Suppose you’re looking for an excellent single malt whisky for £40. Why else would you click on this blog?
Well, that’s what we’ve got here. And we really tried very hard to stick to that budget. Most of these whiskies are £39.95 at the time of writing. Some are lower.
These options provide a range of flavours and styles, from smoky and peaty to sweet and fruity, ensuring you can find a high-quality whisky that suits your taste within your budget.
Whisky: what’s the best single malt for £40
Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire 10 Year Old Whisky 70cl
This is a proper sherried Islay single malt: it’s smoky, coastal, sweet, rich, and darkly delicious. The decidedly descriptive Seaweed & Aeons & Digging & Fire is a 10-year-old single malt is from an undisclosed distillery on Islay, with 25% of the malt finished in first-fill oloroso sherry casks to add more flavour and depth.
Nose: Rich, powerful sherry with a well-integrated core of peat. Solid.
Palate: Well-balanced but extremely forceful on delivery. The sherry makes itself known in a really good way.
Finish: Red apple sweetness gives way to oaken-vanilla goodness and fades elegantly into the embers of a chargrilled well-aged steak.
Ledaig Rioja Cask Finish – Sinclair Series Whisky 70cl
This Ledaig single malt from Tobermory enjoyed a finishing period in Rioja wine casks to bring ripe red fruit sweetness, tobacco, and aromatic spice along the whisky’s classic coastal peat.
Nose: Red grapes, cinnamon, rose petal jelly, and a wave of coastal smoke.
Palate: Grassy peat, stewed plum, raspberry, almond, dark chocolate.
Finish: Salted caramel, cherry, clove.
Glenfarclas 10 Year Old 70cl Whisky
From the renowned family-owned Glenfarclas Distillery, this delicate whisky was aged in 100% oloroso sherry casks. It’s a whisky made the right way available for a steal of a price.
Nose: Lots of juicy, sweet, sherry notes combined with malt and barley. Creamy hints of toffee give way to delicate honey, vanilla, and orchard fruits.
Palate: Delicious sherry sweetness and dried fruits, with complex, delicate winter spices and fruitcake. Light toffee, and a hint of smoke.
Finish: Long, smooth, spicy and fruity, with a touch of oak.
Blair Athol 10 Year Old 2015 Single Cask – Mosaic Edition (Master of Malt) 70cl Whisky
Yes, we’re picking one of our own, but taste it and you’ll understand. Distilled at the underrated Blair Athol in 2015, the whisky spent the next decade maturing in a single refill hogshead, developing glorious notes of butter, toffee, and apricot. Also, hark at that elegant label artwork by abstract painter Katie Murrell. Very cool.
Nose: Juicy barley, creamy grist, and sweet, biscuity malt open the way. Browned butter financier cakes, apricot jam, and fresh apricots, too. It’s creamy and rich, with tropical hints of pineapple and dulce de leche.
Palate: Superbly soft, with vanilla buttercream, a touch of clotted cream fudge, and peach fromage frais, backed by toffee pennies and mellow, buttery oak. Gentle spices gather beneath, with more soft stone fruits in tow.
Finish: Vibrant barley lingers, a more savoury touch of oak pokes through for just a moment, with blanched almonds, butterscotch, apricot pastries and softly spiced butter biscuits.
Aberfeldy 12 Year Old 70cl Whisky
Aberfeldy 12 Year Old single malt whisky is creamy, honeyed and gently smoky. Few whiskies at this price are so well-rounded, or as handsome.
Nose: Creamy. Some sherried fruit with a trailing hint of smoke. Honeyed prunes, custard, and espresso beans.
Palate: Sweet, malty, with gentle peat and a mellow, silky texture. Vanilla fudge, peaches and cream, and subtle toasted oak follow.
Finish: Ginger, malt, nutty nougat, and maybe a little grapefruit zest.
