Best Everyday Scotch for Your Home Bar
5 everyday Scotch whiskies for your home bar
Building a budget-friendly Scotch whisky home bar is achievable and can be a fun project for anyone interested in whisky. Start by selecting a few essential bottles that showcase Scotland’s diverse styles and regions while maintaining cost efficiency. About styles, whiskies from the Lowlands are known for having soft profiles. The Highlands produce diverse characters with salted malt or notes or baked goods flavors. Speyside is known for its fruit flavors, and Islay is known for its bold, smokey, and briny flavors. I use the term ‘smoke meter’ to indicate how smoky these whiskies might be.
Whether you enjoy your Scotch neat, on the rocks, or in cocktails, you can find choices for every occasion. A reliable blended Scotch should be your foundation, complemented by an affordable single malt from the Highlands or Speyside. Price is not always an indication of quality, and this lineup showcases that very statement. Let’s explore bottles that are easy to find, under $40 that could be perfect for your home bar for everyday drams.
Johnnie Walker Black Label Blended Scotch Whisky
MSRP $29.99 | 80 Proof
Johnnie Walker Black Label Blended Scotch Whisky
Johnnie Walker is one of the most recognizable Scotch whisky brands, and for good reason. It’s the number one-selling Scotch whisky in the world. The brand is named after a real person, Mr. John Walker, who founded the brand in 1820. An everyday Scotch whisky round can’t exist without the addition of Johnnie Walker. Often, Johnnie Walker Black Label is the expression that I suggest to folks who are just beginning their Scotch whisky journey. Several bottles in their core range are priced well and offer the quality and flavors of a classic Scotch whisky. Is Johnnie Walker Black or Red super exciting in regards to its flavor? Not really. But it’s approachable, easy to find everywhere, and equally easy on your wallet. There is a lot to be said for these qualities.
If this bottle doesn’t float your boat neat or on the rocks, this is a great cocktail whisky. Its profile goes with just about every whisky cocktail imaginable. Johnnie Walker black is a peated whisky, but it’s very light on the peat smoke; this is a great expression to ease yourself into smoky profiles.
Tasting notes: Expect flavors of sweet vanilla with a creamy texture. Medium in profile with toffee, lemon cake, sweet tree fruits, and earthy light smoke. The smoke meter says 2.
Monkey Shoulder Malt Whisky
MSRP $32.99 | 86 Proof
Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Inspired by the malters of yesteryear who suffered repeated shoulder injuries due to the hand mixing and solving while working with the barley. The injury was called a monkey shoulder. This whisky is a blend of three Speyside single malt whiskies, Balvenie, Glenfiddich, and Kininvie. The Balvenie is one of the few distilleries still using traditional floor maltings. Luckily, today, the Maltmen have modern equipment to prevent them from, well, you know.
This brand is the third best-selling Scotch whisky in the world, and when it was introduced to the US market in 2014, the brand faced a supply shortage. Monkey Shoulder is a great everyday whisky that is flavorful to drink, neat, and great for cocktails.
Tasting notes: Expect vanilla, citrus, and honey flavors with mild baking spices and a medium-oaky finish. Full flavored and approachable. The smoke meter says 0.
Glen Moray Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
MSRP $32.99 | 80 Proof
Many Scotch whisky fans might agree that Glen Moray is a quintessential example of the classic Speyside style of whisky. Yet this brand is often overlooked despite consistently winning awards for its range of whiskies.
Glen Moray has been producing whisky for 120 years in the heart of Speyside. Glen Moray offers several collections of whiskies; the Explorer range contains six expressions featuring their classic single malt, cask finishes, and a peated malt. Their heritage collection contains expressions ranging from 12 - 21-year-old whiskies and an experimental collection from their Warehouse 1. Because this brand is known for its cask exploration, its whiskies have interesting flavors at a price point that makes the journey easy.
Tasting notes: Expect rich fruits, cinnamon, and nutmeg flavors with roasted nuts and vanilla beans that are easy to detect. Although the flavors sound bold, they are soft and delicate. Great for neat sipping or adding a splash of soda water for a refreshing drink. The smoke meter says 0.
Compass Box Artist Blend Malt Whisky
MSRP $34.99 | 86 proof
Compass Box Artist Blend Malt Whisky
Compass Box is the youngest brand on this list by far. Founded in 2000 as a blending house, they don’t distill their own whisky; they purchase aged whisky and create unique blends and their own aged blends. Known for its limited edition blends containing blends of whiskies from different distilleries and regions, the brand does a fantastic job showcasing the art of blending with their unique and creative expressions. Compass Box also has a Core Collection, where the Artist Blend lives.
This blend is a tribute to the city of Edinburgh and has a higher proportion of single malt whiskies inspired by a 100-year-old recipe. Six different whiskies comprise this blend, each bringing its own style and flavor, like whisky from the Clynelish Distillery in the Highlands and the Linkwood Distillery in Speyside combined with Lowland grain whiskies.
Tasting notes: Expect fresh apples, salted caramel, baked biscuits, and vanilla with a creamy texture and plenty of cinnamon and baking spices in a long finish. This expression offers a complex, highly approachable bouquet of fruit-forward flavors. The Artist Blend is a masterpiece that showcases exquisite flavors in a well-priced whisky. The smoke meter says 0.
Loch Lomond Original Single Malt Whisky
MSRP $35.99 | 80 Proof
Loch Lomond traces its roots back to 1772 with the Littlemill Distillery, the oldest licensed distillery in Scotland. Located near Tarbet, Scotland, Northwest of the iconic highland lake of Loch Lomond. The distillery is known for its combination of spirits from its Straight Neck stills and its Swan Neck stills. After distillation, the whisky is matured in three types of American Oak casks.
This whisky is a perfect example of the Highland style of peated whisky. Peat from the Scottish Highlands delivers a different flavor profile in whisky than peat from the Scottish islands. Highland peat contains botanicals like heather, so the resulting smoke tastes lighter and more earthy and floral than its island counterparts full of brine and iodine-like flavors.
Tasting notes: Expect flavors like soft fruit, honey, stewed peaches, and pears with candied orange and creamy vanilla. The sweet smoke is subtle and soft with a medium finish. The smoke meter says 2.
Sláinte!