The Ten Best Scotch Whiskies
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Independent Minds
Johnnie Walker Black Label
Perfectly rounded, deep and full, this is the blended Scotch most admired by blenders. If I had to take only one whisky to a desert island, it would probably be this one.
40 per cent ABV
Price: £20.45
In Pictures: The Ten Best Scotch Whiskies
Take a load off with one of these wonderful scotch whiskies.
Click on the image to the right to launch our guide.
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Comments
It is certainly pricey, but noticeably better than the Black.
Also, the Aberlour comes in 59.9% ABV, and is sweet like a Bourbon but mildly peated like a Scotch! Best of both worlds!
As your other respondents have shown, the subject has considerable width, palate, location, etc., but your selection is an excellent discussion "starter" and will provoke consumption at a time when the producers need a helping hand to fund that which will be consumed in a decade +
I can only assume that "Charles Maclean" is not THE Charles Maclean. Johnny Walker Black label, apart from being popular (and as such giving you the best clickrate for your affiliate links) is not in the top 10 list of any whisky lover I know.
Tips for future such lists:
1. Split "10 best Scotch Whiskies" into "10 Best Scotch Whisky Blends", "10 Cheapest Scotch Whiskies", "10 Best Single Malt Scotch Whiskies".
Poor show and not at all "independent".
Independant -I don't think so.
Quality comes at a price!
Alphonsus123
And as for the narrow-minded view that whisky and food do not match: balderdash.
I drink wine (or occasionally beer or cider) with meals. Drinking malts throughout a meal, I have tried. I can never I have tasted - with Dave Broom and others - foods carefully twinned with malts. In all but a few cases, malts beat red wine and port as a partner for cheese. Try a Lagavulin with Rocquefort or Lanark Blue. Talisker and an artisan cheddar works. And - more outlandishly - a good brie with Caol Ila.
Finally, Outlawchef, there are very few rules about drinking whisky and the watchwords are 'personal preference' and 'enjoyment'. But if you think that Talisker doesn't belong in such a list then it is you who knows less than nothing.
Slainte.
Agree, bought some Laphroaig on sale once to try it, have to say I found it way too strongly flavoured, not pleasant - tho' I tried :)
I let visitors finish it off !
The Glenrothes 1985
A big, rich Speyside, with notes of dried fruits and pee...
I'm really not sure based on that recommendation whether I would really swap my Blackbush for this whisky!
As for whisky and food, it's best used as an ingredient eg in crannachan, neaps and tatties or a peppercorn sauce poured over steak.
http://connosr.com/popular/
What about The MacCallan (25-, 18- or 12-year olds?). The Glenmorangie (18- or 10- year old; almost any finish you care to name)? All of them are so far superior to many of the whiskies you've listed that it's ridculous.
Sorry, but the exclusion of the two and the inclusion of the one makes this list highly dubious to me. Good choice on The Lagavulin though; very much differnt than the mainstream (haha) stuff and a nice change from time to time.
I liked the list and as it happens my favourite is also JWBlackLabel, I think JW Blue is rich and fruitcakey, but doesn't justify the enormous price difference - it's a bit "emperors new clothes".
I once really enjoyed Chilled JW Gold label accompanied by a great chocolate pudding, but not sure I'd want to have a whisky with every course, I'd fall off my chair before the coffee arrived.
Lagavulin is Laphroaig's next door neighbour and a very similar whisky, so you would only really want one of them on a general top ten.
Lots of the other whiskies you guys have mentioned are great, but why stress about it?
Charles Maclean certainly knows his whisky, but this is only his opinion on a given day, so why not try some of his suggestions - you might even like them.
That JonAllen - good defence, but I think some are so set in their ways you won't change their minds.
But Goose Greece, drinking cheap whisky like VAT69 (other cheap brands available) means you're missing out on so much - Try some of those listed- You'll remember the quality long after you've forgotten the price.
Cheers!
Amateur_Whisky_man
@maltmannie: I had the privilege of meeting Mr. MacLean in Mumbai a few years ago, at the re-launch of a legendary old whisky. Upon being asked what his favourite whisky was, he said the exact thing that thatjonallen says: it is a matter of personal preference. He went on to say that when he's just unwinding after a day, he actually preferes Black Label, and likes to have it with soda, no less! You should have seen the faces of all the self-styled "experts" and "afficionados" crowding around him at the time, when he said this. :D
Charles MacLean's knowledge of whisky is matched only by his humility and kindness. I, for one, know that the horizons of my whisky experience have expanded, for want of a better word, for having been fortunate enough to have met him and heard his views on the subject. Those who trash him here would do well to approach what he has to say with an open mind.
As for 00tbuy, why, your father, sir, was a legend!! I couldn't agree more with what he said.
Cheers!
Now for a glass of what use to be a Greek Metaxa.
These "Ten Best" or "Fifty Best" features are nothing but feeble product-placement advertorials. The ones that make the list are the ones who sent the most free bottles to the Indy's offices. That's what makes them "best", y'see.