One of their core expressions is their Glasgow Blend, a relatively affordable blended whisky that highlights Compass Box’s deft use of peat. Retailing for around $40, and featuring natural color, non-chill filtration, and a 43% ABV, is Glasgow Blend worthy of the Compass Box name?

Old Pulteney’s 12 year expression remains one of their most affordable and accessible - proof that not all single malt scotch has to be expensive.

Speyburn’s Arranta Cask expression features whiskies exclusively aged in first fill ex-bourbon casks and is bottled as only for the USA. Bottled at a solid 46% ABV and featuring an extremely reasonable MSRP of around $35, this could be a compelling offering for those looking for a single malt that won’t break the bank.

Compass Box Hedonism is a blended grain whisky made up of whiskies hailing from Port Dundas, Girvan, Cameronbridge, and North British distilleries. It’s bottled at 43% ABV with without chill-filtration.

Speyburn’s Braden Orach expression is an entry level single malt aged in ex-bourbon barrels, comes in at 40% ABV, and sports a name that means “Golden Salmon” in Gaelic.

This is one of the original “Scottish Barley Heavily Peated” expressions – before the Port Charlotte line exploded into numerous different variations and become one of Bruichladdich’s most recognizable labels.

Speyburn isn’t the first name that comes to mind when it comes to Speyside Scotch. But with a 10 year age statement, coming in at 43% ABV, and readily available for around $25, it’s hard to argue against the specs on their entry level offering.

Go back in time to one of the first “Islay Barley” expressions from Bruichladdich with this 200ml mini bottled back in 2017! This expression focuses on the effect of terroir on whisky in Islay - and has since become a core expression in their lineup.

Made by Knockdhu distillery, the AnCnoc name was chosen as to not confuse it with the nearby Knockando distillery. But pronunciation aside, the 12 year old constitutes the entry whisky in the core range of this distillery located on the outer edges of Speyside.

Welcome the mythical Macallan 25. Priced at around $2500 and aged exclusively in sherry for at least 25 years, this is not your everyday whisky experience. But let's see if Macallan still knows how to deliver the incredible experiences that made them the most famous Scotch whisky in the world.  

Aligned with House Lannister, this young Lagavulin is bottled at 46% ABV, aged exclusively in ex-bourbon barrels, and retailed for around $75. While some other GoT whiskies left me a bit disappointed, on specs alone, this has the credentials to be intriguing. Let’s dive in and find out.

Faultline Blended Scotch is a blended Scotch whisky designed by the team at K&L to be an affordable, powerful, smokey Scotch. The Faultline brand is reserved only for K&L’s house products where they will work with producers from around the world to create their own take on a specific type of spirit.

Introduced in 2022, this new 12 year old limited expression is finished in Amontillado sherry casks. Perhaps a reaction to American tastes leaning into heavily sherried malts like Macallan and Dalmore, this new expression boasts a secondary maturation in rare Amontillado casks to impart a strong sherry influence.

Despite its age statement, Balvenie 12 Doublewood is far from being an entry level malt whisky. While others make do with simply using ex-bourbon barrels for their entry malts, Balvenie instead uses a double maturation process that includes first aging in ex-bourbon barrels before then moving the whisky into European sherry casks for a final stint to add a bit more flavor.

Dalmore is a brand with a complicated relationship with whisky enthusiasts. Many argue that their overly sherried, sweet malts and low ABV can make them more “beginners” bottles than those made for true whisky nerds. So how can a brand be both highly sought after at the highest whisky levels and dismissed by the more general whisky community?

Distilled in 2007 and bottled way back in 2018, this cask strength Benromach boasts no chill filtration and completely natural color. Clocking in at 58.2% ABV, this whiskey won’t be for the faint of heart.

In front of me is the Glenrothes 1998 vintage which was bottled in 2013. This means that the 1998 should have has whiskies in it that are 3 years older than the 2001 vintage that was also bottled around the same time. Will this make a dramatic impact? Let’s dig in and find out.