I live in England  and my favourite distilleries are Brora, Balblair, Glenury Royal, Glenugie, Glenlochy ,  Highland Park and I am also a big fan of Caol Ila. I will try any whisky and do not limit myself, there really is nothing off limits.

Old blends is also something I am really interested in, particularly from the 1920's-1960's period, there are some really good old blends about, you just need to do your homework.

Whisky is for drinking rather than collecting for me but I can appreciate a good collection just like anyone else.

Unfortunately in my view whisky is going up in value all the time but sadly quality is not, another reason for sky high prices generally but especially the older bottles are investors who just hoover up what they can find yet have no love of whisky itself. Sadly at the moment there is very little value to be had for drinkers whether buying new or bottles from auctions, the drinkers have been well and truly left behind, everything is geared to maximising profit and catering for investors and to a lesser extent collectors also.

I am pretty flexible with my ratings but as a rough guide my points system as follows:-

under 50 points - For cleaning paint brushes

Under 60 points - Rubbish and only to be used with  coca cola

60-69 points - Drinkable , Just.

70-79 points- Not bad but not exciting either

80-84 points - Getting better but you would not buy another bottle

85-88 points - Good and possibly would get another bottle (in theory until the  prices went crazy)

89-91 points - Very good, definitely worth buying (in theory until the  prices went crazy)

92-94 points -  Excellent

95-96 points- Awesome

97 points and above - A whisky that leaves me speechless

Kind regards

lincolnimp