Top 5 Single Malt Scotch Whiskies Under $500 

Merry Christmas

Happy holidays to you Big Al! and yes, these bottles make the holidays that much sweeter. Cheers

Thank you! Dustin and I had plenty of debate on which whiskies to include so we put quite a bit of thought into this list.

@@topshelfwhisky I bet!! You guys have had some amazing stuff this year. Really great list.

@dhsilv2 Oh I believe it! Yeah, this one struck a really nice balance of being in a higher bracket than most of the other lists I've seen, but is also stuff that is actually findable for most people.

All whiskies I never want to be without... cheers!

Thanks Alan! Happy holidays to you and yours.

Nice! Cask strength Balvenie is a lovely pour if you can find it. Cheers

@@topshelfwhisky is the tun 1509 really better than the Balvenie 25...??? cuz the 25 is nearly 1k, and ive heard it's actually that dam good

The best we were able to find for the price... and we were looking.

Respectfully, some might consider me a whisky "connoisseur" given that I watch & read hundreds of reviews, subscribe to channels & magazines, support whiskytubers, and buy dozens of bottles of whisky per year, and that I have tasted very rare, very old and very expensive whisky, and I would never even consider purchasing anything approaching a $500 bottle for myself. Maybe that's because I don't flip bottles for profit, or care to chase unicorns, or maybe I'm frugal (see: cheap), but I find it unnecessary to satisfy my desires & curiosities about the product. If you trust your senses and your instincts, and if you're being honest, about 90+% of what you could ever hope to experience within whisky can be done for under $100, perhaps less, and probably 99% for well under $200, obviously in my opinion ✌️

@@MrChristopherMolloy that's the part that most don't get. Great whisky can be had for under 150 bucks. To make the jump past that point is a decision based solely on the individual drinkers desire to chase that extra 3 to 5 percent of improvement. Cheers and merry Christmas

@@charlesashworth6805 Agreed! Merry Christmas ✌️🎄⛄🎅

@@MrChristopherMolloy I would say Laphroaig 18 gives you 90% of the 25. More or less I agree with your ratio.

Good question regarding the Laphroaig 25.... 2017 (sherry more dominant) is my favorite but I know Dustin prefers the 2018 (higher abv/oily) the 2019 and 2016 are lesser bottling a in my opinion.

So many great Indy bottles, thats good idea for another review... For this top 5, I wanted to focus on regularly available bottles. Speaking of IB's, ever try Laphroaig 16 CS Signatory?

I'm with you Donner. Way too expensive for something that goes down too easy and ends up in the toilet. It's great stuff but what planet are we on? We are paying Rolex prices for tasty drinks.

@@welshtoro3256 Yes but it's fun to watch these 2 😆

Whisky exchange has the best section.

If HP25 was under $500 it absolutely would have made the list. That’s a good buy at 499... Really all of these five whiskies are tricky to pick up depending on your location. They’re available but you may have to do some traveling or get a family member to ship you a bottle

@@topshelfwhisky I agree 100% on the location, for availability and pricing. I think the small mom and pop type stores are where you can get some of the harder to find stuff vs. the chains.

That 2020 is super dark. Excellent release! I recommend the Laphroaig highly. Merry Christmas

I love that whisky. I shared some with my brother-in-law and now its his favorite whisky period. No more Pappy, no more Macallan just Glengoyne 25... Now I enjoy visiting with him. 😉

GG25 is the best bang for your buck older sherried whisky. It's not close, so if sherry is your thing you have the right bottle. The Laphroaig and Springbank are both excellent but you have to love the Springbank funk and Laphroaig hospital smoke.

@@topshelfwhisky I love the Springbank funk and the Laphroiag peat indeed. Hopefully I’ll find a good deal on them sometime in the future. I would say that another great buy under $500 is the Glendronach Single Cask series. Obviously, not all of them are under $500 but you can find great deals on European websites.

