What is your favorite budget scotch?

$40 to $60?

Hmm...

When I think 'budget' - I'm thinking $45, and less - although many of these budget single malts, and JW blends are in fact going for $50 plus.

For me...I'll go with the under $45...And that ladies, and gentlemen would be the Ancnoc 12 yr with the Old Pulteney 12 yr in a close 2nd place.

Now to answer the question as SimeonSanchez had asked...I'm thinking it'll be a toss up between 2 sherried Speysiders...

Aberlour 12 yr Non-Chill Filtered vs Glendronach 12 yr Original...

I'm going with the Aberlour 12 yr Non-Chill Filtered (by a hair).

One favourite? I have many frames of mind wanting different beverages to correspond to them. Between $ 40 and $ 60, I'll take Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, Isle of Skye 12 yo Blended Scotch ($ 35 to $ 45, if you are lucky enough to find some), Ardbeg 10, Kilchoman Machir Bay, Aberlour 10 (not sold in the USA), Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (with my fingers crossed), Glenfarclas 12, Talisker 10, and Old Pulteney 12. (Ardbeg Uigeadail and Glenlivet Nadurra miss the $ 60 cut by about $ 2-4 here when on sale, if you included the tax.) If I had to pick one only the first one would be either Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength or Isle of Skye 12, depending on whether the mood was power or complex beauty.

Below $ 40 are the nice blended Scotches The Bailie Nicol Jarvie (sorry, not sold in the USA), Johnnie Walker Black and Double Black, Grant's Family Reserve, Teacher's HIghland Cream, Islay Mist 8 yo, Isle of Skye 8 yo, Clan MacGregor, Black and White, and Black Grouse.

Like most people, I’ve got more of a list than a single answer. Glencadam 10, Glen Elgin 12, GlenDronach Octarine, Bunnahabhain 12, Laddie Ten, Glenmo Original and Nector D’or, and most recent Balblair 10 yo vintages.

@Victor also mentioned some that I’ll gladly repeat. Glenfarclas 12, Ardbeg 10, and Pulteney 12 are all fine whiskies.

As a sidenote, I instinctively wanted to include HP12 on this list, but several recent experiences with my own bottle as well as others’ leads me to think the quality is dropping.

For me, Laphroig Quarter cask has got to be my favourite budget whisky. with Black Bush and Old Pulteney 12yo a close second.

For me right now it would be Port Charlotte The Peat Project. $60 Cdn (now down to limited numbers here). Second place is a toss up between Ancnoc 12 yr $55 Cdn and Auchentoshan 12 Year $55 Cdn.

Springbank 10 @ $51 - Just a great complex malt. Something natural and genuine in the way the distillery operates and distills this gem of a whisky.

Highland Park 12 @ $48 - This whisky unfortunately increased where I live. It was $44 prior to the increase but it's still a great deal at $48. This offers such a unique flavor which I love and would gladly pay more. Can't beat this price for this whisky.

I would say genfarclas or Ardmore as they are true cheapies around here

Most of these are more than $60 in Ontario, and flying to Calgary for a cheap scotch makes it less cheap.

Rather than go for budget, I go for quality. I tend to drink once, occasionally twice in a week, so I'd rather spend a little more on a bottle I know is going to last me a long time anyway, and get me the most flavour. So I tend to go cask strength and full flavour, and less often.

Teeling Irish Whiskey @ 46% ABV. Balanced. delicious, spotlessly clean, it is probably the pick of the budget Whiskeys i.e. Ardmore, Glenmo,, Big peat etc.

Cheers.

Advices from Victor are excellent. Talisker 10 for me, fantastic for the price. Smoke, fruits and iodine, delicious and complex. The single malt that made me fall in love with whisky.

Wow, you all are being very generous with advice. Needless to say, I'll be referring back to this thread when I'm ready to get another bottle, and may it prove useful to others. Lots of people are mentioning Ancnoc 12 and the younger Aberlour's, so one of those will probably be next (if available).

I am also noticing that price is a pretty wide variable, as some of the whiskies mentioned are definitely outside of this range in my state. Michigan's kangaroo Liquor Commission, which I have already fumed about extensively in other places on this website, sets minimum prices that are quite a bit higher than some of the prices mentioned here.

Thank you all.

@SimeonSanchez: so true about the higher Michigan prices, but compared to our Canadian neighbors, I am not complaining. I am not finding such great bargains in Ohio either, while Indiana tends to offer only a slight discount to Michigan prices on many whiskies. But there are the occasional deal to be found in Indiana.

