Guide · Beginners

Best Scotch whisky for beginners

Where to start with Scotch: unpeated Speyside and Lowland single malts, a blended malt, and one gently smoky bottle for later, with live UK prices.

Start with an unpeated single malt from Speyside or the Lowlands, bottled at 40% to 43% ABV. Glenfiddich 12 Year Old, The Glenlivet 12 Year Old and Auchentoshan 12 Year Old are light and sweet, with no smoke. Aberlour 12 Year Old adds sherry-cask fruit. Leave the heavily peated Islay malts until you know you like Scotch.

What the label words mean

Scotch is whisky made and matured in Scotland for at least three years in oak casks, bottled at no less than 40% ABV. The Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009 set out five categories:

• Single malt: malted barley only, pot stills, one distillery.
• Single grain: one distillery, but other cereals such as wheat or maize can be used, usually in a column still.
• Blended malt: single malts from more than one distillery.
• Blended grain: single grains from more than one distillery.
• Blended Scotch whisky: malt and grain whiskies together. Most Scotch sold is blended.

“Single” refers to one distillery, not to a quality grade. A good blend is a sensible place to start, and a single malt is not automatically better. Whiskipedia’s guide to vatted and blended whisky explains the difference.

Regions are places, not flavours

The regulations protect three regions (Highland, Lowland and Speyside) and two localities (Campbeltown and Islay). Each has a house reputation (Speyside for fruit, Islay for smoke), but the region is a legal location, not a guarantee of flavour. Islay’s Bunnahabhain makes mostly unpeated whisky, and Speyside has peated releases. Whiskipedia’s guide to Scotland’s whisky regions covers the map.

Unpeated single malts to start with

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old (£36.96 at Master of Malt). Speyside single malt from Dufftown, 40% ABV, matured in American oak and European oak sherry casks and married before bottling. Glenfiddich describes it as pear and subtle oak.

The Glenlivet 12 Year Old (£34.95 at Hard To Find Whisky). Speyside single malt, 40% ABV, matured in American and European oak. Like Glenfiddich, it is unpeated and made in large volumes, so it is easy to find.

Auchentoshan 12 Year Old (£29.95 at Hard To Find Whisky). Lowland single malt from Clydebank, near Glasgow, 40% ABV. Auchentoshan triple distils all its spirit, which is unusual in Scotland and gives a lighter new make. Whiskipedia explains triple distillation.

Aberlour 12 Year Old (£45.00 at The Whisky Shop). Speyside single malt, 40% ABV, matured in a mix of traditional oak and sherry casks. Sherry casks tend to add dried fruit and spice, so this is the sweeter, heavier choice of the four.

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old

12 years · 40.0% ABV · 70cl

from £36.96 4 retailers

£41.91 delivered

Save up to £9.04

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The Glenlivet 12 Year Old

12 years · 40.0% ABV · 70cl

from £34.95 4 retailers

£40.90 delivered

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Auchentoshan 12 Year Old

12 years · 40.0% ABV · 70cl

from £29.95 4 retailers

£35.90 delivered

Save up to £4.05

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Aberlour 12 Year Old

12 years · 40.0% ABV · 70cl

from £45.00 2 retailers

£49.99 delivered

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A blend, and a first taste of smoke

Monkey Shoulder (£30.95 at Hard To Find Whisky) is a blended malt from William Grant & Sons, the owner of Glenfiddich and Balvenie, at 40% ABV. It is made for mixing as well as sipping, and it works in a highball with soda.

When you want to try smoke, Talisker 10 Year Old (£39.15 at Master of Malt) is a gentler step than the Islay heavyweights. It comes from Carbost on the Isle of Skye, is bottled at 45.8% ABV, and the distillery specifies 20 to 25 ppm for its peated malt (about a quarter of the mash is unpeated), against 50 to 55 ppm for Ardbeg. Ppm is measured on the malted barley, not the whisky; Whiskipedia’s page on phenols explains more.

Monkey Shoulder

40.0% ABV · 70cl

from £30.95 4 retailers

£35.90 delivered

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Talisker 10 Year Old

10 years · 45.8% ABV · 70cl

from £39.15 5 retailers

£44.10 delivered

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How to taste a first Scotch

• Pour a small measure (25 ml) into a tulip-shaped glass or a wine glass.
• Smell it before you sip, with your mouth slightly open, so the alcohol does not dominate.
• Add water a few drops at a time. It lowers the heat and often brings out more aroma.
• Try two bottles side by side. The difference between a bourbon-cask and a sherry-cask malt is easier to notice in pairs.

Whiskipedia’s guide to tasting whisky goes further.

More Scotch to compare

Balblair 18 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

18 years · 46.0% ABV · 70cl

from £123.50 5 retailers

£123.50 delivered

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Blair Athol Flora & Fauna Single Malt Scotch 12 year old Whisky

12 years · 43.0% ABV · 70cl

from £55.95 5 retailers

£60.90 delivered

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Dailuaine 16 Year Old Flora & Fauna

16 years · 43.0% ABV · 70cl

from £63.37 5 retailers

£68.32 delivered

Save up to £13.59

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Glen Scotia 18 Year Old Campbeltown Single Malt Scotch Whisky 70cl

18 years · 46.0% ABV · 70cl

from £99.95 5 retailers

£105.90 delivered

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Glen Scotia Double Cask Rum Cask Finish

46.0% ABV · 70cl

from £39.95 5 retailers

£45.17 delivered

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GlenAllachie 12 Year Old Single Malt Whisky

12 years · 46.0% ABV · 70cl

from £47.90 5 retailers

£52.85 delivered

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Glendronach 12 Year Old

12 years · 43.0% ABV · 70cl

from £49.95 5 retailers

£55.90 delivered

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Lagavulin 16 Year Old

16 years · 43.0% ABV · 70cl

from £72.95 5 retailers

£77.90 delivered

Save up to £21.00

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Sources and review

Where to go next

• The best whiskies for beginners, from any country
• Peated whisky for beginners
• Whisky under £50

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.