TOP 5 Whiskies to Buy on a $300 Budget

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This video is about creating the ideal Scotch whisky collection for beginners eager to delve into the world of Scotch. By the end of this video, you'll have a comprehensive shopping list tailored to stay under $300 and gain insightful knowledge about each bottle's history. This will enable you to share and discuss your new collection with friends and family. Enjoy the video, and let's embark on this whisky shopping adventure!
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Disclaimer: This video is only a reflection of my personal opinion and perspective.

[@JeffWhisky]

That 4th bottle on your list... the best value bottle hands down! Great stuff Phil, slap on!

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

So good! Thanks man, hope you're good!

[@davecashel4007]

The GlenAllachie brand does not disappoint. Great choices.

[@kevinnordby4808]

Great video Phil! 👍

[@SirLukealike]

Great stuff!!! Totally agree on whisky #4 !

[@SimonneNZ]

Great video Phil! I agree with the Ledaig Sinclair Rioja, it is really good value. I haven't tried the GlenAllachie 10 CS yet but really like the Ardnamurchan CS. Cheers!

[@vktay3198]

Great recommendations Phil!

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Thanks for watching!

[@rolloverlaydown24]

Tamdhu. Great stuff..Glenallachie, top stuff. Great choices!

[@petemc4190]

Arran 10 Bingo at 5:25 😎to be fair your chat on it did get me to buy a bottle and I'm now shamelessly a massive fan!

[@Deimnos]

Every time i watch one of your videos Phil, my wishlist grows and grows.. and considering my drinking pace has slowed, i' probably set for the next 15 years! Oh well, time to add a few more to that list!

[@francescocomunale8195]

The ledaig sinclair series is soooo good! It's a hidden gem for the price you pay!

[@dayne746]

Great list and recommendations. Laphroaig PX Cask fits two categories :)

[@lightplays2181]

Good rewiev Phil , like ) Slainte !

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Thanks for watching!

[@thewhiskyenthusiast]

Boom what a list! With just 5 whiskies costing around 300 dollars one can have a fantastic bar! - Awkardly looking at my more than 5 whiskies 😬 Cheers Phil, great video 🥃

[@slappe_harry5493]

For the peated in the list I would've went with the Port Charlotte 10. 50% and a very tasty dram. I think it's one of the most flavourful peated whisky at the moment. Mainly bourbon and a little french wine which make it very fresh and It's between €60 en €70 here

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Love the PC! You can get it for a much better price than me

[@csabah.6251]

Great video and list! Tamdhu 12 for sure!

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

It's a tasty sherried whisky for sure!

[@NZDave]

Great list, would be a great starter collection for anyone, I'd go the Tamdhu 15 and swerve that Sinclair Series for the Kilchoman or Laphroaig Qtr Cask but tomato/tomato (that doesn't really work in text)

[@jeffbroemmel8003]

I am a big fan of the smoky whiskeys you listed. I like them more than what I am suggesting but for the price, I really like Jura. Either the Jura ten or Journey, when money is tight and I want a peated scotch, Jura is my go to.

[@TheGreatUndergroundEmpire]

I watched a Horst Luening review, a Randy Feltface short, and KZbin thought about them and said, you know what video you might like? And here I am.

[@ashythedon]

Another great video Phil. I would add another category just like ex bourbon, ex sherry. Coastal. That sea salty, slightly peaty dram. Only one ticks all those boxes. Talisker 10. An essential In any scotch whiskey collection

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Great point! That’s a good addition

[@mmwosu]

The Max Verstappen reference 🎉 Dead 🐂

[@MaRCuS11.22.]

A fellow kiwi with a good taste 🇳🇿 🥃 Subbed!

[@thekevinsantos]

Good video! Typical answers on my end but it's what available in 🇵🇭: Beginner/Mixer: Naked Malt Ex-Bourbon: Aultmore 12 Ex-Sherry: Bunna 12 Peaty/Smoky: Ardbeg 10 Cask Strength: Wormtub 10 Extra one (since the other 5 were under 300 USD): Benromach 10

[@uiski7956]

Bunnahabhain 12, Springbank 10, Longrow and Killkerran 12,and the Tandhu 12 for the sherry bomb!

[@lightplays2181]

Good choice , all whisky is nice ....

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

It sure is!

