PAspirit1 Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 A post in another sub-forum on this site inspires to ask this. If you could have only one bottle of scotch at your house, and it had to cost 25$ or less after tax, which one would you choose?Thats tough for me. Chivas can be had for $26.50 so in reality I'd throw in the extra $1.50 in a heartbeat. But for strictly under $25, I don't know. Maybe the Grouse. I should try dewars at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sku Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Black Bottle is a nice, smoky blend that hovers around $25 but would be a bit more after taxes.For single malts, there's Bowmore Legend, Glenfiddich 12 and Glenlivet 12.Also, if you can find it, Finlaggan is a young, very smoky Islay malt from an undisclosed distillery. I can get it for $17 at Trader Joe's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boss302 Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 A post in another sub-forum on this site inspires to ask this. If you could have only one bottle of scotch at your house, and it had to cost 25$ or less after tax, which one would you choose?Thats tough for me. Chivas can be had for $26.50 so in reality I'd throw in the extra $1.50 in a heartbeat. But for strictly under $25, I don't know. Maybe the Grouse. I should try dewars at some point.For me, the answer would probably be Grant's or Ballantine's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAspirit1 Posted June 20, 2009 Author Share Posted June 20, 2009 Black Bottle is a nice, smoky blend that hovers around $25 but would be a bit more after taxes.For single malts, there's Bowmore Legend, Glenfiddich 12 and Glenlivet 12.Also, if you can find it, Finlaggan is a young, very smoky Islay malt from an undisclosed distillery. I can get it for $17 at Trader Joe's.Wow, you can get both those Glens for 25$. Around here they go for 35$+. I can't get Black Bottle but I opened Bowmore Legend last night and I liked it very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 In PA the only single malts available for under $25 (for a 750ml) are the Mcclelland's. For blended scotch I have to go with Buchanan 12 yr which is an SLO for $24.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jono Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 I have not seen Black Bottle, but then again I never looked for it...something to keep an eye out for....Binny's Blog has an interesting list of value buys:http://binnys.com/blogs/post.cfm/great-spirits-valuesAs of Feb 09"Black Bottle Islay Blend- $17.99""Dewar’s 12 year old Blended Scotch- $21.99""Lismore Speyside Single Malt- $24.99"Of these, I would be interested in the Black Bottle...here is an interesting review:http://whiskyreviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/black-bottle.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Pollito Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 If it has to be under $25, I usually say, " have you tried bourbon?" I find that I need to drop at least $50 to get a decent scotch. However, the black bottle is fantastic. If you can spend $30, try Balvenie dbl wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 He's in PA and that means paying $47 for Doublewood. Of course, PA is the largest single liquor buyer in the entire world so we should have the best prices right? 30% profit, 18% "Temporary" Johnstown Flood tax (from 1934), 6% sales tax. 54% right off the bat on top of the distributors price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Ballantine's and McClelland's Islay Single Malt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megawatt Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Ballantine's and McClelland's Islay Single Malt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frodo Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Ballantine's used to be a lot worse than it is now. A major improvement took place sometime in the last two yrs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melting Posted July 12, 2009 Share Posted July 12, 2009 Hands down the best deal when on sale is Teacher's Highland Cream. It runs about $26.00 when it's on sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpact Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 Might break your bank by a buck or two, but I've been very very pleased with the Isle of Skye 8-year old blended I picked up recently. I also have a soft spot for Johnny Walker red label; it was my nightly treat back in the day when I was spending every evening studying for professional exams. Can't disagree with any of the other recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAspirit1 Posted July 15, 2009 Author Share Posted July 15, 2009 Hands down the best deal when on sale is Teacher's Highland Cream. It runs about $26.00 when it's on sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclebunk Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 If it has to be under $25, I usually say, " have you tried bourbon?" I find that I need to drop at least $50 to get a decent scotch. However, the black bottle is fantastic. If you can spend $30, try Balvenie dbl wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gov Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 For all you Black Bottle lovers have you tried Islay Mist? It is excellent and tastes of a light Laphroaig 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclebunk Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 For all you Black Bottle lovers have you tried Islay Mist? It is excellent and tastes of a light Laphroaig 10Just picked up the Islay Mist today and plan on sampling it tonight. Since I can't afford to knock down one bottle after another of Laphroaig 