The best Scotch whiskies to buy, as chosen by the Gentleman’s Journal team

There’s nothing quite so neat as whisky. And, here at Gentleman’s Journal, we get to try more than our fair share of the spirited stuff. We can be frequently found heading up to the Highlands. Our cocktail-creating skills are second-to-none. And we’ve kitted out our home bars with plenty of glassware and accoutrements to maximise our enjoyment of every expression.

But, as for the bottles themselves, we often disagree. Some of our number prefer uncorking a Campbeltown special; oily and brimming with brine. Others reach for Islay whiskies – fiery and heavily peated. Below, we asked the team for their favourites. And, from a limited-edition single malt to a handsomely bottled blend, here’s what they said…

Chosen by Joseph Bullmore, Editor

I don’t know if Laphroaig is my favourite whisky, and I’m always slightly wary of people who say it’s theirs – they tend, in my experience, to also brag about adoring chilli sauces with names like ‘Tongue Napalm’ and stand too close to you at parties. But it’s certainly full of fond memories, which might well be what good whisky is about.

When I was 18 and working at a quiet branch of Oddbins in Oxford, my colleague John, in his mid-50s and a walking encyclopedia of wine and spirits, would sometimes permit us to bring out ‘The Box’. This was an old wooden crate full of sample bottles of various whiskies and gins which he would let us uncork in the colder, calmer depths of winter, when we might average three customers an evening.

In my first week there, John took out a bottle of Laphroaig 10 and talked me and the other assistant through its peculiar, powerful delights. It was the first time I really ‘got’ a single malt, and the whole experience possibly set me on a path to become the most pretentious teenager in North Oxford. But if I smell it now, ultra-peaty and smokily medicinal, Laphroaig takes me back to my first proper job – with its stretches of boredom, its pungent wooden floors, and its heady sense of Gap Year freedom – and makes me feel happy and sad at once.

Chosen by Josh Lee, Copy Chief

Alcohol, on the whole, isn’t my bag – just a little can make my stomach feel like a killing floor and my head like the Friday night of a dodgy Berlin technoclub. I can make an exception for a sweet hit of plum wine; vermouth is fine when softened with some tonic water, ice and a hot Barcelona day; and Guinness is just perfect.

I also have a soft spot for Glenmorangie – last year, I visited the House in the far north of Scotland, a sort of end-of-the-Earth place where the sweet, coconuty smell of gorse fragranced the air and the only sounds you could hear were the gentle waves on the coastline. There were a lot of madcap offerings – one tasted a bit like cake, another was inspired by Tokyo – but the Calvados Cask Finish stood out to me, a bit like the cup of a carpenter in The Last Crusade. Simple, straight to the point, clean, and flavoured with baked apples and pears. One tumbler is plenty for me to feel at ease with the world – and far from the pains of a killing floor and Berlin.

Chosen by Dan Scothern, Partnerships Director

I have made no secret of my adoration for The Macallan in recent years. The brand’s flair for innovation and collaborations is truly admirable, their team is absolutely wonderful, and their whisky is a consistent, delicious reminder of why Dry January (or any long-term abstinence experiment) could never be a match for me.

While my favourite Macallan dram is any procured by the lovely George (Michie) from his seemingly bottomless, VIP-only underbar stash, it’s the 15-Year-Old that I reach for most fondly when enjoying a dram at home. I was fortunate enough for this to be the first Macallan I ever tasted, and the warmth and body imparted by the American oak and spiced European oak casks, combined with a smooth mouthfeel and a ginger-to-caramel finish, make it an obvious first choice for a Burns Night dram.

Chosen by Aobh O’Brien-Moody, Associate Editor

I’m a sucker for a backstory. It’s the reason I seek out certain brands for their storied heritage. It’s the reason I adore vintage shopping, rummaging through racks and imagining the former lives of a perfectly worn-in pair of 501s or a battered leather jacket. Context breeds within me a sense of regard and reverence: it offers a ‘why’ to the ‘what’.

Hence my fondness for Loch Lomond’s new Waypoint Series, which bills itself as a celebration of the Highland distillery’s sense of place and adventure. The first edition of the series is a liquid tribute to the Falls of Falloch, a mesmerising natural landmark local to the Loch Lomond distillery and essential to the company’s lore. I’m yet to visit the Falls, but a dram or two of this delightful unpeated 16-year-old single malt saves me the nine-hour drive from London. A marketer’s dream I may be, but I maintain that a rich backstory makes all the difference. If I close my eyes tight enough and take a sip, I’m just about transported.

Chosen by Jonathan Wells, Editor-at-Large

The first bottle of whisky I ever bought came from Compass Box (the Artist Blend, if you’re interested). And I’ve been a fan since the very first sip of that very first dram. But that’s because the boutique London-based brand really is something quite special; constantly on a crusade to champion the often overlooked, always undervalued art of creating brilliant blended whiskies.

From the current collection, and featuring malts from Glen Moray, Benrinnes and Teaninich, Compass Box’s richly coloured, delicately combined and fairly new Crimson Casks wins out for me. And, while versatile, it’s a spirit for one particular season — wintertime. Brimming with Christmas spices, fudge cake flavour and unctuous cherry notes, the brand suggests drizzling it over vanilla ice cream for a grown-up twist on an affogato. It’s a serving suggestion we wholeheartedly second.

Chosen by Harvey Smethurst, Social Media Manager

As my Gentleman’s Journal colleagues know all too well, when it comes to whisk(e)y, I’m a bourbon man. I was fortunate enough to sample my fair share (and possibly some of others’) while travelling across the U.S. in my early 20s, and as a result, it’s these bottles occupy the prime real estate on my home bar.

That said, when I’ve dabbled in scotch, I’ve found the 12-Year-Old Glenfarclas to be particularly enjoyable, and a dram that aligns surprisingly well with my bourbon-trained palate. It’s not especially smoky or woody, but the subtle notes of cinnamon and honied spice come through vividly in this lively whisky. So, if I must raise a glass on the 25th, it will undoubtedly be this one.

Chosen by Sophia Baccanello, Chief of Staff

Like many, my introduction to the world of whisky came through cocktails. And it was only when I joined the GJ team that my education truly began. Over the past three years, I’ve eagerly sampled all manner of single malts, blends, peated, unpeated - and, at the risk of sounding like an indecisive alcoholic, I’ve enjoyed them all!

For the purposes of this feature, however, I’d like to highlight a particularly delightful release from Highland Park. Their Cask Strength: Heather edition is one I sampled earlier this year, and a dram that hasn’t been far from my mind since. Crafted from 100 per cent Orkney peat-smoked barley and bottled at 63.6 per cent ABV, it delivers an initially punchy hit, perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the sherry-seasoned cask, before leading into a smooth, vanilla-tinged, perfumed smoke finish.

Chosen by Sam Thomas, Senior Designer

On a day-to-day basis, I’m far more likely to reach for a lager or a creamy stout than pour myself a dram, and even when I do stray into spirits – perhaps I shouldn’t say - gin is usually my go-to.

With this in mind, whenever the call for whisky arises, I tend to favour the lighter side of the spirit, and it is for this reason that the Glentauchers 2009 from One Cask at a Time truly stands out. Bottled at almost 57 per cent ABV, it’s undeniably punchy, but the playful profile of orchard fruits, white grapes, and confectionery, is wonderfully intriguing, and one that I find lingers pleasantly even after the glass is empty.

For more from the world of whisky, read our conversation with a Sotheby's spirits expert...