Back in the day, few distilleries actively managed a portfolio of single malt releases, or if they did, they kept it pretty basic and straightforward. Independent bottlers like Gordon and MacPhail built their business on filling that market space. Historically most of the whisky they sold came in the form of licensed bottles or lines that could be easily replicated year after year. They contracted with distilleries to fill their own casks and essentially carved out a niche for those consumers who wanted to try malts from a single distillery— or even a single cask.

The market has changed a lot in the last thirty years, and now most distilleries have at least some kind of core range that they maintain. The four whiskies below are all what some might consider entry-level malts. I like to use that term to describe the lowest point in the market at which the distillery has a product— likely their cheapest and most widely available. I know others like to conceptualize entry-level malts from the consumer’s perspective and therefore imagine them as the place where a consumer might be introduced to the distillery or begin their journey or para-social relationship.

Either of those could work, and they are not strictly separate ideas— if a whisky is the cheapest and most widely available product from a distillery, then that is where most people will probably first encounter it. Yet, some stretch the notion too far so that entry-level takes on a slightly disparaging tone for whisky that is overly simple and not very interesting. I understand why that is, but I think it has the unfortunate effect of lumping every distillery’s approach together when I do not find that they approach the market as a unitary body.

The four releases below illustrate some of the different approaches to the market with a couple of limited runs and a few core products. From entry-level malts that encapsulate the flavors and experiences the distillery is known for, or aspires to, to those that stand out as remarkably different. Some of these are intended to be consumed as single malts or as the star piece of a cocktail, where the influence and effect of the malt are critical. Others are designed to be malleable, accentuate, or disappear inside a cocktail. So cheers to the malts below— I start with Ardmore, as this week was otherwise dedicated to the distillery.

Whisky Details: Ardmore Legacy, 40%

Nose: Cotton Candy, funnel cakes, limoncello, tub of birthday cake frosting, bubble gum, hints of a distant grill, baked nectarines, vanilla bean.

Palate: Medium to light bodied, cotton candy, bubble gum, birthday cake frosting, honey, fried donuts, hints of citrus zest and vanilla, grilled pineapple and peach.

Finish: Medium-length with fried dough, refined sugar, and hints of earth and citrus.

Score: 3

Narrative & Notes: I do not enjoy bubble gum and cotton candy notes on a whisky. The palate was light and pleasant, but the aroma and flavors were not to my taste. The bubble gum note was probably the weirdest, as I usually associate it with cognac casks. I have no idea what Legacy Ardmore intended to encapsulate with this dram, as it was unlike just about any other Ardmore I have ever had. It lacked the magic and deliciously scorched tropical notes I adore, and there was barely a whiff of peat or smoke on the profile. Anyone who tried this and then another independently bottled Ardmore would almost certainly be a bit perplexed.

Whisky Details: AnCnoc 12 Year, 43%

Nose: Asian pears, apple cider, fresh cut grass, apple fritter donuts, coffee cake, streusel, and more apples.

Palate: Medium-bodied, apple cider, apple fritters, streusel, hazelnut; hints of pear, quince, and nutmeg.

Finish: Medium-length, slightly drying, apple skins and streusel topping.

Score: 5

Narrative & Notes: The flavor profile and aroma were in perfect harmony. The AnCnoc 12 Year featured a good body and crisp orchard fruits. Beyond the apples and hints of pastries, there was not much more depth, but when a whisky does one thing well, it can get away with a shallower spectrum of flavors. In my opinion, for an entry-level malt, this offering from Knockdhu far outperforms its peers at Balvenie or Glenfiddich. However, a quick internet search shows pricing for this bottle varies wildly, so it may not always be a good deal compared to the 12- or 14-year mainstays from the aforementioned distilleries.

Whisky Details: Bladnoch 10 Year, 46.7%

Nose: Lemon, cream, butter, spearmint, heather, dried grass, malted barley, crushed almond

Palate: Medium-bodied, lemon with hints of passion fruit curd, butter, cream, herbal, hints of mint and marjoram, almond flour, apple cider.

Finish: Medium-length with almond flour and apple peel.

Score: 5

Narrative & Notes: I have only reviewed Bladnoch infrequently over the years. It is one of the quieter Lowland distilleries, often troubled and for years on the verge of becoming another ghost distillery. I thought this was an intriguingly funky malt whose cream notes verged on being slightly sour and lactic, almost as if I were sipping on a baby version of Bruichladdich.

Oddly, this was not the first Bladnoch to remind me of Bruichladdich, though that 1984 malt was even funkier and a bit soapy. I am not quite sure what to make of this odd duck, it had a nice mouthfeel and a good finish, but I did not find the flavor profile all that compelling. The hint of funk made this an odd choice to relax with at the end of the day, so it was not quite a mood whisky and not quite a good fit for a highball.

Whisky Details: Loch Lomond 12 Year, 46%

Nose: Malt, honey, earth, vegetation,  potting soil and melon rind, ginger, hints of kaya jam, malty pastries and chestnut.

Palate: Medium to light-bodied, honey and malty pastries, molasses and dark bread, garden wood chips, black pepper, chestnut or cedar wood, mellow orchard fruits.

Finish: Medium-length with honey, orchard fruits, and malty pastry.

Score: 4-5

Narrative & Notes: Loch Lomond has a lovely infographic laying out the essential components of their 12-year core product. It comprises three primary ingredients: unpeated malt distilled on their traditional pot still and unique straight neck still with a touch of medium-peated malt distilled on the straight neck still. Loch Lomond produces nearly a dozen different types of malt based on still, peat, and yeast. It is genuinely a Swiss army knife distillery and bears more in common with the large Japanese distilleries than most of its Scottish brethren.

With so many variables at their disposal, the blenders at Loch Lomond can play with a wide variety of flavors and whiskies, from wild swampy-tasting malts and tropical fruit-forward profiles to even peated single-grain whiskies (made from malt but distilled using a column still). Considering the nature of the distillery, I was expecting something more interesting from this core product; there was nothing wrong with it, but it seemed too safe and simple for a distillery with so many different styles and ideas. However, for a $40 malt, I think one can do a lot worse, and it compares very favorably to other mass-market malts in a similar age and price range.