@dhsilv2 That makes sense. Here is another question for you : what’s the difference between the Laphroiag 25 with black label and black box vs white label and white box ?

@dhsilv2 Thank you.

One thing to mention is that Glengoyne 25 is almost cask strength at 48% abv, they are just bottling it at this point because of consistency.

I prefer GG25 over Mac 25 and thats if they were the same price. Considering the price difference its an easy choice...SB21 I can find in Kentucky and overseas online retailers but it's not easy. You have to be quick. The Springbank is the hardest bottle to source on this list.

@dhsilv2 thanks Dustin, I just checked Ace and it’s sold out, but will keep checking until find one.

Bunna 25 just missed the list at #6. Dustin and I had some debate on this one. In the end SB21 took its place but it was close.

@dhsilv2 900 is insane. It's £325 in the U.K

I pick up two cases in Ohio for $236 per back in 2018 but then went up to $899 so...

Can still be had in my area sub $350 CDN, once the wooden boxes go there will be an increase.

They are all excellent but this years 2020 might be my favorite SB21.

I’m haven’t tried the 8.1 but it’s doubt it’s at the level of the older ones... even then I may prefer the GG25. It’s an excellent whisky.

High, that’s for certain… great price

@@topshelfwhisky I would like to know about how much it is in your city🤔🤔

@@user-cz1ez5jd6p not sold in ohio period. About 800-900 if we leave state.

Yeah, the prices have gone up bad in the US, but as always just order from the UK or mainland Europe for these. Most are still *Just* south of the 500 mark (though good lord that won't be possible on SB21).

@dhsilv2 Fair enough Dustin. Drink less and be more particular in your choices. I need more dry days for sure.

Of course I wish the price was lower. In my state Lagavulin 16 is selling for over $100 so nothing is inexpensive on this side of the pond besides our shared appreciation of Laphroaig 10 cask strength. It's the best buy we have right now. Around $55 and has been available the last few years. Happy holidays WT.

@dhsilv2 You make a good point about value not always being the cheapest option. In most cases it isn't. The independents are a bit of a guessing game but I think experienced drinkers can make an educated guess. I appreciate that a lot of that choice is limited on your side of the pond. The choice and accessibility of quality bourbon on my side has virtually collapsed.

@@topshelfwhisky Mike, I think the even greater tragedy is the increasing price of the Lagavulin 12. £125 this year and much as I love it I had to leave it alone. It's 12 years old for goodness sake and don't tell me Diageo weren't making decent money at £100. That's a 25% increase just because they think they can get away with it. I'm telling all my whisky pals like you and Dustin to leave it alone until they drop the price to a sensible limit. We, the community, are fueling the distilleries greed because they chip away and we keep going along with it. I paid £190 for my Laphroaig 25 about four years ago and nothing has changed to justify the massive price increase. Certain brands, such as Macallan and Dalmore are just toothpaste product now. Marketed stuff to please shareholder profits. There are a number of highly respected distilleries not far behind and moving in that direction. We should have more self-respect and refuse to buy it. Mike and Dustin, I come from an old political family and I'm a politics and philosophy graduate myself so I firmly believe that strong opinions, even alternative ones, can be respected. It's unfortunate today that civility and respect of alternative views are deemed so challenging. I know you don't fall in to that category but for me it's water off a duck's back. I say what I think without being disrespectful and I hope you and others can understand that. I'm pretty sure you guys agree with me. Cheers and a Happy Christmas. WT

@@welshtoro3256 man, Lagavulin 12 went to $154 in my state. Of that wasn’t bad enough, the 2019 was worst release I’ve tasted. People are saying the same about the 2020. It was an easy choice at $109 when they were still good. No worries about opinions. I come from a big family, I’m very familiar with people disagreeing with me 😉. I’m sure I over spend on single malts but I’m hooked man.

That's certainly a needed video, but with availability and prices changing seemingly daily....we might have to wait out 2022 and see if things settle down.

