What is your favorite Scotch whisky under $50

So far I'd say Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban $47.99 in my store. Blended, Great King Street Artist's Blend $37.99.

Peated its Ardbeg 10 Sherried I'd go with maccallan 12 just a personal preference

Man seeing so many people list Ardbeg 10, Talisker, etc is just making me so very jealous! I'd have to go with Aberlour 10 yr old for a Scotch whisky under $50, yummy and delicious and makes me eager to go see them in Scotland!!

@hunggar @YakLord JW Green still widely available in Australia too.

@systemdown bnj is drawing a blank. I mean I can think of all sorts of inappropriate things, but no whisky that is bnj. :-)

@cpstecroix, no Baillie Nicol Jarvie blended Scotch in Ontario, or I would have brought some back with me to the US.

@systemdown, I've heard there was enough pre-existing bottles of Green to remain on store shelves until roughly the summer of this year. You might want to find out if the Green will still be around in Oz after the current stock runs out. If so, great! If not, it might be worth grabbing a bottle or two while supplies last. I told my dad to do the same back in Canada.

@hunggar Yeah I'm not too worried - even if stocks disappear locally I'll be able to get it somewhere.. but will definitely get a bottle or two soon.

@hunggar I can't speak for the rest of the country, but here in Vancouver the Green is hard to come by. The government stores don't even list it anymore -- guess it was pretty popular around these parts.

Why did they discontinue the Green, anyway? I thought it was quite popular.

@HeartlessNinny Yes it was/is popular, but (my take on things) - nowhere near as profitable for JW as their range of blended Scotch. It was always the "odd one out" and us whisky drinkers always knew it was their best offering. They couldn't simply raise the price (that would be bad PR) so I guess they simply decided to discontinue it and push yet more slightly-different-versions-of-the-same-blend into the market. Discontinuing the Green frees up a lot of good malt that will end up top-dressing the rest of their blends, I suppose (hence increasing their profitabily further by spreading the malts more thinly).

Or, another thing that occurred to me, the malt that would have otherwise ended up in JW Green could also be bottled as extra single malts by the distilleries involved, now that wouldn't be such a bad thing..

@systemdown: 'Saw some JW. Green today at Vintage Cellars - New label, new price Au.$99.00, ouch!

I'm sure D.M. had it for $70 (or so) a few weeks ago. Bloody hell!

@A'bunadhman Ouch.. Dan's still has them for $70.. maybe it's time for me to grab a couple.

Here's what I've heard about the JW Green. As the top selling Scotch whisky in the world, it's clientele is less than 10% serious whisky aficionados, and more than 90% casual buys. This is because JW's marketing department has made it the most recognizable brand in the world.

So 90% of JW’s buyers grab it for two reasons; to drink casually or to give as gifts. For those who don't care much about whisky, they tend to drink the cheap stuff, which is usually the red or sometimes the black. For those giving gifts, they opt for the expensive stuff, such as the gold or the blue. I was told that green was left somewhere in the middle. Basically, the red and black sell like hotcakes to college boys and mixers, and the gold and blue go to the gift-giving folks.

Meanwhile for all us whisky lovers who thought the green was their best and most reasonable release, we were left wanting because we are such a small fraction of their market. Again, that’s just what I’ve heard from my local retailer’s employee. He’s usually a pretty knowledgeable and informed guy.

Anyway we are most definitely off-topic. So let me toss a couple more bottles into the $50 or less bin. Macallan 12 Sherry, Coal Ila 12, and Singleton of Glen Ord 12. Not up there with my aforementioned favorites, but still solid drams for the price.

@A'bunadhman - A year ago, I could get JW Green at the local stores for $55 USD. The same stores now charge $80. I once predicted the Green wouldn't become much of a collector's item; now, I'm not so sure. I'm just glad I stocked up on three bottles last year.

@hunggar - Your assessment of the JW line is pretty accurate. Although there are plenty of serious drinkers who appreciate the Black Label as a casual sipper or evening-starter. The college kids can have all the Red they want...;)

We have two bottles of Green Label at my store. One is going home with me tonight. $63.99 US retail. $55.38 my price.

@WhiskyBee, wasn't knocking on the black. Simply saying it's among the cheaper JW's. I actually like it almost as much as the green. As for your comment about "collecting" the green. I don't think it'll go up in value much over the years as a collector's item given that it's still in production, albeit not globally. The Taiwan market has it consistently priced at roughly $30. Mind you, a stockpile of green for drinking purposes would certainly be worthwhile! Cheers.

@hunggar - there is none left in inventory at the LCBO, the SAQ, NB Liquor, or BC Liquor (or at the Kensington Wine Market in Calgary)...my thoughts on Diageo's decision to discontinue it are here: dan-the-tax-man.livejournal.com/39606.html

I've got two bottles in storage...one to drink at some point in the future, and the other to have opened and shared at my funeral (which will hopefully be in another 50 to 60 odd years).

Highland Park 12. If the price keeps rising, however, it won't be available for under $50 for much longer.

@Russ Agreed...Right now the few stores I shop at the HP 12 yr is $39 to $42, and that's a good price IMHO for what ya get in terms of the quality of the whisky.

That said - I wouldn't be too surprised if HP jumps aboard with the idea of increasing their prices as we've seen with Balvenie.

@ JJBoud - recently tried COMPASS BOX GREAT KING STREET ARTIST'S BLEND $46.95 - thanks for the suggestion! Now I have a second favourite under $50.