Top Highlands Single Malts Under $100

Montilla wines are produced similar to their neighbors in Jerez where Sherry wines are made, but instead of using mostly Palomino grapes, they typically use Pedro Ximenez. A Fino is the style of wine in use here which represent some of the driest wines made in the world and are generally delicate, nutty, and tangy. This is the type of cask that the Oban Distillers Edition is finished in.

Like many other Tullibardine expressions, the number in the name of this single malt comes from the size of the casks it was finished in. In this case, they were 228-liter Burgundy wine casks from the Chateau de Chassagne Montrachet.

The Glen Garioch portfolio is diverse, including aged expressions as well as a range of vintages, and typically offered at a robust cask strength. Glen Garioch's Vintage 1995 fits that profile, bottled in 2012 at 55.3% ABV. It has been aged in 1st fill ex-bourbon casks, and marks a notable change in the Highland distillery's direction -- Glen Garioch's Vintage 1995 was the last for which they used peat to smoke their barley.

Navigator is a limited edition Scotch from Old Pulteney distillery that pays homage to its seafaring past. The distillery is situated in Wick, a fishing village in the northern Highlands, which in the old days, relied heavily on sea trade for its economy and food supplies, including the barley for the distillery. Navigator is a blend of single malt whiskies, some of which aged in ex-bourbon casks, some in ex-sherry, brought together for bottling in packaging illustrated with nautical themes.

In 2009, the GlenDronach re-launched its core bottlings; the 12, 15, and 18 year old. This was done as a celebration of sorts for its new owners, the folks that also own the BenRiach Distillery. Revival is a name chosen to highlight the fact that this distillery is once again independently owned. This is aged exclusively in oloroso sherry casks. Note: Due to insufficient stock, this was discontinued in 2015. A new bottling was reintroduced in October 2018.

Tomatin 18 Year Oloroso Sherry Casks is initially matured in traditional refill American oak barrels. Then it is placed in oloroso sherry butts for a time prior to bottling. In total, the single malt ages for at least 18 years. Tomatin has 12 working stills and produces five million liters annually making it one of the largest single malt producers in Scotland.

"Caledonia" is the Latin name the Romans gave the land known as present-day Scotland. Dougie MacLean is a Scottish singer/songwriter who penned a song, a love letter really, to his former homeland entitled "Caledonia." Originally released as a single-barrel that Dougie himself helped to pick, this is now a standard bottling for Edradour. This 12 year old whisky spends its final four years of aging in an ex-sherry cask.

An oft overlooked gem in the Diageo "Classic Malt Whiskies" collection, this Highland malt is produced on the northeast coast of Scotland in the town of Brora. Brora is also the name of a now closed distillery, which, incidentally, was formally the location of the original Clynelish Distillery. This is a peated whisky, but far less so than the Brora bottlings.

Glengoyne is proud to say that they have the slowest distillation process because they feel that time is the key to producing great whiskies. This distillery is also known for regularly producing quality whiskies with a clear sherry cask influence profile. Typically, their core range is made of aged stated whiskies, from 10 to 25 years, but this Cask Strength is their second batch of a non-aged statement released without addition of water. At 58.9%, we can expect quite a sense of spirit.

Scottish Gaelic for "baked," Glenmorangie Bacalta debuted in early 2017 as part of the brand's Private Edition releases. For this 8th release in the series, Master Distiller Bill Lumsden wanted to improve upon a previous Glenmorangie expression, the Madeira Wood Finish, that has been discontinued since 2004. He found a winery willing to create a Malmsey Madeira wine that would never be bottled and only be used to season hogsheads made from toasted American oak. After two years exposed to the elements, "baking" under the sun, the hogsheads were emptied then filled with single malt that had been maturing in ex-bourbon barrels for 10 years. After another two years of finishing in the Madeira hogsheads, this non-chillfiltered Highland malt was finally ready for bottling at 46% ABV.

Located in the Highlands where it is quite remote and windy, the Dalwhinnie Distillery is a distillery that doesn't quite get the press it deserves. It is a whisky that displays classic Highland malt qualities of honey and heather. This is one of the original six distilleries in Diageo's Classic Malts range and they release very few distillery bottlings. This is a peated single malt, but the amount used is so low some may not be able to detect it.

The Edition Series from The Macallan consists of limited edition blends of the distillery's malt whisky that have been matured in variety of different types of casks. This expression, the second release in the series, is the result of the collaboration between Master Distiller Bob Dalgarno, and the Roca Brothers - Joseph, Joan, and Jordi - owners of the El Cellar de la Roca restaurant. Together, they selected seven casks sourced from 4 different cooperages in Spain, for the whisky to mature in prior to blending. This is bottled at 48.2% ABV.

Glenglassaugh first opened in 1875 in the Sardend Bay overlooking the North Sea. In 2013 it was purchased by Billy Walker and the BenRiach Whisky Company. Torfa (the Old Norse word for "peat") is one of the premier releases of the new guard. Non-chill filtered.