@SimeonSanchez: my biggest issue with the State of Michigan Liquor Control Commission is not being allowed to purchase and have shipped to me spirits/liquor sold by out-of-state vendors. I look forward to the day this regulation ceases. Just might not be in my lifetime.

Here's my list:

Té Bheag Blended Whisky (40% abv) $38.95 (LCBO) Reviewed many times here on whisky connosr

Robert Burns Arran Single Malt (43% abv) $45.95 (LCBO) There are a couple of official Robert Burns malts bottles by the Arran Distillery. This is the one reviewed here: masterofmalt.com/whiskies/… (I picked it up in January, just after Robbie Burns Day. Alas, is is now sold out at the LCBO. Shoudl have bought two!)

Compass Box Great King Street Artist's Blend (43%abv) - $46.95 (LCBO) I find all of the offerings from Compass Box interesting The Great King Street is an affordable accessible blended scotch (almost 50% single malt). Now close to sold out at the LCBO - this time I did buy two!

My budget single malt scotch is Speyburn 10 year or Lismore. My budget blended is actually Old Smuggler. Old Smuggler is in my opinion one of the best blended scotches on the market.

For this price I prefer Bourbon or Canadian.

Wiser's Legacy, Corby's Lot No. 40, Jefferson's Reserve Very Small Batch, Elmer T. Lee, Maker's 46, Knob Creek Single Barrel or the reasonably priced Alberta Premium Limited releases; 25 yr-old 2007 release was $30 and $50 for the 30 yr-old 2011 release; of course you have to buy 'em when you can get 'em, but at these prices the purchase of a few bottles is not out of reach.

Glenfarclas 105 (and Macallan Cask Strength) is affordable considering the high abv and Laphroaig Quarter Cask - both just north of $60.

Here in Spokane you can get Black Bottle for $25.00. Fantastic value buy. Very decent sipper. For a little more JW Black is a good buy when you find it on sale in the $30-35 range.

But definitely look for that Black Bottle.

If we expand this to "not just scotch," then I vote with 30 hard-earned dollars for Knappogue Castle Irish Single Malt 12 YO. It's effectively a Bushmills IB with no coloring—though probably chillfiltered at 40%.

Clean, dry, and honest.

@tfahey1298...for those in Ontario, I would 2nd your entire post, plus add in Auchentoshan 12 @ $55. Maryland/Washington DC has just silly pricing for many whiskies...I didn't know whether to laugh or cry (I may have been doing both at some point) while I was down there this weekend. My bottles of Evan Williams BIB and Uigeadail acquired during that trip will console me.

Glenfarclas 9 Year (The Mactarnahan Modern Spirit) blended with Bowmore Legend. Very enjoyable for a very low price. I scored a bottle of each last year for around $20 a piece and then served the blend to guests at a party that didn't know any better than to add ice to their scotch. They all raved about the blend. It beat the pants off Johnnie Walker Red or Black

@SimeonSanchez I can only says what @FMichael and @Victor have said OP 12yr, AnCnoc 12yr, Kilchoman Machir Bay, Glenfarclas 12yr, and blends would be both Isle of Skye 8yr and 12yr, Clan MacGregor. Sorry @Victor on your drought of Isle of Skye 12yr I have 6 unopened in my cabinet, not bragging just thankful is was able to stock up. (:

@PMessinger, oh, I have in stock four bottles of Isle of Skye 12 yo. They should last quite awhile. And I saw more supply on a store shelf just last weekend. Life is good.

Isle of Skye 12 used to be more mixer scotch for heathen guests who insist upon ice. I would mix it with something even better in a blend. I'm fresh out these days. It was a go-to scotch for company when it was $19 a bottle. Those days are gone now. We have the new stuff for quite a bit more in oregon

Glenlivet 15 and JW Black

My favourite blends are Black Grouse and Balantines Finest but there are above the bracket I would consider budget scotch... Of the truly budget single malts available in the UK Aberlour 10 year old stands out on price with Ardmore traditional cask second. For a bit more money Laphroaig quarter cask and Talisker 10 year old are real quality.

Glenmorangie 10 original

A new recent discovery that I'm obsessed with: Glen Elgin 12. Beautiful roasted malt flavour. So cheap and so good. Sadly this gets no love...

I live in Ontario and as far as I'm concerned there isn't any such thing as a budget single malt

@PeterG7

How cynical! You can get a 375 cc bottle of Glenlivet 12 for less than $30!