Top 5 Scotch Whisky Alternatives CHEAPER Than Macallan 12 Year

[@jazzmandan7056]

My ‘go to’ lately, mostly out of cost; ‘Monkey shoulder’. I had been accustomed to the Glenlivet 12 which I find very enjoyable and before that the GlenMorangie but had always gravitated back to GlenLivet. But, y’a, the Macallan is hard to beat.. Veeeeery nice to sip on 😎🥃👍

[@21st-century-business]

Your comments are the best!! I always learn so much from your people

[@McIntyresMalts]

The Tamdhu 12 is an excellent (and better IMO) alternative for sure to the Macallan 12, but the Tamdhu 12 IS chill filtered my friend, the 15 and up is where they don't chill filter.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Good catch. There's so much contradictory information on this whisky out there! I don't have a bottle on hand to check for mist, but as it doesn't state it's NCF on the label, I assume I was misled, and it is, in fact, chill-filtered.

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

I've seen Macallan 12 Sherry selling for $150 in NYC, but it generally goes for $85 😱 My alternatives would be: Glenmorangie Lasanta 12, Bunnahabhain 12, Glendronach 12.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Just think about the alternatives you could buy for $150 ...

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

@@whiskywhereabouts The scary thing is that there are blind-with-wealth people buying it at that price. As for $150, if I could find it, Tamdhu Cask Strength comes to mind, as does Bunnahabhain 12 Cask Strength, with some money to spare.

[@lnz971]

Macallan 12 cherry is way better than Bunnahabhain 12

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

@@lnz971 I'm sure you meant Sherry, not "Cherry". In your opinion or are you making an objective statement? Bunnahabhain 12 is bottled at 46% and is un-chillfiltered, and you can't say that about Macallan 12 Sherry Wood. So how is it better?

[@lnz971]

@@MrChristopherMolloy i have those two bottle and i prefer the macallan over it, ALL my friends experienced scotch drinker or not prefer the macallan too... i don't watch the price of the bottle... For the same price there is 15 or 18 yo scotch that are better but " Bunnahabhain 12 don't beat macallan 12 sherry "... As macallan is overpriced it's also overhated by people like you

[@mistermom310]

I love Bunnahabhain 12 and I'm going to try Glenlivet 12. I'm also looking at the Bruichladdich Islay Barley

[@McIntyresMalts]

I'd also take a Bunna 12 over a Macallan 12 every day of the week, night and day how much better it is than Macallan 👌

[@markanderson8677]

Agree 100%. I love the Bunnahabhain12 and would like to try the 18 but have never been able to find it where I'm from (S. Minnesota, USA) and refuse to pay secondary prices. Go Bunna '-)

[@hanqb10]

I’d throw the Compass Box Spice Tree out there, just to mix it up with a blended malt. $59 or so on the regular for 46% and no chill filtering, and many of the nice oak spices that you can get in the Mac 12.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Nice alternative at that price.

[@markrider-lv1er]

I agree! Nice typical sweet profile with just enough smoke to give it extra character!

[@michaelbradley8937]

Great list and perspective, thank you!

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rhinelander9554]

My alternative would be the Royal Brackla 12y which is about 20 Euro cheaper than the Macallan here in Germany.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

That's good value. I generally see it for $5 to $10 more than the Macallan 12, which put it just beyond the range for this list.

[@damenjackson594]

May I propose as an alternative: Arbelour 12 Lagavulin 11 Nick Offerman Edition ( Carribean Cask) Balvenie 12 Doublewood Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Barrel Reserve Ardbeg An Oa There are epic expressions out there equal to or cheaper than Macallan. I encourage everyone to experiment.

[@CraigDoverton]

Aberlour 12 is the best alternative I think.

[@whiskyjourney175]

Would also highly recommend the Glenfarclas 105. Very underrated in my opinion and a good £10 cheaper than the Macallan 12 here in the UK. In a cask strength blind tasting I did recently it came out tops against 4 other drams, which included Glendronach cask strength and Aberlour A'bunadh.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Great call at that price. Here in the US it's the opposite: you can expect to pay $15 more for the cask strength Glenfarclas. Cheers!

[@jones18269]

There was two different Glenfarclas 105 in the past. The normal one is a NAS Whisky, but there was also one, which was 10 years old for the same price. The age was written on the backside of the bottle.

