I think I found a bottle of Speyburn for under 30$. But my taste is different than yours, I can't stand Johnny Walker black anymore. It was my first scotch though.
I like Maker's and JB Black. Nothing special, but they're pleasant and provide good bang for your buck.
good bang for your buck bourbon is jim beam black. canadian, im going with forty creek. scotch, im going with glen parker, its a speyside single malt and speysides dont have the overpowering peat that turns a lot of new scotch drinkers away. a really good scotch thats under 20 bucks for a 750ml. irish, im going with bushmills, really quality whisky for about 25 bucks. all these are the best values imo.
Have you done the tour? I am all for local product and they have gotten some good reviews, although a little higher in price than OPs range. OP, How are you drinking it? If you are mixing just get cheap sheeet.
Some good suggestions coming from this thread. I'm definitely going to check out some of these. I'm interested in checking out Irish Whiskey, and maybe some of the higher quality Canadian stuff. I think I'm also going to slowly start making my way towards peatier scotches, even though they are more expensive. I haven't found a Speyside that I'd buy again over another bottle of JW Black. Since lots of bourbon and rye is being tossed around, I'll add my two cents. For mixing, I always have a handle of Evan Williams Black on hand (20 bucks for 1.75L!), and I try to keep a handle of Weller Special Reserve (around 30 for 1.75L) too, because I like making cocktails with wheaters occasionally. I used to keep Old Overhort on stock too, but rye has gotten so trendy that it's not as good a value as it was a few years ago. Whenever Jack Daniels Old No. 7 or Beam Black goes on sale, I usually buy a handle, as they are both GREAT mixers at the right price. As far as bourbon that I like straight: Wild Turkey 101, Beam Black, Buffalo Trace, and Dickel 12, and Weller 12 are all expressions that I like to have on hand, and they're all very reasonable. I'd add Very Old Barton to this list, but I haven't tried it since they dropped the 6 year designation. For single barrel and small batch, I like Eagle Rare, Evan Williams Single Barrel, Four Roses, and Elijah Craig 12. For rye, I haven't tried a bad one, but Sazerac is the best value I've found. As a general rule, I find Jack Daniels (and most other Brown Foreman products) and Willett products overpriced and have avoided them. Be warned that Specs pushes Willett like there is no tomorrow because they have some sort of exclusive deal and get kickbacks for selling lots of Willett.
I just wanted to claim it because it's my family name and someone in my family in who was from Scotland made it. I should hook up CF's with some
Macallan 12 is my go to scotch that isn't overly expensive. The 18 and 25 are reserved for special occasions.
