Malt nerd from Austria. Also play guitar and video games. I like underrated distilleries. 

To me, rates in general mean the following.

Below 80 - tough to enjoy. There's something off that ruins the experience, despite some possibly redeeming qualities.

80 - the bare minimum to enjoy drinking a scotch. It's nothing to remember but it's better than no dram at all.

85 - It's starting to get good. When the price is right, I might or might not buy a bottle. It's mediocre in a good way - better than many, yet still surpassed by many others.

90 - For me personally, the benchmark is a springbank 10 which gets this mark. It's easy to drink yet complex, balanced in every way. This is a whisky I want constant supply of and I can heartily recommend. A 90 has to make me want to hoard this bottle. I might not want to drink it regularly but it has to be in the stash and available.

Above 90 - from there on out, it becomes even more subjective and harder to define. Few whiskies get more than 90. Pouring a dram in this region is something I only do on good days when I have the time to really take my time with a dram, often for hours.

Mostly I rank between 85 and 90, the itch to buy a bottle usually starts with 87 to 88.