Ha, most of my whisky collection is under this number and many great bottles to explore in this price range. There are quite a few gems under 500 and these are all excellent. cheers!

@@topshelfwhisky But have to agree that Laphroaig 25 is a gem. Seriously!!!! Love it so much.

I haven't tried anything older from the distillery but none of those would be under $500.

@@topshelfwhisky tried the 25y, 27y and 30y but the black arts are better👍🏻

@dhsilv2 have not tried them all actually only the 4-7😬

Rare Casks are excellent, but that's crossing into bonkers $$$ territory (bottle split if yer keen)

Wow, is that for the 9.1 ?

@@topshelfwhisky I assume, party source 1 of the places

@@ryanparker4775 yea, that’s the new lower abv. 44% I think.

@@topshelfwhisky for 650? F that

We have a “top 5 Islay’s under $100 coming but we are always open to suggestions.

Camouflage

@@topshelfwhisky 👌🏼

If memory serves, it was 6th place.

Mike brought it up, I simi vetoed due to US price has gone to well over 600 most places, and like 800 where we were. I think you can still get it for about 400 in the UK + shipping, but the new prices are just too much. Sadly a few our the bottles on this list are starting to get scary in the US, we might have to do another one in a year...didn't see that coming.

@@topshelfdustin3060is bunna 25 better than the 18. Be honest 🤨

The Whisky Exchange... among others.

Oh how things have changed since this video was made.

@@topshelfdustin3060 time for a new updated video? Besides you'll get a ton of new views maybe even new subscribers! I could see this probably was one of the best whisky guides 2 years ago. Would be great to have an update. I feel like i could've made a good list 2 years ago, easier said than done. Today im at a total loss to make a list like this, but id love to see u guys give it a shot 🙃😉 500 is like my sweet spot, its about the most I'm comfortable dropping on any given bottle. Altho on maybe 3 occasions i paid well over 500 for something i thought was exceptional and couldn't be found cheaper

🤗🤗🤗

Cask strength Talisker 25 would have but those are well Over $500 these days.

I think we'd have considered the 30 year if that were under 500 more consistently, but yeah the current 25 doesn't imo hold up.

You need to try their peated stuff it sounds like!

@@topshelfdustin3060 uh yes i do! Im unaware they do peated!

@@MasterMoteThe 14 year peat week is outstanding. That said their older expressions can be pretty good as is there 15 and 21 year single casks (ex bourbon especially). It's a subtle malt but subtle isn't always a bad thing. Lovely honey notes.

@@topshelfdustin3060 oh im a dope🤦‍♂️ I have two bottles of their 15, an older and newer. They're FANTASTIC..i guess i forgot about them lol. But they're discontinued. Those are lovely. In my mind they work cuz the sherry cask does all the work and the base distilate from Balvenie which is super subtle just stays out of the way and doesn't detract or anything..but i couldn't imagine buying like carribean cask for example.. Too "boring"

@@MasterMote oh, I think the 15 sherry (which I still see new bottles coming out here at least) works because their heather honey malt perfectly pairs with sherry. That said the OLD 15 bourbon single casks were fantastic too.

yeah....regions aren't our strong point. Nor is tasting spey vs highland (or in this case distilled in the highlands and matured in the lowlands) something we've mastered.

You never get Laffy 25 from me again! 👍🏻🤣😉

Yeah...tarrifs and exchange rates along with inflation made this messy. I don't think however this list is that bad outside of Balvenie Tun 1509 cause my last bottle was great stuff, but not best under 500-650 (inflation adjusted) good.

Not sure i follow this one. At the time when this was done, these were in our opinions the 5 best whiskies you could get under 500, non single barrels or one off LE's aside, period end of story. Now days I think only the springbank still retails under 500, but that's hard to get. And once you're into these types of bottles, the prices store to store can range +/- 300 bucks. So you might find a Laphroig 25 for 300 or 550 (real world example at that time).