Best Scotch Whiskies in India Under Rs 3500

If you wish to experience the purest essence of whisky, savoring a Scotch should be your top priority. The reason for that is pretty simple – Scotland is the origin of some of the world’s best whiskies. Made carefully with time-honoured techniques, Scotch Whiskies have a quiet novel taste appreciated by almost every whisky aficionado.

Few things in life are as inevitable and unforgiving as the morbid reflection of our finances at the end of the month, and for a Scotch whisky lover with a famously uncompromising penchant for a good drink, things could become truly difficult.

Distilled, matured and bottled whilst adhering to some of the most scrutinous and tedious making process, a bottle of Scotch is simply not something one can get for cheap. Although some truly benevolent brands that have our backs exclusively for moments as heart-breaking as these.

India is also home to some truly exquisite expressions of Scotch whiskies, categorized in different segments like deluxe, premium, ultra-premium, and luxury. Among the endless variations, there are various Scotch whiskies you can rely on when looking for a truly magnificent blend at a reasonable price that doesn’t break the bank.

While the aspiration for a bottle of The Glenlivet single malt, or a luxury whisky in the form of Chivas Regal is completely understandable, when it comes to trying times as the end of the month, these are the Scotch whiskies that will always be there for you!

1. Ballantine’s Finest

No conversation about Scotch whisky is ever complete without the mention of Ballantine’s Finest. The good fortune of having this smooth and flavourful blended Scotch whisky to be priced affordably has been a reason for cheer among Scotch lovers for nearly a century.

One of the most popular brands for Scotch whisky in India, no Ballantine’s whisky is as popular as the Finest, and there aren’t many whiskies that deliver a product of this quality at such a competitive price! It is one of the ideal choices to go for if you haven’t enough to spare but wouldn’t like to compromise on quality.

With unmatchable popularity and retention among whisky cognoscenti, Ballantine’s Finest is the top-selling expression of the brand. The blend combines more than fifty single malts in a smooth and flavorful spirit to provide an unforgettable experience at a very reasonable price. Sustaining the age-old recipe since 1910, Ballantine’s Finest feels soft and heathery on the nose with a floral after-taste that produces a rounded glow.

2. 100 Pipers Deluxe

One of Scotland’s most lasting legends, the 100 Pipers whisky embodies the Scottish love for ‘the water of life’ with sheer elegance. This blended Scotch whisky brand is astonishingly popular in the Indian market, and has done so with a simple yet flawless execution of delivering a product that lives up to the legend that dictates, ‘when you taste a good Scotch you hear a piper play, and when you taste a truly exceptional Scotch, you can hear a hundred pipers play’.

The 100 Pipers 12-Year-Old is another excellent and perfectly priced bottle, and is placed slightly above the 100 Pipers Deluxe expression.

3. The Famous Grouse

Named after the national game bird of Scotland, the brand added the word ‘Famous’ to their name for no specific reason although the brand’s subsequent success post-rebranding has justified the move. It has consistently been Scotland’s largest selling Scotch whisky since 1980 and does remarkably well in other parts of the world too.

As far as the conversation is pivoted around budget-friendly Scotch whiskies, The Famous Grouse will always find a mention owing to its economical pricing and unwavering quality that delivers exactly what you pay for.

It features a remarkably consistent flavor and unparalleled quality that provides great value for money. The blend is rested for a long time and filtered at high temperatures to impart the smoothness and richness The Famous Grouse is known for.

4. J&B Rare Scotch

A terrific blended Scotch whisky that has so often been described using the ‘value for money’ title, the Justerini & Brooks or J&B as it is popularly known as is one of Europe’s fastest moving Scotch whiskies.

The Justerini & Brooks is a no-nonsense blend of 42 malt and grain whiskies and continues to feature on the list of bestselling whiskies worldwide for many years.

5. Black & White

Represented by a pair of black and white terriers on the label, the Black & White brand of blended Scotch whiskies are renowned for their smoothness, which can be attributed to the higher proportion of grain whisky used in the blend.

For a blended Scotch whisky with high amounts of grain in the blend, Black & White is packed with some flavour that makes it a desirable Scotch considering the quality and the price.

Known for its unmatchable smoothness, the Black and White blended Scotch whisky features a higher proportion of grain whisky than any other expression out there at the same range. It’s immensely popular in countries like India, France, and Venezuela for its competitive pricing and robust quality. The brand has consistently remained a go-to Scotch for whisky drinkers and enjoys a very loyal fan base.

6. Teacher’s Highland Cream

A mainstay on whisky counters all around the world, the Teacher’s Highland Cream is immensely popular not just around the world but also back in India, where it was dethroned by 100 Pipers a few years ago to become the bestselling Scotch whisky. Nevertheless, this blended Highland Scotch is a creamy, and flavourful delight.

The fingerprint single malt from the Ardmore Distillery is used to form the heart of the Teacher’s blend with as many as 30 source whiskies added further.

Being the prominent choice of whisky connoisseurs all around the world, Teacher’s Highland Cream is an immensely popular blended Scotch whisky that offers a creamy and flavourful drinking experience. It’s one of the bestselling Scotch whiskies in India with high peated malt content for a full-bodied flavor and unique character.

7. Black Dog Black Reserve

One of the few Scotch whiskies that are bottled in India, Black Dog carries an 8 Year age statement and is suited perfectly to the perilous month-end wherein some compromises are only natural, and simply have to be made.

If you are partial towards Scotch whiskies, Black Dog Black Reserve, the entry-level expression from the Black Dog brand is a fairly adequate drink that will not pinch your pockets.

Final Words

As we have reviewed the Best Scotch Whiskies in India Under Rs 3500 category, we can conclude that there are several options available in this range. While some of them may be good for beginners and others might appeal to connoisseurs, it all depends on your taste and preferences.

Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas For Whisky Lovers

"Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!”

Women's Day and Whisky

We can pretend all we want that men and women are treated equally in society but in reality, the truth is very far from it. Given that a few decades ago it was worse and education has alleviated the situation a bit, but ask yourself, has it really made a huge difference in the lives of women across the world? It may be hard to eradicate century-old practices and beliefs that feed misogyny, patriarchy, and violence but it would be great if things moved faster. For instance, ask any woman the number of times bartenders have assumed they’d order anything but whisky-- maybe whisky-based cocktails at most, but no way can she order whisky on the rocks. Well, here’s bursting that bubble—she can. Women can like any liquor and whisky is in no way an exception. It’s not a man’s drink. On this Women’s Day, let us abandon such false notions.

International Bacon Day: Whiskies to Wash It Down

Okay, let’s admit it. Bacon is true love. So, when we found out about International Bacon Day, we were delighted, to say the least. We feel this was long due. The amount of heartaches we have gotten over would have been impossible without bacon. People disappoint, but can bacon ever?