[@xiamengbaby]

Glencadam 10 is $45 while Arran 10 is $60 by me, in the Chicago area. Though I did find a store with some dusties of the previous Arran 10 bottles for $46. So old the the cork broke while opening it, darn it! I was able to get a couple of the Illicit bottles, but I never saw the Licensed Dram show up in my area, unfortunately.

[@Nikolay_Nikolov]

That's a competent selection indeed Phill. In Bulgaria I can have even fancier one for the equivalent of USD 300 for the whisky goes at relatively good price. Casual sipper: Arran 10 for roughly USD 35 Ex-bourbon casks/spirit forward: Arran Quarter Cask for roughly USD 46. I know it's cask strength and looks like I'm cheating, but hey :) Sherried whisky. I'd go with either Bunnahabhain 12 or Glenallachie 12 for roughtly USD 51. None of them is matured in 100% ex-sherry casks, but they are still pretty shierried drams. Peated: Recently I had the opportunity to taste the new Billy Walker whisky Meikle Toir, The Sherry One and The Chinquapin One and was blown away by the sheer quality of both drams. The Chinquapin One slightly edges it for me but The Sherry One is pretty damn good too. I can have either of them for roughly USD 41. Cask Strength: Glenallachie 10 CS. Batch 10 can be had for around USD 68. Tomatin Cask Strength is more budget friendly offering at roughly USD 50. So, for 5 bottles one would have to part with the equivalent of around $241. Since we are $59 below the budget, I'd throw in a bottle of Ardnamurchan AD/ or Sherry Cask for ~USD57. Or get a bottle of Kilkerran 12 for the same money on sale from Germany or Netherlands instead:) Cheers!

[@klizzt]

Turbo Nerd Alert here, but you referred to the MacLeans Nose as a blended malt, but its actually a blended scotch, so not even 100% malt whisky. Totally agree with you on it being an amazing value though! Also, got to love the premise of the video, because a lot of us scotch nerds will think "300$ for five bottles? Boy, got to look for some budget bottles here" while for 99,9% of the world's population this is a preposterous amount of money to spend on five bottles of booze. As for my list I probably have the ultimate cheat code, since I'm in Germany and we have amazing prices for scotch and very good availability in IBs (which will feature here). But I'm comfortably shy of the 275€ limit, soooo.... Guard Whisky: Campbeltown Loch, ca. 40€ (preferably older, lighter batches, but the new ones are great too) - a great balance of spirit and cask flavors with a hint of Campbeltown funk make for an easy drinking but at the same time never boring blended malt. ex-Bourbon: Clynelish 14, ca 45€ - this has some sherry in the mix, but to me it's quite bourbon led, good age statement and really lets the beautiful, waxy spirit shine through. ex-Sherry: Thompson Bros TB/BSW, ca 41€ - a blended scotch with a beautiful, robust sherry profile. tastes way older than the 6 year age statement suggests and punches way above it's weight. easy to get here, but definitely not widely available unfortunately Peated: Ledaig 10, ca 43€ - you said it all, probably my go to recommendation for heavily peated single malt, and not even from Islay! Cask Strength: any Signatory 100 Proof bottling, ca 48€ - so here's the big cheat. at 57,1% these aren't necessarily cask strength, though some are, and there's fifteen or so bottlings released in the range so far, so this isn't a specific recommendation per se. but I've tried three of the bottlings (Glentauchers, Caol Ila and Ben Nevis) and they are all fantastic and an unbelievably good value given the high ABV and quality casks (mostly sherry). pick whichever distillery matches your preference and you're golden! but again, given it's an IB release the availability will be an issue for many. So that clocks me in at around 220€. For an amazing starter collection :-)

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Great picks! Oh yes I realised too my mistake during the edit which is why I put the disclaimer on screen 🤦‍♂️😅

[@klizzt]

@@FirstPhilWhisky haha, and I missed the on screen disclaimer. goes to show how well I was paying attention 🙂

[@davidm_shaw]

I think my list would look a little like this: - "Daily" sipper: Loch Lomond 12 (budget option) / Craigellachie 13 (best option) - Bourbon influence: Deanston 12 - Sherry influence: Glencadam Reserva Andalucía - Peat influence: Ledaig 10 - Cask strength: Indri Dru - Bonus (local, Aust): Limeburners Port Cask or Morris Rutherglen Musket Barrels

[@whiskywhereabouts]

Hard to complain about any of these choices, especially when it comes to value (#5 is off the charts for value). Unfortunately I find #3 to have gotten a bit expensive here in the US, with a pretty significant increase in price over, say, the Bunna 12. Cheers!

