mAlmanac - Your guide to single malt Scotch whisky

This 'Malt Almanac' should help you spend your hard
earned money wisely. It's a purely personal selection
of a few exciting new discoveries on the Hot List, my
all-time personal favourites on the Hit List and the
malts that I feel should be avoided on the Shit List.
Pretty straighforward so far, eh?

In-between those extremes of the single malt whisky
spectrum are thousands of expressions, ranging from
forgettable to highly enjoyable. This is where 'value'
becomes a major factor - at least for sane people.
That's the topic of the Bang-For-Your-Buck List.

> Hot List - Wanna know which single malts are 'hot' right now?
Malt Madness and Malt Maniacs have been growing exponentially over the past decade.
As a result, finding my tasting notes for a particular noteworthy whisky can be hard to find.
Next to my alphabetical Track Record I used to keep a complete Best-to-Worst list of all the single malts I've seriosuly sampled and scored since 1995. You can imagine this list became hard to manage after my malt mileage passed the 1000 malts mark, so I converted it into my Hit List around 2001. And when the Hit List had grown so huge that I had to focus on the very top of that list I realised that I needed yet another list that would deal with the most recent releases and discoveries.

> Hit List - Wanna know which single malts I like best?
Next to my alphabetical Track Record I used to keep a complete Best-to-Worst list of all the single malts I've seriosuly sampled. But listing some very rare independent bottlings that were on the shelves over a decade ago seemed a bit pointless. So, apart from my all time favourits in the 'galery of glory' (90 points or more) my new Hit List only contains the 'best and brightest' that are currently available. Please check out the older entries in my chronological Liquid Log if you're looking for a more 'historical' perspective.

> Shit List - Wanna know which single malts I like worst?
Fortunately, most single malts I've tried scored at least 60 points. That means that I've enjoyed them - even if there are 'better' malts available. There are, however, some notable exceptions. Even though I did find some redeeming qualities in the malts that scored between 50 and 60 points, I think they are 'avoidable' - there are simply too many excellent alternatives available. As for the handful of single malts that ended up below 50 points (which means I actively dislike them): they are the proverbial 'exceptions to the rule'. I dare you to try some of these bottom shelf bottles and prove me wrong ;-)

> Bang-For-Your-Buck List - Wanna know which malts offer top value?
The malts at the top of my Hit List are not always the most affordable ones.
In fact they usually are not - but there are some friendly priced gems available.
This list offers an overview of some malts that offer the most 'bang' for your 'buck'.

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