Top Peated Single Malt Scotch Whiskies Under $100

Oban 14 Year is quite the crowd-pleaser and is found everywhere from your local pubs to serious whisky bars. Its fans might be surprised to hear it hails from one of the smaller distilleries in Scotland. Also small are the size of their pear-shaped stills. Oban, a seaside town built around the distillery, is actually named after the distillery and not the other way around. The surrounding environment clearly has influenced its namesake whisky as the sea is the signature footprint of Oban whiskies.

Fans of sherried scotch and you wine lovers out there, step right up! Bowmore 15 Year is a whisky aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and sherry casks, but it's the portion of the whisky that gets aged the final 3 years in 1st fill sherry casks that really give this whisky that deep rich color and fruity taste. Note: Formerly called Bowmore Darkest 15 Year.

Caol Ila, pronounced as “Cull Ee-la” is a small Islay distillery founded in 1846 nestled in a hidden cove near Port Askaig overlooking the strait between Islay and Jura. Caol Ila is readily known as one of the lighter, more nuanced and delicate of the Islay single malts with the 12 year as their entry level offering originally debuting in the summer of 2002. It is bottled at a modest 86 proof.

Port Charlotte 10 Year is a permanent addition to Bruichladdich's portfolio and replaces the multi-vintage Scottish Barley bottling. Made using 100% Scottish barley from the Inverness Shire region. This 10 year old bottling matures in a variety of casks: 65% in 1st fill American whiskey, 10% in 2nd fill American whiskey, and 25% in 2nd fill French wine casks. Port Charlotte bottlings are the heavily peated single malt line distilled at Bruichladdich with the barley peated to 40ppm. Bottled at 50% ABV, it is non-chillfiltered and has no color added. Available beginning May 2018.

A semi-annual release from the Springbank Distillery, one of the last family-owned distilleries in Scotland. Beginning in 2010, Springbank began releasing two vattings per year of a twelve-year-old cask strength malt, aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks at around a 60:40 or 70:30 ratio (depends on the vatting). The distillery releases one in Winter/Spring and one in Summer/Fall. Whisky nerds and Springbank-lovers keep track of the different batches by the ABV, which varies slightly with each new iteration. As with all Springbank products, this malt is non-chill filtered, and it contains no added coloring.

The Ardbeg 10 Year is the flagship bottling for the distillery. The peat level is on the higher end of the scale at 55 parts per million or ppm. It's aged a minimum of 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels and is bottled without chill-filtration at 92 proof.

The climate on the Orkney Islands is quite windy and sea swept creating a dismal environment for trees. As such, the Orcadian peat bogs have more heather, grass, and plants than those on Islay. Viking Honour is matured predominantly in European and American sherry-seasoned oak casks. Note: Highland Park added the moniker of Viking Honour to its 12 year expression in 2017. As of 2024, the brand has dropped the name and updated its packaging with heather-flecked labels.

In 2002, The Balvenie began to set aside one week each year to distill heavily-peated whisky. This peated single malt release is a limited, vintage bottling, but it is expected to become an annual release. Matured entirely in American oak. Expected September 2017 release date.

Released in August 2016, Kilkerran 12 Year is the highly anticipated flagship whisky from Mitchell's Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown. Since Hedley Wright, great-great nephew of Mitchell himself re-opened the distillery in 2004, they've been releasing experimental "Work in Progress" whiskies while waiting for this one to mature. Lightly peated and double-distilled, 70% of the single malt aged in first-fill ex-bourbon casks and the remaining 30% matured in sherry. Non-chill-filtered without added coloring, it is bottled at 46% ABV.

Though not officially established until 1816, there are records of illicit distillation that date as far back as 1742. Located on the southeast coast of Islay, Lagavulin produces single malt whiskies made with peated malted barley sourced from neighboring Port Ellen Maltings. Aged in oak barrels for a minimum of 16 years, this is the flagship bottling from the distillery.

Laphroaig 10 Year is the flagship bottling from the Islay distillery. The peated single malt is aged for a minimum of 10 years in ex-bourbon barrels, many sourced from Maker's Mark in Kentucky. Laphroaig is one of only a handful of distilleries in Scotland with its own malting floor used in part of its production. Using a peat kiln built in 1840, the malted barley is cold-smoked for 10-12 hours. Then it's fully dried using hot air. NOTE: Sold at 40% ABV or 43% ABV depending on your market.

Founded in 1830, Talisker is the oldest working distillery on the Isle of Skye. The peat level is a moderate 16-22 ppm (phenol parts per million). Aged a minimum of 10 years in American oak casks, the single malt is bottled at 45.8% ABV. Talisker 10 Year is one of the Classic Malts for its parent company Diageo.