The range
Scotch across the regions that define it. Islay peat from Lagavulin and Laphroaig, maritime smoke from Talisker on Skye, sherried Speyside from Aberlour, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet and BenRiach — and the blends that built the category: Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, Dimple, Monkey Shoulder and Royal Salute.
Three terms worth separating. A single malt is malted barley from one distillery. A blended Scotch marries malt with grain whisky from several distilleries, which is why it is usually lighter and cheaper. A blended malt — Monkey Shoulder is one — is several malts with no grain whisky at all.
Region is a rough guide rather than a rule, but it holds often enough to be useful: Islay for peat and iodine, Speyside for sherry and orchard fruit, the Islands for salt and pepper. Every bottle lists its distillery, region and ABV.
21bottles. Every one with a reason written against it.
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is the other half of a conversation that starts with Glenfiddich. Two distilleries, the same region, and genuinely different answers to the same question.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$79.99
Scotland · Scotland
Black Label with the peat turned up - more smoke, more charred cask, and noticeably more assertive than its sibling. We stock both because Double Black is not simply the better one. It is the version for someone who already likes smoke, and Black Label is the version for everyone else at the same table.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$69.99
Isle of Skye · Scotland
We stock it as the entry point to the distillery for someone who is curious about maritime whisky but not yet sure they want the full weather.
700 mL45.8%25.3 std
$94.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it for exactly that. It is not an everyday bottle and does not pretend to be, and when someone needs a gift that carries weight without needing explanation, this is the one.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$239.99
Islands · Scotland
We stock it because it makes the case for blending as a craft rather than a compromise. If someone believes blends are what you drink when you cannot afford malt, this is the bottle that changes their mind.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$189.99
Highland · Scotland
We stock it because it is a familiar sight to a lot of people and it still drinks well. Some bottles earn their place through recognition rather than novelty.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$59.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is what the 12 grows into, and the two side by side make the case for age statements better than any marketing does.
700 mL48.0%26.5 std
$184.99
Scotland · Scotland
We stock it because it is the most useful whisky most households can own, and because a blend that does three jobs well is worth more than a malt that does one.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$56.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is built for mixing and honest about it. If you are making a whisky sour or a highball, a bottle designed for the job beats sacrificing something that was not.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$59.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because people ask for it, and we would rather you got it from us than made a second trip. Consistency is a genuine virtue in a blend, and this is one of the ones that delivers it.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$59.99
Islay · Scotland
We stock it beside the 10 because it answers a real question. Someone who admires what Laphroaig does but finds the 10 too uncompromising has somewhere to go, and it is the same distillery rather than a substitute.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$89.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is where a great many people start, and starting somewhere reliable matters more than starting somewhere fashionable. If you are buying a first bottle of single malt, this one will not embarrass you.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$79.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is the blended Scotch we are most comfortable recommending as a present. It arrives looking like an occasion and tastes like one.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$129.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it delivers more complexity than a ten year old Speyside usually manages, and because BenRiach are one of the distilleries doing genuinely interesting work without charging for the reputation.
700 mL43.0%23.7 std
$99.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is the most honest whisky in the Speyside section. Add water to taste - at this strength that is not a suggestion, it is part of the drink. Check the batch number; they are not the same.
700 mL61.2%33.8 std
$161.99
Speyside · Scotland
Two more years than the 12, in the same double-cask arrangement, and the difference is in the weight rather than the flavour - more sherry, a longer finish, less of the youthful sharpness. We stock both because the step between them is easy to taste, and comparing them is a better education in what age does to whisky than any amount of reading.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$164.99
Speyside · Scotland
We stock it because it is the bottle we would hand to someone stepping past blends for the first time, and it does not punish the decision.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$118.99
Islay · Scotland
The most divisive bottle we sell, and deliberately so. Iodine, tar, seaweed and an antiseptic bite that people either fall for immediately or never make peace with. We stock the 10 because Laphroaig does not compromise to be liked, and a shop that only carried whisky everyone agrees on would be a duller shop. Try it before you commit to a bottle.
700 mL40.0%22.1 std
$119.99
Isle of Skye · Scotland
Storm carries no age statement, which lets Talisker use younger, more assertive casks. The result is ashier and more immediate than the 10, with less of the rounded middle. We stock both because they are not interchangeable. The 10 is the measured version of Skye; Storm is the same distillery with the weather up. Which one suits depends entirely on the evening.
700 mL45.8%25.3 std
$99.99
Isle of Skye · Scotland
Made on Skye rather than Islay, and the difference shows: the smoke is drier, and there is a pepper note on the finish that Talisker drinkers recognise instantly. We stock the 10 because it is the age statement in the range, and an age statement on a maritime malt earns its keep. It is peated whisky with the volume set at conversation rather than shouting.
700 mL45.8%25.3 std
$110.00
Islay · Scotland
We stock it because it is the bottle that settles arguments about what peat means. If someone wants to understand the style rather than sample around it, this is where we send them.
700 mL43.0%23.7 std
$159.99
