings. I shan't hold my breath . . .

I am seriously running out of room though now and I'm pretty sure my better half doesn't fully realise the extent of my collection - she gets silenced with fancy gins as sweeteners though

@RianC, yeah, what's good for the goose, and all that.

I hear you on the "quality over quantity" point, too. Measured strictly in volume, I've got way more in the stash than any person really needs, and there's basically zero reason to buy anything more that I'm not really excited about just because it's dirt-cheap. All my purchases for the foreseeable future (few!) will be on high-quality bottles that I'm really stoked about. ONLY!

Since that’s about $78 CAD, my picks (sticking strictly to Scottish single malts) would be Benromach 10, Aberlour 12 Double Cask, Aberlour 10, Glendronach 12, Glenfarclas 12, and Cragganmore 12.

@OdysseusUnbound Back in the good old days (when I picked mine up, Bowmore Tempest would have made it in too. And A'Bunadh in some parts of Canada.

@Nozinan It's been a very long time since A'Bunadh has been anywhere near 78 bucks. I could still get Benromach 10, Ledaig 10, Bruichladdich Laddie 10, Laphroaig QC, Glenfarclas 12, HP 12 and a few others for around that price. No Talisker, no Lagavulin, no Ardbeg, no (decent) Macallan.

@OdysseusUnbound - Interesting. I know prices and availability vary but I was interested in what was available at similar prices elsewhere (and what folk would pick)

Going off your choices there are still some pretty good vfm Scotches available then?

@Nozinan - Good to see Ledaig and Bruichladdie at those prices. Ledaig would be close to the limit here and Bruichladdie probably just on it if not above.

@RianC The only good vfm (a term that’s hard to use in Ontario) Scottish single malts are Benromach 10 ($59) and Aberlour 10 ($65). But that’s just one man’s opinion.

@OdysseusUnbound - The BR at that price is excellent vfm. Well, imo, also.

Surprises me that Aberlour 10 is more expensive - that's one that's often reduced to £20 or so over here.

@OdysseusUnbound Quick clarification, is the Benromach the Imperial Proof? Also, do you have access to the Aberlour 12yo non-chilled filtered? If so, is it the same price as the double cask? The reason why I ask, is I find the 12yo non-chilled filtered a bit more enjoyable than the double cask. haha. I would also give a huge thumbs-up with the Glendronach 12yo. That is definitely a bottle to have around the house, especially if the price is right (no reference to the game show, come on down!)

@BlueNote That's impressive to still have access to the Laddie Ten for about 78 bucks. Or maybe I am just thinking that it would be more since the first edition had been discontinued for a few years and the second edition is priced quite high (at least in the places I have seen it).

@ajjarrett I just checked and it appears to be no longer listed here. I'm glad I got two when it was around and I'm sure I paid under $80 Can for them. It's every bit as good as the first edition.

@ajjarrett No, the Ben 10 was not the Imperial Proof. I think that one went for $110 or so when it was around. I’ve never seen the Aberlour 12 NCF here in the People’s Soviet Republic of Ontariostan.

@BlueNote Unfortuantely, I haven't seen the second edition where I am. I passed up a bottle when I was in Tokyo because I was going after some Japanese whisky instead. Luckily, however, I do have a few bottles of the first edition, so I am alright for waiting until I see the next time I see the second edition.

@OdysseusUnbound I must admit, that is what I thought. I would have been surprised if the Imperial proof was that low. As for the NCF 12yo Aberlour, if you do see it, you might want to give it a go. Sadly, it sounds as if the 'state' is limited your options. No wonder why my friend, and former colleague, from Ontario, was almost a tea-totaller.