10, I usually have one or two pours and then switch off to Black Bottle in order to keep that "peaty" thing going without breaking the bank. Then I saw the Islay Mist 8 year old today and thought that might be another winner. I'm going to taste the Black Bottle and Islay Mist head-to-head to see how they match up. They're only $1 apart at Binny's ($18 and $19 respectively) and either one should serve my purposes but I'm curious to see how they stack up against one another.My friend likes the McClelland's Islay as a budget Islay alternative but that's typically closer to $22 and I've read that the MI is essentially five year old Bowmore, so it'll be interesting to see what the extra three years in the cask for the Islay Mist has to offer. I realize that the Black Bottle and Islay Mist are blends but I'm not bothered by that. I happen to love other blends as well (Teacher's Highland Cream, Ballantine's and Famous Grouse to name a few) and was pleased to discover that current bottlings of Teacher's have a nice touch of smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gov Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Just picked up the Islay Mist today and plan on sampling it tonight. Since I can't afford to knock down one bottle after another of Laphroaig 10, I usually have one or two pours and then switch off to Black Bottle in order to keep that "peaty" thing going without breaking the bank. Then I saw the Islay Mist 8 year old today and thought that might be another winner. I'm going to taste the Black Bottle and Islay Mist head-to-head to see how they match up. They're only $1 apart at Binny's ($18 and $19 respectively) and either one should serve my purposes but I'm curious to see how they stack up against one another.My friend likes the McClelland's Islay as a budget Islay alternative but that's typically closer to $22 and I've read that the MI is essentially five year old Bowmore, so it'll be interesting to see what the extra three years in the cask for the Islay Mist has to offer. I realize that the Black Bottle and Islay Mist are blends but I'm not bothered by that. I happen to love other blends as well (Teacher's Highland Cream, Ballantine's and Famous Grouse to name a few) and was pleased to discover that current bottlings of Teacher's have a nice touch of smoke.Teachers has the smoke, Islay Mist has the peat!! Teachers, Islay Mist and Black Bottle are my favorite NAS blended scotch whiskies. Please let us know how you like the Islay Mist :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unclebunk Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 For all you Black Bottle lovers have you tried Islay Mist? It is excellent and tastes of a light Laphroaig 10You hit the nail on the head with the "light Laphroig" assessment. I've been drinking Black Bottle (not the 10 year old but the cheaper standard expression) for some time now, and while I love the flavor, I sometimes wish it had a bit more body. Well last night I did a head-to-head comparison between Black Bottle and Islay Mist 8 Year Old and found the latter more to my liking. Due to the presence of some Highland and Speyside malts, it seems fuller in texture and a bit silkier, while still imparting that Laphroaig flavor that I love so much. (The Islay Mist bottle itself goes well out of its way to point out its connection to Laphroaig and is even vaguely similar in design.) The IM will now be my "go to" pour after consuming a bit of Laphroaig. Thanks for the tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gov Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 You hit the nail on the head with the "light Laphroig" assessment. I've been drinking Black Bottle (not the 10 year old but the cheaper standard expression) for some time now, and while I love the flavor, I sometimes wish it had a bit more body. Well last night I did a head-to-head comparison between Black Bottle and Islay Mist 8 Year Old and found the latter more to my liking. Due to the presence of some Highland and Speyside malts, it seems fuller in texture and a bit silkier, while still imparting that Laphroaig flavor that I love so much. (The Islay Mist bottle itself goes well out of its way to point out its connection to Laphroaig and is even vaguely similar in design.) The IM will now be my "go to" pour after consuming a bit of Laphroaig. Thanks for the tip!Youre welcome!! BTW, Binny's and Sam's are the only places in the Chicagoland area that carry Islay Mist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomon2 Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 How does JW Black compare with Black Bottle? They're both around the same price, $25/750ml. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVB Posted October 14, 2009 Share Posted October 14, 2009 Black Bottle is a blend of only Islay scotch whereas JW Black is a blend of mostly Highland along with some Talisker. If you like the smokey peaty style of Laphroaig or Caol Ila then you should like Black Bottle. If you like just a touch of that then JW Black will fit the bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gov Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 How does JW Black compare with Black Bottle? They're both around the same price, $25/750ml.For the money, Black Bottle is a better buy IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Pollito Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 For the money, Black Bottle is a better buy IMHO.I agree 100 %...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarV Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 If it has to be under $25, I usually say, " have you tried bourbon?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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