[@thomasmorgan6535]

Glenturret 12 for my recommendation

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Nice. You should be able to find it for this price

[@benseiler5478]

This particular bottle just listed for $59.99 in my area. Would you say it’s a buy for that price?

[@whiskywhereabouts]

That's about as low as I've heard of it going (a very good price on nit is $70).

[@griff7749]

Macallan 12 goes for $64.99 at my Costco. Seems pretty good for that, but the Kirkland single malt, sherry finished, 46%, is only $27 and 85% as good

[@whiskywhereabouts]

That's a very good price, but nothing can compete with the price of Kirkland single malt ...

[@silverfox108]

Your alternative scotch is in the same price range as the Macallan up here in Canada if you can find them

[@kevinfreimarck3301]

I can get the Macallen 12 double cask for $65, so I am staying with that as the others you mention are over that price. Why are other people talking about the Macallen sherry? Costs more money.

[@helenmenzies9488]

Aberlour Ah-boon-ah. Lovely whisky but my favourite is bunnahabhain 12 year old .

[@mihaklemencic3734]

Casg annamh is coloured though

[@CraigDoverton]

I would honestly get monkey shoulder or smokey monkey at $45 in my market and a decent sherried Irish like Sexton and get two good bottles for the price of one Macallan 12.

[@TheSurgeHunter]

It truly boggles the mind that Macallan is asking these prices. Especially in a few years when their stock gets expanded by the new product coming out of the massive new distillery. If anything, Macallan should get very affordable in a few years concidering how much of it will be out there! I say SHOULD, because we all know their prices will never go down.

[@TheSurgeHunter]

As an added comment, the only Macallan I EVER buy is Independent bottlings like those from Signarory. Much more affordable and Cask Strength / Single Cask.

[@whiskywhereabouts]

A useful hack if you want an improved presentation ...

[@BTSyaya]

Just to keep you updated my local total wine and more liquor store sells this exact bottle for $67. So I think you were right. Just grabbed 2 bottles of it this week.

[@aadsala6361]

Here in Holland we can only buy The Macalan 12 with a 40% ABV

[@whiskywhereabouts]

That ABV makes the price tough to justify. Cheers!

[@DamirHadzic-d4q]

A few days ago,I bought Bunnahabhain 12 for 44€. Maccalan 12 is 80€. Is it overpriced? Hell,yeah.

[@gareth630]

Glen Garioch 12 48% bourbon and sherry casks, £48.00 uk get in there :-) Also Genallachie 12 yr £50.00 uk another good one 🙂

[@whiskywhereabouts]

If you can get GlenAllachie 12 for less than Mac 12, that's a great alternative.

[@JayNye1]

Arbelour, Craigellachie, Glenfarclas

[@markrider-lv1er]

Like so many other things now… Macallan 12 ain’t what it used to be. On my shelf right now are the Glenallachie, Glendronach, and Bunnahabhain. All were $60-$65 and all are way better than Macallan 12. The Glenallachie is an amazing dark fruit bomb. My favorite dram right now for sure

[@whiskywhereabouts]

These are great options.

[@anastaciogarciasr2079]

9:57 Serious. $5 to $10 save? Wasted time..

[@TheReal_DeanD]

If you can ever find this Scotch I think it's a good alternative. Famous Grouse 12 year.

[@graham2954]

Goruse and macallan are owned by the edrnigton group and the grouse will have some Macallan in it.

[@TheReal_DeanD]

@@graham2954 no wonder it made me think of Macallan. I just had found a dusty Famous Grouse 12 year in a hole in the wall store and it was so good.

[@dennis85573]

The Naked Grouse is a good alternative to the Mac as well.

[@charlescury2353]

Glendronach 12 is non chill filtered

[@cascode1192]

Macallan 18 is still a good malt but everything in their range that is cheaper is rubbish and everything that is more expensive is stupidly overpriced (as is the 18 itself, for that matter). The last great affordable whisky they released was the 1824 Sienna about 8 years ago. I try Macallan occasionally at shows and tastings, but it never impresses me any more. Their day has passed.

[@vshnrocks]

craigellachie 13

[@benjamintreitz1647]

Macallan 12 is pure hype. Ppl who slurp that stuff also take fitness advice from Men's Health.