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I got into whisky a few years ago but have only ever drunk single malts. My taste is towards the middle range to lighter speyside ones. I'm not keen on heavily peated ones.
Now I don't mind spending £30 to £50 on a nice bottles as a treat for myself (and close friends!), but for more regular drinking and giving to 'not fussed' guests I'm wondering which of the blended brands are decent to drink and closest to say a Highland Park single malt?
Cheers!
[url= http://www.lfw.co.uk/acatalog/The-Loch-Fyne-OB-40-alc.-22190.html ]Loch Fyne Blend[/url]
However, by the time you add delivery you could get a single malt!
If you are ever up that way, the shop is well worth a visit, not the cheapest but excellent selection and advice, quite generous with samples as well.
Nowt wrong with a Grouse. Especially in the pub!
Get yourself to Aldi. You could do a LOT worse than [url= https://www.aldi.co.uk/en/product-range/drinks/spirits/spirits-product-detail/ps/p/glen-orrin-malt-whisky/ ]Glen Orrin[/url]
Muffin man - whatever is on offer in the whiskey shop at Masson Mill
but for more regular drinking and giving to 'not fussed' guests I'm wondering which..
This was us a few yrs back, we started just drinking malts but it got very expensive.
In my opinion you can get used to anything given time. We now drink Teachers or Bells and keep the malts for a treat.
Monkey Shoulder is my favourite blend. I prefer it to some of the malts, but you're not saving a great deal over a cheaper one.
Whyte & Mackay will put hair on your chest and cheap as chips. Alternatively Highland Park can be had cheaply at the supermarkets (£25 in Tesco).
stilltortoise - Member
Get yourself to Aldi. You could do a LOT worse than Glen Orrin
This
Sounds like I have the same taste in whiskey as you and Glen Orinn is one of the few cheaper blends that I haven't had to drink with ginger.
Monkeys shoulder is a very nice blended whiskey. Was £22 in tesco last i looked.
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Black Bottle is surprisingly nice for a cheap whisky. The co-op often has it on offer for stupidly cheap prices; I think £16 was the best so far.
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailie_Nicol_Jarvie ]Bailie Nicol Jarvie[/url] is a blended by Glenmorangie and can be bought for well under £20 - certainly was last time I bought it a few years ago. Underrated from what the internet says, so must be true. Think I last found it at the Co-op.
Will give Glen Orrin a go next time I pass Aldi.
As ive said before nowt wrong with grouse.
If im in one of the pubs in town that isnt the grill ill have grouse for lack of a better option.
I /think/ BNJ is being phased out, hh..?
Bourbon? Jim Beam goes for £15 in ASDA.
I /think/ BNJ is being phased out, hh..?
Thanks, kcal; that gives me all the more reason to try out the Glen Orrin a go - purely for 'research'... 8)
It was just chat I overheard when with some mates a couple months back, maybe more - one of my school chums is now distillery manager at Glenmo... but I can't find reference to that 'fact' now online, so may be mistaken..
My day-to-day of choicebigdugsbaws
Whyte & Mackay
J&B was always my blend of choice until I became a snob. Should probably go back to having an every day blend in the house (if this damn acid reflux that's making drinking painful ever goes away).
Johnnie Walker Blue Label, all the way
[url= http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-552.aspx ]A mere snip at £135.00![/url]
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Bushmills is a decent blended
JW blue is for people to show off how much money they have, the green is better and cheaper
Most of the Jura range are blended single malts if that makes sense!
Bushmills is a decent blended
And is Irish and a whisk[u]e[/u]y... 8)
...blended single malts...
Like this, which my brother in law has just opened. Happy days!
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If you are looking for a blend you could do a lot worse than Isle of Skye which is currently supporting Scottish Mountain Rescue with a donation for each of their bottles sold. Raised over £6k so far. You can find it is Tesco. I got one last week and it sits lonely on the shelf next to all the single malts but there should be no snobbery about it. If you lean towards the 'less challenging' whisky then a good blend is lovely. I'm enjoying it.
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I'm sorry but I have yet had (single blend or malt) a whiskey I have enjoyed.
Try whisky then 🙂
I'm sorry but I have yet had (single blend or malt) a whiskey I have enjoyed.
All the more left for the rest of us then!
Black bottle or W & M here.
Go for a bottle of Naked Grouse, very nice
Aldi Highland Earl is good, and the black. Bells is ok and I quite like grouse.
Not teacher's teacher's is mingin.
Another vote for Monkey Shoulder, and the Highland Black from Aldi is OK for £13 - but you can't beat a decent single malt though!
Just picked up a bottle of that glen orinn from aldi and for £13 it's quite good for the price. Nice find.
Black Grouse or if you're in Shropshire, Tanners Peaty Craig
Another vote here for Monkey Shoulder, I found Jura Origin very easy drinking, probably a little too easy drinking if you know what I mean 😀
I usually buy Sainsbury's or Morrison's own label single malts, but neither had any on the shelves just before Christmas, which was really disappointing, as they're very good, and a lot cheaper.
Singleton of Dufftown is pretty nice and not too expensive to boot!
Just enjoying some lovely old pulteney, no help I know, but lovely non the less
Black Bottle +1
It's what all the locals were drinking on Islay.
The only thing I would add to a good single malt is a touch of water. It really does allow the taste of the Whisky to come out. If I was after a whisky to mix it would be any on offer blended. Nothing wrong with a good blended by the way. BNJ was / is excellent and so is monkies shoulder. I once had a bottle of blended single malts called the living cask from Loch Fyne Whiskies. Best I've ever had by a long way but bloody expensive.
http://www.lfw.co.uk/acatalog/Living-Cask.html
Chivas Regal is very nice,and unfortunately its dearer than some malts so if I am drinking a blend it'll be BB.
Highland Earl from Aldi.
I got a bottle for Christmas, and I must admit the whisky snob in me stuck it to back of my shelf expecting to use it as a mixer.
In the interest of fairness I tried it straight last night and it's lovely, infact more enjoyable than some of my single malts.
Oh and it's £9.99 a bottle!
Do people really buy drinks costing this much?
http://www.shop4whisky.com/product_info.php?products_id=1055
My local grocers (G&M) have bottles behind the counter for £3,500 🙂
It's worth pointing out that "blended" can be a bit misleading since it can cover quite different products.
Most blended whiskey or whisky is cheaper as they use grain rather than malt and as such are fundamentally slightly different. Many / most won't notice the difference, mind. Some blended whiskeys are blended single malts (eg Bushmills) and as such are usually regarded as better though clearly that's very subjective.
Can O' Worms.
Not a blend (though it would be a decent name for one), but this thread.
My understanding is as follows (it'll be wrong or arguable, but it won't be far off).
Most whisky is blended.
Single Malt is a blend of whiskies from a single distillery. If it has an age, they will be of the same age. Normally there is water added during the blending - if it's cask strength there wasn't.
Single cask is unblended but may have added water.
Single grain whiskies also exist, though I forget any examples.
Blends may be malt or grain and generally refer to blending more than one distillery. The good blends are as good as the good singles, and the best are excellent. They also cost as much.
All distilleries are the oldest, newest, smallest, highest, lowest, most remote etc.
Of course like all Scots mythology, most whisky lore is subject to change without notice.
That sounds about right I think apart from the blended single malt - if it has an age then the youngest whisky will be that age (there may well be older ones in there).