What is your favorite Scotch whisky under $50

Old Pulteney 12 year for 32 US is hard to beat. Glenmorangie 10 year for 38 US is nice. Speyburn 10 year for 28 US. And last but not least Highland Park 12 year 48 US

I usually just grab the Talisker and be on my way for around $60. Ontario's prices are horrible, and there aren't that many scotches that I truly enjoy under $50.

I will join the chorus of Ontarians wailing away about the obscene pricing that the LCBO inflicts on us whisky enthusiasts. The list, already pretty damn short for ANY single malt under consideration got even shorter in 2012 when Auchentoshan 12 and Bowmore 12 went from $48 to $51-$53. Before that price increase, I would have hands down said 'Toshan 12 (malt) and Te Bheag (blend, @ $37) are the winners. I want to increase my familiarity with the various blended options. Teacher's and Great King Street - Artist's Blend are two that I have my eye on.

@Pudge72...in the under $50 category.

Once again @talexander, in terms of buying whisky, glad I'm not living in Canada at the moment!! Here in Japan I'd say... Laphroaig QC.

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Having just tried it just over a week ago (thank you!), the Robert Burns Arran Single Malt (@ $41 in Ontario) instantly qualified for this list as a 'summer sipper', due to its lighter profile.

I'll pimp my usual suspect "BNJ" here. A steal at AUD $34.

...another one that popped into my head as I added to the 'under $100' thread is the Dun Bheagan Islay 2002 (seems to be a Lagavulin 8, essentially) that checks in at $49.95 on LCBO store shelves. I prefer the 2002-2010 to the 2003-2011 version, which both currently available.

Man, this thread is a bit tough to take... Ardbeg 10 for under fifty bucks? I wish. Here's it's $95 (!).

Anyway, if it has to be scotch and it has to be under $50, the only single malts available to me are Aberlour 10, Aberfeldy 10 and Glenfiddich 12. I'd go with the Aberlour. Other than that, it's going to be blends.

If you open it up to whiskies other than scotch, there are a few bourbons and ryes I'd list, like Buffalo Trace, and a recent favourite of mine: Lot 40 rye. That's a decent buy at $45.

@Wodha I hope they rescind that stupid law too. I was in Seattle recently and I was pretty surprised to see what had happened with the prices there. They were almost as bad as they were here! Shocking news, indeed.

I see all the LCBO complaints and raise them a BC LCLB. Bowmore 12 $51-53? Well in BC it's $65 CAD.

Best bang for the buck in Islay malts is Laphroaig QC @ $75, which comes in well under Laph 10, Talisker 10, or Ardbeg 10 price-wise. My best bang for the buck in the less peated arena is Laddy Ten @ 70.

@lostboyscout I haven't been on this site long, but it seems pretty clear to me that us British Columbians have to contend with some of the worst liquor prices in the world. I'm sure some people have it worse, though I've yet to hear of it... At least the selection is decent.

@HeartlessNinny Yeah you have it pretty bad - not sure how you compare to Sweden and possibly some other Scandinavian countries for "un-affordability" of Scotch whisky - not only that, the range available to you is dictated to you by your state. I still can't really fathom the logic in that.

But in any case, your prices are certainly better than India whose import duties make "real" Scotch whisky mostly un-obtainable for the masses! But I suppose they have a few good local options - Amrut etc.

@systemdown I've heard of high prices elsewhere, but I didn't realize that India was on the list of expensive countries.

As for the logic of government run stores and their selections, well, what can I say -- to me, it's a hazy mystery. Years ago, when it became legal for private stores to sell spirits, I thought maybe things would change, but they haven't. If you want to find a particular bottle at a private store that the government doesn't carry, you'll have a hard time finding it, and when you do, the markup will be truly obscene.

Remember the Lot 40 I mentioned earlier in the thread? It became available for the first time in about 10 years or so at a local private store. They're one of the good ones -- they only charged $50 instead of $45. But another private store -- for a while, the only other store I saw that carried it -- charged a whopping $57. That's a $12 markup on a $45 dollar bottle of whisky. Even for something rare and superb and unavailable elsewhere, I'd be very hesitant to put up with that kind of price gouging.

Based upon a tasting I attended a week and a half ago, I will say that the next scotch purchase under $50 will be either be the The Black Grouse, or the Great King Street (I was surprised by this). My next purchase in the $50-$100 category will be the Auchentoshan 3 Wood, and my next over $100 will be the Glenmorangie Signet. I need to update my wish list!

