Old Pulteney 12 and Russell's 10 year are very solid

Matt these are terrific choices and I think this was a wonderful idea! I enjoy lovely whiskies that are distilled at a lower ABV than I might normally reach for! I do love single malts that are 46% ABV and above but there are many that are great that come in under this percentage. Yoichi is so enjoyable. I love my Hibiki 21 yo Oh do I ever?!!) but I enjoy it sparingly given the cost. A dram of Yoichi is always lovely. I would happily have any of these expressions and they are all on my bar! I'm thrilled that you chose Two Brewers. I do really like supporting Canadian whiskies if I can and particularly single malts. I have had each of these 3 expressions shown and I love them all. I admit the peated is my favourite! The Oban 14 is a terrific choice! I absolutely adore the Lagavulin 16!! Lagavulin 16 is actually a massive sentimental favourite and this delicious single malt introduced me to scotch and peated whisky and the journey has been spectacular ever since a friend offered me a dram! He was right on with the choice! Lag 16 brings immense pleasure and especially while kicking back and just wanting some nice quiet time to reflect after a long day. Lag 16 enhances that! It's absolutely my fave single malt that is a lower ABV!! 🙂I just bought the Talisker 10 Distiller's Edition today! I haven't tried it or the Talisker 10. I am looking forward to them both. The Benromach 15 is great! You really put together a great list! I have to add in that the Hakushu 12 year old at 43% ABV is a whisky that I really enjoy! I know it's difficult to get hold of. Cheers!

Nice line-up, my under 46% would be The Tyrconell single malt, Finlaggan the original and recently The Deacon

Hi Matt. Very interesting video. Not many whiskytubers addresses this topic. Good list and i agree with you 100%. And like you for me point is: good whisky is a good whisky doesnt matter factors it has. Like you( i guess?) And many of us whisky lovers i started with cheap low abv supermarket shelves stuff and i enjoyed them because my palate was not trained . But after years sipping higher abv and many CS whiskies my palate developed and changed so most of 40% whiskies are too flat and watery for me. There are some exeptions i still like or have sentiment to them. My favourite lower than 46% are: Benromach 10&15 at 43%, Laphroaig 10 at 40% (uk), Old Pulteney 40%, AnCnoc 12 at 40%, HP 10%12 both at 40% and Edradour 10. Still like Laga 16. Im my opinion there should be two categories: 40% and 43%. Both egsist in big numbers of expressions and for me both are two different worlds. Im Scotch sucker so dont drink much other stuff but from time to time i try others when price is good but mostly looking for higher abv. I like Rye as well and at the moment enjoying 45% Sazerac. Its good stuff. Slainte 👍😁🥂🙋🏻‍♂️

Glenmorangie 25y, Bowmore 25y, Glenlivet 25y are amazing whisky, there are alot of great whisky under 46%👍🏻

Lol...thought Rob Dyrdek started a Whiskey channel when your channel appeared on my feed.

I have literally hundreds of bottles to choose from (although it is not straightforward separating those where the cask strength has dropped that low from those diluted, I think the latter come to at least 250 of 284 under 46%) and I have almost as many between 46% and 49.9% (if I were to include 50% that would cover 70% of my bottles). I do have some high proof whiskies (up to 69.7%), but I rarely find any correlation between strength and flavour, which a lot of 'enthusiasts' insist upon... I think back to my university days when visits to Indian restaurants often had macho challenges of "my tindaloo is hotter than your phal!" and am therefore wary of 'proof for proof's sake' in whisky. I've tried at least 3 that qualified as 'hazmat' and none of them had any redeeming features, no matter how much water I added (whereas the 69.7% ECBP was fine as poured only 0.4% lower than its unpleasant sibling). Sorry, I didn't mean for this rant to go on so long... and I was agreeing with you!

Man! You just opened the pandora's box of whisky dilema. I love scotch, so leaving the other guys aside, my palate and wallet can be more tolerant to lower ABVs... geez where to start. I just made a comment in the last vPub in regards adding an ABV category to represent the best from 40-43, 46-50 and cask strength ones. I understand Roy's point no to extend the current categories, putting now these type of extra topic to the other good quality whiskytubers. So happy you had this ready! Again, pandora's box because there is a lot of snobbery, nonsense repetition from other whiskytubers and even hate, not just frustration, but direct hate against the big guys and I get it. Who wouldn't love to have a lovely dram of Oban 14 at the same 46% of a Clynelish, but sadly they have their commercial reasons and yes obscene one like bumping the prices of their old stock... ugh yeah frustrating. Nonetheless, there are good options from the 40 or 43 bottles, not better/excellent as another comment said though... I wish whiskytubers can help the ones with a lower budget to guide us to those good peaty, floral, sweet and why not, even complex bottles with videos like this one. Thanks Mat, and maybe there are more bottles to cover for a part 2 😁

I know people will disagree but Laphroaig 10….. my guilty pleasure…. A bottle a year. Prefer it to the Quarter Cask simply because the juice is so much better than the QC. Of course the 10 cask strength is really where it’s at but i still like the weak 10. For the flask or on vanilla ice cream 😂 Another great 40% for me is Ancnoc 12 ❤

Lagavulin 16 is my favorite whisky under 46% abv. I can still buy it for $84.99 in D.C. some Costcos sell it for $74.99.

