By budget
Rittenhouse Straight Rye Bottled-in-Bond leads, ranked by cost per litre of pure alcohol.Under £40 is the most competitive and most misrepresented band in whisky. Nearly everything here is bottled at the 40% legal minimum, which is exactly why the exceptions matter.
By WhiskeyCask Editorial · Prices observed 2026-07-30 · 13 bottles considered
| # | Whisky | ABV | Age | RRP | Per 10cl | Per L alcohol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rittenhouse Straight Rye Bottled-in-Bond | 50% | 4 years | £32 | £4.27 | £85 |
| 2 | Wild Turkey 101 | 50.5% | No age statement | £32 | £4.57 | £91 |
| 3 | Teeling Small Batch | 46% | No age statement | £32 | £4.57 | £99 |
| 4 | Monkey Shoulder | 43% | No age statement | £30 | £4.29 | £100 |
| 5 | Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon | 45% | No age statement | £32 | £4.57 | £102 |
| 6 | Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old | 40% | 12 years | £30 | £4.29 | £107 |
| 7 | Four Roses Small Batch | 45% | No age statement | £34 | £4.86 | £108 |
| 8 | High West Double Rye! | 46% | No age statement | £38 | £5.07 | £110 |
| 9 | Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select | 45.2% | No age statement | £38 | £5.43 | £120 |
| 10 | Compass Box Artist Blend | 43% | No age statement | £37 | £5.29 | £123 |
| 11 | Bowmore 12 Year Old | 40% | 12 years | £38 | £5.43 | £136 |
| 12 | Glenfiddich 12 Year Old | 40% | 12 years | £38 | £5.43 | £136 |
| 13 | Chivas Regal 12 Year Old | — | 12 years | £33 | £4.71 | — |
rye · Kentucky, United States · 50% ABV · 4 years · spicy, full-bodied, oaky
Sharp rye spice and cinnamon at 100 proof. The bartender's rye, and rightly so.
Bottled-in-Bond legally requires exactly 100 proof and at least four years in a federally supervised warehouse, so the 4-year figure may be the statutory floor rather than a distinct age statement. It also keeps the Scottish spelling 'whisky' despite being Kentucky rye.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 50.5% ABV · No age statement · spicy, full-bodied, oaky
Big vanilla, rye spice and heat. The best value proof-per-pound in bourbon.
irish blend · Dublin, Ireland · 46% ABV · No age statement · sweet, full-bodied, fruity
Vanilla and spiced rum sweetness at 46%, non-chill-filtered. Remarkable for the money.
Fully aged in ex-bourbon, then married in Central American rum casks for 'up to 12 months' — note that is a ceiling, not a fixed period.
blended malt · Speyside, Scotland · 43% ABV · No age statement · sweet, fruity, malty
Vanilla, orange and malt, built to survive ice and ginger ale. An honest cocktail malt.
William Grant & Sons does not name the three constituent malts anywhere on its own site — the widely repeated Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie attribution is unofficial. The 43% we list is the producer's US figure; no UK strength is published at all.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45% ABV · No age statement · sweet, spicy, oaky
Brown sugar, vanilla and a clean pepper finish. The bourbon benchmark for the money.
blended scotch · Scotland · 40% ABV · 12 years · sweet, full-bodied, fruity
Light smoke, dried fruit and vanilla over a soft, easy body. The most reliable blend on any shelf anywhere.
Diageo states the blend uses over 29 whiskies, every one matured a minimum of 12 years — the age statement is a floor across all components, not an average.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45% ABV · No age statement · spicy, sweet, oaky
Red fruit and rye spice, cleanly made. One of the few bourbons that tells you its recipe.
Four Roses is one of the very few American distillers to publish actual mash bills: this blends recipes B (60% corn / 35% rye / 5% barley) and E (75% / 20% / 5%). Its single-storey rack warehouses vary only about 8°F from top rack to bottom.
rye · Utah, United States · 46% ABV · No age statement · spicy, full-bodied, sweet
Mint, dill and pepper. Two ryes of different ages married, and it tastes like it.
High West discloses two distinct mash bills — a sourced 95% rye / 5% malted barley and its own 80% rye / 20% malted rye — but gives no component ages, so the 'two ryes of different ages' claim is never quantified.
bourbon · Kentucky, United States · 45.2% ABV · No age statement · sweet, spicy, oaky
Dried fruit, mint and cocoa. Rounder and less sweet than most at the price.
Woodford is the rare Kentucky bourbon distilled in copper pot stills. The 45.2% we list is the producer's own figure (90.4 proof); a 43.2% UK/EU bottling is widely reported but we could not verify it on any producer or retailer page. Despite common belief, Woodford publishes no mash bill percentages anywhere.
blended scotch · Scotland · 43% ABV · No age statement · fruity, sweet, malty
Bright orchard fruit and cream with a dry, spiced finish. Proof that a blend can be interesting.
Compass Box publishes the complete recipe by percentage, which no large blender does: 45% Cameronbridge grain, 22% Linkwood, 10% Clynelish, 10% Balmenach, 8% a Highland malt blend in custom French oak, 5% Linkwood in a Palo Cortado butt. Component ages are the one thing conspicuously absent. Formerly sold as Great King Street Artist's Blend.
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 · Speyside, Scotland · 40% ABV · 12 years · fruity, sweet, malty
Pear and green apple over light malt. The reference point for accessible Speyside.
blended scotch · Scotland · Not published · 12 years · sweet, fruity, malty
Soft, honeyed and inoffensive. Built for mixing rather than contemplation.
We cannot publish an ABV for this bottle. Chivas' own domains return HTTP 403 to us on every path, Pernod Ricard's brand page omits strength, and no major retailer exposes it in product data — so the widely repeated 40% is not something we can source. The blend is anchored to Strathisla, the oldest continuously operating distillery in Scotland, founded 1786.