Laphroaig 10 43% for $39 for a full fifth (750 mL)

I'm going to have to steal it to get anything I like under $50 where I live...

@cpstecroix No BNJ in Canada?

@HeartlessNinny I didn't know that you can get liquor outside of the state controlled machinations. Kinda sucks though about the price gouging.

Here in Oz, if I want something good at a decent price I usually resort to importing from the UK / EU, still works out cheaper even with customs excise added. Case in point - picked up a Longrow CV for 19 euros + 17 shipping (half the postage on 2 bottles, luckily it also missed customs) - so essentially I paid AU $60 for that. If it were available here through the normal channels, I'd have paid $80 or $90 easily.

@systemdown Where in the world (literally) did you get Longrow CV for 19 euros? I hope they ship to the US!

I guess I should respond to the original post too... I can't really pick one favorite. There are several good options, but nothing that is a "must-have" for me. I guess the closest thing would be the one that I have bought the most bottles of, and that would be Springbank CV ($35... amazing). Others that I have bought more than once are Highland Park 12 ($47) and Ardbeg 10 ($50). I think that's all of them that I've purchased more than once.

@valuewhisky It was on special at the Whiskybase Shop when I bought it late last year, I bought it as a "padding" bottle (in the cost sense, not the physical packaging sense!) to accompany the Linlithgow in transit.

@systemdown I think Canada Customs is wise to the idea of bringing things in from the US -- hence the insanely high customs charges. I can't remember if I mentioned it in this thread or another, but you can expect to pay more than $50 just to import a 70cL bottle. Obviously that would make it a waste of money 95% of the time. The only way around this is to stay out of the country for 48 hours or more, whereupon you'll allowed to bring back one 1.14L bottle or smaller per person.

Of course all of this is provided that you physically go and get the bottle yourself. Sending liquor into Canada via the Post is, of course, illegal. Sigh.

Anyway, I feel like I've complained about this an awful lot! Sorry if I go on and on about it. I guess I'm a cheapskate at heart. :)

@HeartlessNinny Yeah I hear you. Not a cheapskate at all.. just a realist. We all want decent whisky at a decent price, not too much to ask for I would not think. No wonder craft distilleries are springing up all over the place - although it doesn't really help when, like here in Australia, their bottlings are considerably dearer (generally) than imported Scotch whisky. Hopefully it'll all settle down a bit once the current whisky boom is over - already looking forward to it (increased quality at decreased prices).

@Pudge72 - quite right, the Robbie Burns Malt is nice...totally forgot about that one. Also, if you go across the river into Quebec, you can get a 350ml bottle of Bowmore 12 for around $30...a full 750ml here in Ontario is just over the $50 mark. I will echo your sentiments on Great King Street Artist's Blend.

For sherried, I like Benriach 12 Sherry Finish or Glenfarclas 15. For a nice blend I like Ballantine's 17, Johnnie Walker Green, or Famous Grouse 100% Blended Malt 12. For a bourbon dram, Balvenie Doublewood, Amrut Fusion, or Glenmorangie Original. Well, anything from the basic Glenmorangie range, really. Lovely whiskies for the price. For Islay, I'd go for Ardbeg 10, Talisker 10, or Laphroaig QC.

A lot of fellow Canadians in this forum. Given the comments above, I'm quite happy I left the country before I got serious about whisky. Don't get me wrong, I'm a proud Canuck, but sheesh... those prices.

Tough call paddockjudge...good question. In no particular order: Balvenie Doublewood, Talisker 10, Highland Park 12, Glenfiddich 15...there are others that come to mind too...

When it comes to $40 and under, I'd take a great Bourbon over an average Scotch blend. It is hard to go wrong though with so many wonderful whiskies to choose from!

@hunggar - are you still able to get JW Green Label in Asia? I'd heard that Diageo was going to continue bottling for the Asian market, but here in North America it is all gone...

@YakLord: As far as I know, Taiwan was the only country spared when JW discontinued the Green Label. I'm not sure if there are any other places that still have it, but i don't think so. It's a top seller here and it's widely available for roughly $30 CAN. Shame it's not available elsewhere these days, it's a personal favorite as far as blends go.

My exposure to Scotch is still pretty limited being a bourbon guy. Of those I've had, I like GKS, Springbank 10 and Balvennie DW.