Spec me a Rare Scottish Whiskey

Oxide™

Oxide™

Oxide™

Soldato
Joined
26 Dec 2007
Posts
2,702
Location
Broadstairs
I'm looking for some suggestions for rare scottish whiskeys for my brother in law. Basically we are staying with them on holiday in South Africa for a bit and he is providing us with a car to use while we are there and I'd like to repay him with a gift of rare/hard to find scottish whiskey but I know nothing about whiskey.

He is the leader of the South African military bagpipe brigade (has a CD and everything) and every year they play at the Scottish Tatoo festival which is an honour for them. It is from these trips he has acquired a taste for, I think single malts, made by local brewers rather than mass produced Johnny Walker, J&B etc.

I'm not looking to break the bank here, just something he would appreciate please, maybe a bottle less than £30 if possible?
 
Starting price for a fairly mainstream single malt would be about £30.

I'm not into whisky myself, but if you're looking for something a bit special, you might have to stretch your budget a bit.

I grew up not far from Speyside and I know that a lot of the whisky from that area is well recommended.
 
I'm Scottish, but I dont really know much about whisky. Never been my preferred drink.

But I'm fairly sure you wont get anything rare for £30 or less. You'll need to dig a little deeper if you want anything special.
 
None of these are 'rare', but might be worth considering.

Laphroaig
Macallan
Talisker

Do you know anything about the ones he already likes? This would give you an idea of the area to look at. As I believe particular regions tend to produce different tasting whisky.
 
30 quid doesn't get you rare, it gets you a very mainstream single malt. This is not a bad thing. It's perfectly likely that he will appreciate the thought and effort of getting a reliably reviewed 'standard' single malt than a random 'rare' one.
 
Thanks for the suggestions :)

I can't remember what he likes I'm afraid, he has a massive cabinet with them all in and it was years ago I was last there

Could go up to £50 max if that helps - sorry can't give more info, doesn't have to be rare perhaps just good and hard to find?
 
Oxide™ said:
Thanks for the suggestions :)

I can't remember what he likes I'm afraid, he has a massive cabinet with them all in and it was years ago I was last there

Could go up to £50 max if that helps - sorry can't give more info, doesn't have to be rare perhaps just good and hard to find?
Click to expand...
I seriously stand by my suggestion above, or a Balvenie Doublewood (on offer in ASDA £24). The Balvenie Port Wood is also fantastic, or my favourite - The Glenlivet Nadurra 16 Year Old - but both much closer to £50 (web or liquor store).

I <3 my Speyside's.
 
Last edited:
Oxide™ said:
I'm not looking to break the bank here, just something he would appreciate please, maybe a bottle less than £30 if possible?
Click to expand...

Does it need to be a full bottle? You'll struggle to get anything particularly interesting at that price if so. My recommendations:

GlenDronach 12 - I've just discovered this, and I think I will be buying many more bottles! It's got a distinctive honey/treacle flavour while being wonderfully smooth. Just over £30.

Tobermory 10 - From the only distillery on Mull (you may find it bottled as Ledaig, but it comes from the same place), it's a wonderfully complex, distinctive and rich whisky although not exactly rare. £25.

Or if you want to go for a half bottle you could get something more distinctive such as this 16 year old Tomintoul for £23.
 
Theres a pretty good website called The Whisky Exchange. Would post a link, but not sure if thats allowed? You can always google it.

Should find something he'd like on there :D
 
Last edited:
A Glenfarclas 21 you could pick up for around £50. I prefer Islay whisky but I do like this one and it's slightly less common as far as seeing it in bars and shop goes.
 
My 50 bucks would go on a 12 or 15 year old Genmorangie and a decent whisky glass (I'm sure he has one but it's a gift, you know?)

Speyside is also riding high on my list. So high, in fact, that I'm going to have one this very moment. BRB.
 
Remember that if you buy a bottle you'll have to put it in your suitcase so pack it well so it doesn't break.

However there is usually quite a big selection of whiskys in airports these days should you want to pick something up there. Both Heathrow and Gatwick have a "World of Whiskys" shop which does have some rarer stuff in.

However as mentioned £30 is borderline for a single malt in the supermarket so you're not going to find anything very fancy for that budget.

Talisker, Ardbeg, Lagavulin are decent Scottish single malts that aren't too run of the mill. I'm a big fan of the Islay whiskys though.

Have a browse of some websites and see what takes your fancy:
http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom