Chivas Regal?

[bgast1]

I hear that it is an overpriced Scotch blend. I have a bottle of Grant's and I like it ok. Can someone please advise on Chivas and if Chivas is not worth it, please advise of another blend. I enjoyed a miniature of Famous Grouse (the next level up from their lowest).

I have a bottle of Laphroiag and Grant's. I am looking at what the next bottle should be. Johnnie Walker Red is cheaper than Black but is it any good? So many brands, so little money to experiment.

[Brisko]

Chivas 12 is okay but it is pretty inoffensive (read:bland). I think it's fairly similar to Grants, honestly. If you can find it, Hankey Bannister is good, and cheap. Otherwise Islay Mist is decent and not too expensive.

If you like the Famous Grouse you might try to find Isle of Skye 8 y/o. It is similar in profile but a better whisky.

Johnnie Walker Black is a far better whisky than the red. A lot of people hate the red-- I don't mind it once in a while but I probably would never buy a bottle. Black label is a great whisky and worth every penny.

[cowdery]

Johnnie Walker is the most popular brand of blended scotch in the world and for a scotch beginner, Johnnie Black is an excellent benchmark, meaning it's a very good place to start and compare others against. You could do the same thing with Chivas, I just happen to like Johnnie Black. Generalities like "Chivas is an overpriced scotch blend" aren't very useful. If there's another, cheaper blend that one likes as well or better, then one might be tempted to call Chivas 'overpriced' but it is hardly a universal or particularly in-the-know sentiment.

[TomH]

A lot of people knock Chivas 12 as overpriced and overhyped, including some of the experts. While it not my favorite blend, it is very drinkable (I frequently order it in bars since it is everywhere). It is heavily speyside influenced and has very little peat, so it gets a lot of disdain from the peatheads. Since Chivas 12 is in almost any bar, buy a pour before you buy a bottle. That makes your decision easy. Personally for a non-peated type of blend I prefer Mitchells'.

Compare it to Johnnie Walker Black (which I definitely prefer to Red) which has a lot more peat which also can be found at most any bar. I also agree with Brisko, if you like Laphroaig Islay Mist is a cheap alternative.

[dbk]

There are certainly plenty of decent blends out there, but my favourite is Té Bheag (pronounced "Chay Vek"). It's really spectacular, especially for the price.

[bgast1]

Thanks everyone. At $30.00+ Johnny Walker Black is beyond my price range for something that I might consider drinking every day. But then I could skip a few days and savor it all the more. Especially since I also like bourbon more and will probably go with the Evan Williams. I have been looking for Weller (?) also but can't find it.

[cowdery]

I haven't been a regular blended scotch drinker in years but a long time ago, when cheap blends were my thing, I got a lot of mileage from Passport and Scoresby, and occasionally Ushers.

[Brisko]

Another one I forgot about is Teacher's Highland Cream.

It's not available everywhere but it's about $20 per Liter where I'm at. It's a peaty highland blend with a high percentage of Ardmore in it, and although it's a little green around the edges, it's still very good and a good value for the money.

[Jono]

Check out Scotch sites for opinions as well....Ralfy is very good:

http://whiskyreviews.blogspot.com/20...-whiskies.html

http://www.whiskymarks5.blogspot.com/

[ebo]

Another one I forgot about is Teacher's Highland Cream.

It's not available everywhere but it's about $20 per Liter where I'm at. It's a peaty highland blend with a high percentage of Ardmore in it, and although it's a little green around the edges, it's still very good and a good value for the money.

I second the Teacher's. I'm a big Ardmore fan, and Ardmore is the dominant malt in Teacher's.