I like couple of those bottles on your under 46% list Matt. Some distilleries and some of their releases seem to offer their best pitch at a lower proof. My analogy on this is like when you are young and just learned to drive and you buy a beater car, as you goto work, gain more knowledge about cars, you save up some money and buy a better maybe faster car. There is always demand for lower proofed whiskies. If you throw in Macallan's in the mix, you have some extremely high priced whiskies that are not ideally proofed for many but that's just the way it is. Enjoy what you like whatever the proof of the whisk(e)y is, it is yours to savor. Cheers!

Great list. I would add on edradour 10 to the list as well. Depending on market theres 40% and 43%. Very flavourful sherry whisky

Great list! I would add the Nikka Miyagikyo and Glengoyne 12 as other good options under 46%. Cheers, Matt!

Laphroaig 10 is my goto for lower abv

My first thought was Ancnoc 12. And then Benromach 10. Great video.

Great vid rob right now it’s the yoichi it is delicious

What a great idea! I was wondering what your number one would be and Benromach just didn't occur to me. Shows you that we do ignore the core range but hell yeah it's a great dram!

Hi Matt, very good video. But i dont agree with your list 100%. ... My favorites under 46% are: Laphroaig 10Y, Caol Ila 12Y, Talisker Port Ruighe (DE 2022, 10Y too), Oban Little Bay (14Y too), GlenDronach 12, Lagavulin 16Y too but the price :(

Just found your channel. Keep up the good work

Unfortunately...this list could be a lot longer. Great choices though. I do personally prefer 46%, non chill, natural colour, etc and while many distillers are moving in that direction, especially new / craft style distilleries there are many great whiskies on the market that are sub 46%. Lots listed in the comments but my addition would Mortlach 16.

First of all, for some reason, some scotch whiskies that are presented at 40% ABV around the world, are coming at 43% in North America. A few examples that come to mind: Laphroaig 10, Highland Park 12, Ancnoc 12, all Macallans. And that’s great!😊 And every one of them would make a good candidate for your list. However, for the last year or so I’ve been really enjoying the Arran Barrel Reserve. Comes at 43%ABV, it’s natural colored and, probably most importantly, it’s an Arran! It’s an absolutely delicious whisky!

Starward Left-Field Australian single malt at 40% really surprised me. Great whisky for the price! Also enjoy Oban DE at 43% 👌 Oban always an old favourite.

Nothing wrong with this topic. I enjoy a few on your list. One bottle that I keep on my shelf, more as a lure to those who haven't had much experience with Scotch, is the Glenmo 10. Fruity, gentle and unlike the peaty bottles that many unfamiliar with Scotch think that all expressions taste like. At 43% it isn't challenging or complex, but works.

Yeah I’d say Eagle Rare is my favorite less than 46% whiskey. But I’m also super biased as a Bourbon loving Kentuckian 😂

Really good topic to talk about. Currently loving a bottle of Glentauchers 25 year old that was bottled at 40% ABV. Great mouthfeel, and concentrated fruits in the palate and jasmine flower in the very long finish.

Going to throw my favourite sub-46% whisky out there with Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask. Not at today's prices mind you. I was browsing emails and found one from August of 2021 - bought it for $80CAD a bottle back then. Ridiculous what it is now (-.-)

There is some good whisky bottled below 46% but there isn't any great whisky! And when there is so much great whisky at 46% and above why would you bother with anything below? Maybe 43% at a push but nothing lower than that!

Interesting list Matt and good to see Benromach at no. 1. One alternative on my list would be Old Pultney 12.

It is more about chill filtering than the ABV. I have seen a few NCF under 46% ABV. Water it down for increase profit but please don't chill filter. Must admit that I do enjoy the RB, Hibiki, Nikka, Eagle Rare, Tamdhu, and Talisker 10. Not buying Laga 16 anymore!

I try to stay away from diageo products

Not whisky heresy, but shooting yourself in the foot. Benromach is small distillery. If it gets too much attention, it could well go the way of Springbank. So, I take some time to explain to folks that Benromach's core selection is weak and lacks integrity, its recent rebranding really sux, and its products are likely infested with faeries from Findhorn. I'm hoping that'll scare off enough to keep Benromach products available and reasonably priced for the hoi polloi like me. I'd appreciate it if reviewers would get on the bus....