The best "swill"?

[Muddy]

McClellands Islay is not too bad in the "sort of but not too cheap" sweepstakes.
Kind of a poor mans Lagavulin in my opinion.
I like it.

[Muddy]

I would like to add however that, in my opinion (and quite unlike other spirits), to me,
there is no such thing as "bad" scotch............only "better" scotch.......................

[Muddy]

It's not total swill because it is drinkable, but I have to recommend Scoresby Very Rare Blended Scotch Whisky. It's around $7.00/750ml bottle in this part of Missouri. It's guaranteed to be aged at least 36 months. I keep a bottle on the shelf for those occassions when you know people are going to be drinking your liquor and you know they have no appreciation for a good single malt. Perfect for when the son and his goofy friends are drinking your scotch. It actually isn't half bad; especially after the first one.

I completely agree with this. I have put many a bottle of Scoresby's down the ol' hatch in my time.
It's quite palatable. (refer to above quote)..................

[haukehaien]

I completely agree with this. I have put many a bottle of Scoresby's down the ol' hatch in my time.
It's quite palatable. (refer to above quote)..................

And it gets paintbrushes REALLY clean.

I've tried Scoresby's, and it should be fine for mixing, especially for non-aficionados.

And you can always clean brushes with it.

[Bill aka Mole]

Muddy, thank you for posting befoe me. I too was going to submit a McClellands Islay!

[CMcG]

Thanks to this thread, I picked up a bottle of Grant's (Family Reserve) from the bottom shelf of my local liquor store. It was the least expensive Scotch available and it is quite decent: smokey, peaty, and still quite smooth. Thanks, all!

[Kilt-alope]

I shop at the class 6, the liquor store on military posts if that base is lucky enough to have one. For any liquor, they have swill labeled "military special" I haven't tried the military special scotch, but I will and I will post a full ameture review.

[MizzouScotsman]

For a nice blended, try Isle of Sky, it's inexpensive but smooth...even the 8 year old is smoother than you'd think.

[pascs]

Picked up a bottle of Ardbeg 10 years and a bottle of Glengoyne 17 years just the other day as a wee Christmas treat.

Unfortunately I have a cold at the moment so havent tasted them yet. I do have some cheap Highland Queen whisky for hot toddies though .............purely medicinal of course

[David]

An interesting thread this. As a whisky (and gin) drinker living in Scotland its interesting to see all the blends available elsewhere in the world. Mainly here its Grouse, Bells, Whyte & Mckays, then you are mainly into supermarket own labels. Out of interest I had a look at the link in this post. If you filter the search to single malts, all the good stuff is there. I see you are paying a lot, even by our standards for 18y Macallan. The 15y old is a good bit cheaper and I have to say at the price, indistinguishable from the 18y old. My favourite is Cragganmore. There was a time when this was a low(ish) cost malt, sadly it is becoming a "special occasion" half now. "half" is the traditional term for a shot of whisky.

Just went looking at the NH website, filtered the selection by price, and saw brands I'd never seen......
http://www.liquorandwineoutlets.com/...s?search=&type[]=spirit&brand[]=Imported+Whiskey

I understand that there are times when the cheap stuff is appropriate -- I make Christmas suet puddings, and I certainly don't buy top-shelf brandy for those.