By style
Aberlour A'bunadh leads, ranked by sherry influence, highest first.Sherry-cask maturation gives dried fruit, nuts and a darker, richer profile than bourbon-barrel whisky. Good sherry casks are scarce and expensive, so this is where you most often pay for something real.
By WhiskeyCask Editorial · Prices observed 2026-07-30 · 11 bottles considered
| # | Whisky | ABV | Age | RRP | Per 10cl | Per L alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberlour A'bunadh | — | No age statement | £70 | £10 | — |
| 2 | The GlenDronach Original 12 Year Old | 43% | 12 years | £52 | £7.43 | £173 |
| 3 | The Macallan Sherry Oak 18 Years Old (2025 Release) | 43% | 18 years | £340 | £49 | £1130 |
| 4 | The Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask | 40% | 12 years | £72 | £10 | £257 |
| 5 | Ardbeg Uigeadail | 54.2% | No age statement | £60 | £8.57 | £158 |
| 6 | The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old | 43% | 12 years | £50 | £7.14 | £166 |
| 7 | Redbreast 12 Year Old | 40% | 12 years | £55 | £7.86 | £196 |
| 8 | Starward Nova | 41% | No age statement | £55 | £7.86 | £192 |
| 9 | Bowmore 12 Year Old | 40% | 12 years | £38 | £5.43 | £136 |
| 10 | Highland Park 12 Year Old Viking Honour | 40% | 12 years | £42 | £6.00 | £150 |
| 11 | Johnnie Walker Blue Label | 40% | No age statement | £149 | £21 | £532 |
single malt · Speyside, Scotland · Not published · No age statement · sherried, full-bodied, sweet
Enormous sherried fruit at cask strength. Batch to batch it moves, which is the point.
We publish no ABV because there isn't one: A'bunadh is released in sequential batches, each bottled at its own cask strength, and Aberlour states only 'cask strength' with no number. Any single ABV you see quoted for it is batch-specific. A'bunadh means 'the original' in Gaelic.
single malt · Highland, Scotland · 43% ABV · 12 years · sherried, sweet, full-bodied
Christmas cake, walnut and dark chocolate. Full sherry maturation, not a finish.
Matured 'for at least 12 years' — an explicit minimum rather than a nominal age — exclusively in PX and Oloroso casks with no bourbon component at all.
single malt · Speyside, Scotland · 43% ABV · 18 years · sherried, full-bodied, sweet
Dense dried fruit, clove and old leather. Magnificent, and priced accordingly.
Sold as a dated annual release, not a continuous bottling — Macallan catalogues 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 as separate products, so the spec must be re-checked per release.
single malt · Speyside, Scotland · 40% ABV · 12 years · sweet, sherried, fruity
Butterscotch, orange and a dry oak finish. Polished and very easy to like.
single malt · Islay, Scotland · 54.2% ABV · No age statement · smoky, full-bodied, spicy
Tar, raisin and smoked meat at 54.2%. The best-value cask-strength Islay there is.
A batched vatting, so the strength has varied slightly over time — 54.2% is the current stated figure, not a permanent one. Named after the peat-laden loch supplying the distillery's water.
single malt · Speyside, Scotland · 43% ABV · 12 years · sweet, fruity, sherried
Honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sweet without being cloying, and 43% helps.
single pot still · Ireland · 40% ABV · 12 years · fruity, malty, full-bodied
Thick, oily pot-still spice with sherried fruit. The style Ireland nearly lost.
Single pot still requires a mash of both malted and unmalted barley — an Irish style that came close to extinction.
world whisky · Victoria, Australia · 41% ABV · No age statement · fruity, full-bodied, sweet
Red berries and chocolate from full red-wine-cask maturation. Unlike anything Scottish.
Fully matured in red wine barrels, not finished in them — and Starward sources the barrels 'within hours of being emptied', wet-filling new spirit while residual wine is still present. Grape varieties are not disclosed.
single malt · Islay, Scotland · 40% ABV · 12 years · smoky, sweet, full-bodied
Sea salt, lemon and gentle smoke over sherried fruit. The most balanced entry-level Islay.
Bowmore is precise about wood and silent on strength — its page specifies hand-selected ex-bourbon and Oloroso casks while stating no ABV anywhere. Not to be confused with the separate Bowmore 12 Sherry Oak Cask SKU.
single malt · Islands, Scotland · 40% ABV · 12 years · sweet, full-bodied, fruity
Heather smoke and honey in balance. The best-balanced malt at its price.
blended scotch · Scotland · 40% ABV · No age statement · sweet, full-bodied, fruity
Silky, honeyed and faintly smoky. Immaculately made, and priced for the box as much as the liquid.
Diageo's own page states no age at all, framing selection by rejection rate instead — only one cask in 10,000 qualifies — with some components from closed 'ghost' distilleries.