The Top Blended Scotch Whiskies Under $50

Buchanan Blended whiskies are a great place to start if you are just building your relationship with Scotch. Canadian born James Buchanan first created Buchanan’s to fill a niche for an affordable entry level Scotches and they have since become known for their strong acclaim in South America with some its largest markets in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

Chivas Regal is a brand of blended Scotch whisky from the Chivas Brothers which launched a 25 year old blend as its first product back in 1909. Just after Prohibition in 1938, the brand launched its 12 Year blended Scotch whisky when it returned to the market. Today, Strathisla Distillery is at the heart of the Chivas Regal blend. Sandy Hyslop is the brand's master blender. Note: The brand updated its packaging in 2022 with an elongated bottle and contemporary design.

Originally known as Haig & Haig, and alternately now as Dimple or Pinch, depending on your country, this blend is named for the unique shape of the bottle. It was also the preferred whisky of Felix Leiter, James Bond's best friend in the Ian Fleming books.

Created in 1820 under the name "Old Special Highland Whisky", Johnnie Walker Black was so named in 1909 as their customers had started to order their bottles by the label's color. Comprised of a blend of over three dozen distilleries, the malts in the whisky are largely comprised of peated distilleries such as Talisker and Lagavulin but also the unsung hero Cardhu. All of the whiskies included in the blend are aged a minimum of 12 years. (SRP $29.99-34.99 for 750ml)

Chivas Regal Mizunara is a limited edition blended Scotch made with Japanese flair. Master Distiller Colin Scott was inspired to create this expression after a trip to Japan where he picked up a few whisky-making techniques. It's made with a blend of Scottish grain and malt whiskies, each aged at least 12 years. Part of the blend is aged in casks made from Mizunara (aka Japanese oak). Bottled at 40% ABV. It originally launched in October 2014 for the Japanese market, but it has since expanded to other markets.

Reports vary, but some say the term "The Real McCoy" became part of our lexicon due to a fellow named Captain William McCoy. A sea captain and notorious smuggler of Cutty Sark into America during Prohibition, McCoy gained a reputation for providing real and unadulterated whisky. The Prohibition Edition is produced in his honor.

The Famous Grouse got its start just as most blended Scotch whiskies got started--by wine & spirits merchants. They would create their own blend to sell to their customers and the most popular ones have withstood the test of time. Famous Grouse was created by Matthew Gloag in 1896 and the bottle still bears his signature. The Edrington Group owns this brand now, along with Highland Park and The Macallan.

At its heart, Johnnie Walker Double Black still retains the standard Black Label's style of whisky: a peated blended whisky. What they've done with the Double Black is let the whisky mature in deeply charred oak casks to intensify the smoky characteristic. That's right, they've doubled down (had to be said).

Black Bottle is a brand that has been around since the late 1800s, originally a product brought to market by brothers Charles, David and Gordon Graham in Aberdeen, Scotland. As expert tea blenders, they decided to turn their skills into blending whisky, which they released in a special bottle made with black glass from Germany. The product has had many incarnations since then, even changing package design, but is now under the leadership of distiller Ian MacMillan, who has revisited a recipe similar to the original, using Islay malts in the blend.

This 15 year old is a blended scotch made from up to 40 different whiskies. The whiskies aged in either ex-bourbon or ex-sherry before being blended all together in oak casks to marry the whisky.

Compass Box's Great King Street line of blended whiskies has a new addition with the Glasgow Blend. Created to highlight a more robust and smoky whisky as, according to some, historically Glaswegians preferred this style, they have succeeded in doing just that. A blend with a large (67%) malt base, Compass Box uses a combination of barrels for aging: 1st fill sherry, 1st and refill ex-bourbon, and a small amount of new French oak barrels.