[@azn_1050]

I've started building a collection of beginner whiskies only to find out that the soft and accessible whiskies became boring real quick and apparently I love peaty and heavy stuff. Guess I'm buying mostly Islay from now on! And hopefully entertain some friends with the other stuff lol.

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Great point and it's good to know what you like. My preferences keep changing over the years.

[@Leooel9]

Sanaig snubbed, but I understand. The Ledaig Sinclair is a much more interesting dram!

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Peater disagreed with me though haha

[@gustavoayala8737]

Phil, please Rioja (Reeh-oh-ha!). Love your content BTW. Keep it up.

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Thanks mate! I was told by someone in Spain that it can be pronuounced both ways?

[@gustavoayala8737]

@@FirstPhilWhisky I’ve only heard it one way. What’s important is how good you channel is, I think your style is sincere and honest, that’s why I try not to miss any episodes. When it comes to wine, I’m the farthest from an expert, but I should say Riojas and Malbecs are my go to. The only scotch finished in Rioja I’ve seen is the HP Twisted Tattoo. Still trying to get a hold of it. Thanks for responding.

[@allenpiazza1409]

Unfortunately in Delaware which is the East Coast of the USA, I've only seen the Tamdu 12 for $83. *sadge*

[@optionsss]

cries in Canadian

[@joeynickles7962]

Have you tried J&B? It’s rare. It even says so on the bottle.

[@Leatherwoodoutdoors]

Not one of those are at any of the stores near me. 😢 from Pennsylvania USA.

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

😬

[@fabianbenedetto]

To buy that list where I live I would need to spend almost 600 to 700 USD one of the is almost 200 🙃

[@vitalii6320]

1. Black label 12 ( Blended whisky :) ) 2. Deanston Virgin oak 3. Glenallachi 12 4. Ledaig 10 5. Port Charlotte 10 Greetings from Ukraine 🇺🇦 Rivne ;))

[@nickyuen01]

Hey Phil, have you been to islay? I just went and got some questions to ask. Anyway i can message you? I think i am a member

[@Shaun-nicholls]

Hey @FirstPhilWhisky, been waiting for this new video 😊 I love the Arran 10yo 💪🏻 I have the Tamdhu 12yo waiting to be opened 🥃 Ledaig is great and I am dying to try the Rioja 🛢I need to find the Glenallachie 10yo cask strength! 🔥 Slainte

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Sláinte Shaun!

[@gareth630]

okay this lot come in at £222.65 UK Thompson BrosSRV5 8 yr Blended Malt Glencacadam 10yr Glen Garioch 12 Laphroaig Quarter cask Arran Quarter cask

[@r3ecem517]

Is there anyone on KZbin you would recommend in regards to Japanese Whisky. As this is where I started my Journey but notice you do skip over them. Love the channel though, great information on different types of scotch.

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Definitely check out Kan Pai Planet!

[@mikeogurec]

Am I lucky, or this collection will only cost me 200 US in my market?

[@jamesnugent1256]

Arran 10 Green Spot Wild Turkey 101 Laphroaig 10 Highland Park 12

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Nice picks!

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

Can't find most of those so here's my list for less: Gordon Graham's Black Bottle $20, Glencadam 10 $39, Glen Moray Elgin Classic Sherry Cask $32, Aerstone 10 Land Cask $30, Scarabus Batch Strength $44 Total: $165 USD ✌️

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

For a few bucks more...Cutty Sark Prohibition $25, Craigellechie 13 $50, Bunnahabhain 12 $60, Port Charlotte 10 $65, Ardbeg Uigeadail $80 Total $280 USD ✌️

[@justwatchinism]

This collection is AUD$585. 😭. Thankfully I already have the Arran 10 and it is amazing.

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

😬 dam! I had another comment in the US saying it was around 200, so way under. Such a range people are being charged around the world. Although probably more crazy that us here in little NZ are get prices 40% cheaper that Aus

[@janmodin3154]

Kilchoman px

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

Tasty

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

Isn't MacLean's Nose a Blended Scotch?

[@xxacidmv]

.

[@superodfx]

Yummy

[@FirstPhilWhisky]

[@thehyperactivesloth]

So this is a Scotch video?

[@MrChristopherMolloy]

What gave that away?