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The best Irish whiskey under £40: UK prices

Irish blends, single malts and finished whiskeys under £40 at UK retailers, with Green Spot and Redbreast just above, compared on delivered price.

Under £40, Irish whiskey is mostly blends, plus a few single malts and finished whiskeys; single pot still starts just above the line. Jameson Black Barrel (£35.00 at The Whisky Shop), Tullamore DEW (£24.09 at Master of Malt) and Connemara Peated (£33.45 at Master of Malt) show the spread, all in stock when we checked in October 2026.

This guide links to retailers. Some links may earn us a commission; picks are based on the price data and the criteria below.

How we chose

These are bottles in stock and in budget, not our favourites. We compared full-size 70cl Irish whiskeys whose best in-stock price at the UK retailers we check was under £40 in October 2026, preferring bottles sold by more than one independently owned retailer, and grouped them by style. Loch Fyne Whiskies and The Whisky Shop share an owner and count as one retailer. If a bottle’s best price moves over £40 it drops off this page. We have not tasted them for this guide.

Blends under £40

Most Irish whiskey sold is blended: grain whiskey mixed with malt or pot still whiskey.

Jameson Irish Whiskey: £23.40 at Master of Malt. A triple-distilled blend of pot still and grain whiskey at 40% ABV, made at Midleton in County Cork. Several retailers stock it.

Tullamore DEW: £24.09 at Master of Malt. A triple-distilled blend of grain, malt and pot still whiskey at 40% ABV, named after the town of Tullamore in County Offaly. Several retailers stock it.

Kilbeggan Traditional: £21.50 at Master of Malt. A 40% ABV blend from Kilbeggan in County Westmeath, which dates its distilling licence to 1757.

Slane Irish Whiskey: £24.60 at Tyndrum Whisky. A 40% ABV blend matured in three cask types: virgin oak, seasoned whiskey casks and oloroso sherry casks.

Jameson Black Barrel: £35.00 at The Whisky Shop. A 40% ABV blend with bourbon and sherry cask maturation derived from catalogue information. Several retailers stock it, and its delivered price can land right at the £40 line.

Bushmills Black Bush: £29.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. A 40% ABV blend from Bushmills in County Antrim with a high share of malt whiskey, matured in oloroso sherry and bourbon casks. Only one retailer we check currently stocks it.

Single malts and finished whiskeys

Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey: £33.45 at Master of Malt. A peated single malt at 40% ABV from Cooley in County Louth, with peat stated on the label. It shows that unpeated is a habit of Irish whiskey, not a rule. One retailer at the moment.

Teeling Small Batch Rum Cask Finish: £34.90 at Master of Malt. Bottled at 46% ABV and finished in rum casks, per the label. We have no style tag for this bottle, so we describe it by its finish rather than guess its composition. One retailer at the moment.

Jameson or Tullamore DEW? Bushmills or Jameson?

These comparisons come up constantly, and the honest answer is that they are taste questions. The facts: Jameson and Tullamore DEW are both triple-distilled blends at 40% ABV, and their best prices are closely matched across UK retailers. Bushmills 10 Year Old is a single malt, a different product from either blend, and its best price typically sits just above this band, which is why it sits below this line rather than in the picks.

Just over £40

Single pot still whiskey, the style Ireland is known for, starts above this page’s budget. It is made at one Irish distillery in pot stills from a mash of malted and unmalted barley, with the grain rules set by the Irish Whiskey Technical File. The single pot still selection lists every bottle we track.

Bushmills 10 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey: currently unavailable. A 40% ABV single malt from Bushmills, whose distillery company dates from 1784; the brand also cites a 1608 licence to distil in the area. One retailer at the moment, so its price tends to sit just either side of £40.

Green Spot Irish Whiskey: £45.95 at Master of Malt. A 40% ABV single pot still whiskey from Midleton, bottled for Mitchell & Son of Dublin. Several retailers stock it.

Redbreast 12 Year Old: £51.00 at Master of Malt. A 40% ABV single pot still whiskey from Midleton, matured in bourbon and oloroso sherry casks. Several retailers stock it.

Worth knowing before you buy

Every pick under £40 sits below each retailer’s free-delivery threshold, so a single bottle pays roughly £4.50 to £5.99 delivery on the policies we hold, checked 23 October 2026. At least one pick has a shelf price inside the budget but a delivered price outside it; the delivered figure is the honest one to compare.

Irish whiskey is also worth comparing shop to shop. Among the Irish bottles stocked by more than one of the retailers we check, the typical gap between the lowest and highest price was 12.3% on 14 October 2026, wider than the 9.6% across the catalogue.

Retailers and check date

We compared in-stock offers from Abbey Whisky, DrinkSupermarket.com, Hard To Find Whisky, Loch Fyne Whiskies, Milroy’s of Soho, The Whisky Shop, Tyndrum Whisky and Whisky Me in our October 2026 catalogue checks. Loch Fyne Whiskies and The Whisky Shop count as one owner. Prices and stock change; the live table on each bottle page is current, and the retailer’s checkout price is the one that counts. Read how we compare prices.

Questions

How do Jameson and Tullamore DEW differ in production?
Both are triple-distilled blended Irish whiskeys bottled at 40% ABV, but their component whiskeys differ. Jameson blends grain whiskey with single pot still whiskey made from malted and unmalted barley at Midleton in County Cork. Tullamore DEW combines three distinct spirits: pot still, malt, and grain whiskey, matured in refill barrels, ex-bourbon barrels and ex-sherry butts.
What is the difference between blended Irish whiskey and single pot still?
Blended Irish whiskey combines grain whiskey with malt or pot still spirit from one or more distilleries. Single pot still whiskey is made at a single distillery from a mash containing at least 30% malted barley, at least 30% unmalted barley, and up to 5% other cereals, distilled in copper pot stills (usually three times), producing a weightier, spicier profile like Redbreast.
Does Irish whiskey have to be made in Ireland?
Yes. Irish whiskey must be distilled and matured on the island of Ireland, in the Republic or Northern Ireland, for at least three years in wooden casks. Legal definitions protect four distinct styles: pot still, malt, grain, and blended Irish whiskey.

About the author

John Fegan

· Editor

Hailing from the land of haggis and deep-fried Mars bars, John was always going to find his way to whisky. He has run Uisge Beatha since 2015 and Whiskipedia.com since 2020.