Uisge Beatha Whisky prices compared
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GuideStyle and flavour

Best whisky to buy in the UK, by style

One widely stocked whisky pick per style, from Speyside and Islay single malts to blended Scotch, bourbon, Irish and Japanese, at live UK prices.

Written by the Uisge Beatha team

Published Updated

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

There is no single best whisky, so this guide gives one widely stocked pick for each main style sold in the UK, with today’s price, and links to a fuller guide for each. New to whisky? Start with best whiskies for beginners, which works from flavours you already know.

Speyside single malt

BenRiach The Original Ten: £39.50 at Master of Malt. A 10-year-old single malt at 43% ABV from Benriach in Speyside. A single malt is malt whisky from one distillery; more Speyside and Highland picks are in best Scotch whisky.

Highland single malt

Tomatin 12 Year Old: £35.00 at Master of Malt. A 12-year-old single malt at 43% ABV from Tomatin. For single malts grouped by cask, from bourbon to sherry and port, see best single malt whisky.

Peated whisky

Ardbeg 10 Year Old: £39.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. A 10-year-old Islay single malt at 46% ABV from Ardbeg, which describes its whisky as peaty and smoky. Peat burned to dry the malted barley is where the smoke comes from; gentler and stronger options are in best peated and smoky whisky.

Islay

Lagavulin 16 Year Old: £72.95 at Master of Malt. A 16-year-old single malt at 43% ABV from Lagavulin, founded in 1816. Islay is a protected whisky locality in law, and not all of it is smoky: best Islay whisky compares all ten distilleries, unpeated Bunnahabhain included.

Sherry cask

Tamdhu 12 Year Old Sherry Cask Matured: £49.90 at Tyndrum Whisky. A 12-year-old Speyside single malt at 43% ABV, matured in sherry casks as its name states. The sherry-cask guide explains oloroso and Pedro Ximénez casks.

Blended Scotch

Chivas Regal 12 Year Old: £29.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. A blended Scotch at 40% ABV, in which every whisky is at least 12 years old. A blend mixes malt and grain whiskies; see blended Scotch whisky.

Bourbon

Four Roses Single Barrel: £44.95 at Master of Malt. A Kentucky bourbon at 50% ABV (100 proof), bottled one barrel at a time. Four Roses says it uses its more rye-forward mash bill. Wheated, high-rye and bottled-in-bond picks are in best bourbon.

Irish whiskey

Redbreast 12 Year Old: £56.00 at Master of Malt. A 12-year-old single pot still Irish whiskey at 40% ABV from Midleton in County Cork. Single pot still is made from malted and unmalted barley; blends and single malts are in best Irish whiskey.

Japanese whisky

Hibiki Japanese Harmony: £74.95 at Hard To Find Whisky. Suntory’s blended whisky at 43% ABV. Yamazaki, Hakushu and Nikka’s single malts, and what “Japanese whisky” on a label means, are in best Japanese whisky.

By budget

The picks above sit mostly in the £30 to £50 and £50 to £100 bands. For less, see the best whisky under £30 and the best whisky under £50, or browse every bottle by price band.

How we chose

Member ratings are not shown on this site yet, so these picks are not ranked by score, and we have not compared them against each other: each is one example of its style. For every style we chose a full-size bottle (50cl to 1 litre) sold by at least three UK retailers we check on 11 November 2026, favouring core-range bottles over limited editions and avoiding the picks on the beginners’ guide. Ages, strengths and styles come from the bottle details, cask and mash bill statements from the producer or the label; the lines are label facts, not tasting notes. We did not weigh awards. Prices change daily, and the retailer’s checkout price is the one that counts. Read how we compare prices.

Questions

What is the difference between whisky and whiskey?
Only the spelling. Scotch, Japanese and most Canadian producers write whisky, and most Irish and American producers write whiskey: Redbreast and Jameson are Irish whiskey, Maker’s Mark is labelled Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky. US federal rules spell it whisky in their standards of identity (27 CFR 5.143), though most American labels say whiskey.
What are the main types of whisky?
Single malt is malt whisky from one distillery (Tamdhu 12 Year Old); blended malt mixes malts from several distilleries (Monkey Shoulder); blended whisky mixes malt and grain whisky (Chivas Regal 12 Year Old); bourbon is American whiskey from at least 51% corn aged in new charred oak (Four Roses Single Barrel); single pot still is Irish whiskey from malted and unmalted barley (Redbreast 12 Year Old).
What makes a whiskey bourbon?
US rules require a mash of at least 51% corn, distillation to no more than 160 proof (80% ABV), maturation in new charred oak containers entered at no more than 125 proof (62.5% ABV), and bottling at 80 proof (40% ABV) or more (27 CFR 5.143). It may be made anywhere in the United States, not only Kentucky (what is bourbon).