
Taster’s Club’s Best 18 Year Scotch in 2023

Written by Emma C | Updated August 2023
Whiskey, like (most) people, matures with age, and there are certain expressions or styles that better achieve this than others – which we’re bringing you today. For instance, since Scotland’s climate is reliably cool, Scotch is often matured in used casks that take longer to release flavors. This is why you can easily find some fabulous 18-year-old Scotches. If you’re curious about these aged expressions but just aren’t sure how to choose the right bottles, look no further. This Taster’s Club guide to the best 18 year Scotch has you covered – check out our top bottle shop recommendations, below.

Taster’s Club’s Best 18 Year Scotch in 2023 available in our bottle shop

1. The Glenlivet 18 Year Old
This balanced, rich, and elegant 18-year-old single malt Scotch is made for special occasions. It has strong aromas of sultanas, sherried peels, sugars, and toasted grains, with floral petals, apples, and a bit of smoke. You’ll taste full, tannic flavors of oak, along with honey, walnut, herbs, orange, and apple, before the long, dry, spicy oak finish kicks in.
Region Speyside | Tasting Notes Manuka Honey And Walnut With Apples | ABV 40%

2. Macallan Double Cask 18 Year Old
The Macallan Double Cask 18 Year Old is a perfectly balanced single malt whisky matured for 18 years in both American and European sherry-seasoned oak casks. The sherry-seasoned American oak adds delicate vanilla to the subtle spice of the European oak, delivering a whisky with a sweet, warm taste and character.
Region Speyside | Tasting Notes Raisin, Sultana, Caramel | ABV 43%

3. Highland Park 18 Year Old
18 Year Old is Highland Park’s most-awarded whisky. Rich, complex, and aromatically smoky, it offers a truly unique taste experience thanks to the influence of Orkney’s unique treeless maritime environment, sherry cask aging, and more than 220 years of whisky-making expertise.
Region: Orkney | Tasting Notes Toffee With Thick Black Forest Honey | ABV 43%

4. Dewar's Aged 18 Years
An indulgent post-dinner dram, the full-flavored Dewar’s 18 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky has picked up awards all over the world since it was introduced in 2003. Smooth and sweet, it offers aromas of grapes and leather, tasting notes of grain and marmalade, before a medium, vanilla-cream finish.
Region Lowland | Tasting Notes Warm Oatmeal Over Sticky Caramel Pudding | ABV 40%

5. Loch Lomond 18 Year Old Single Malt
Aged for 18 years in the finest oak barrels, this award-winning malt is full-bodied and rounded with a deep fruity character. It has wonderful sweetness and warmth intertwined with a hint of peat, making Loch Lomond 18 Year Old a rich, elegant single malt Scotch.
Region: Highland | Tasting Notes Brown Bread With A Layer Of Blackcurrant Jam | ABV 46%

6. Johnnie Walker Aged 18 Years
This intensely rich Scotch is perfectly balanced in flavors and textures. It’s made with hand-picked casks aged for 18 years, with each passing season building layers of complex flavor. The warm amber whisky brings aromas of fruit, toffee, and some smoke, flavors of nuts, before finishing soft and long with some orange and chocolate hints.
Region: Scotland | Tasting Notes Vanilla, Almonds, And Tangerines | ABV 40%

7. Bowmore 18 Year Old
Bowmore’s 18 year old expression is matured in the finest, hand-selected oak casks at its own sedate pace. The result is one of the most perfectly balanced single malt scotch whiskies of its kind. As one of the maker’s rarest whiskies, these bottles may be limited, but it’s well worth it if you can get your hands on one.
Region Islay | Tasting Notes Fruit, Plum Jam, Smoke | ABV 43%

8. Glen Grant 18 Year
This complex single malt Scotch whisky delivers delicately light, fruity notes of vanilla, floral, oak, butterscotch, malt, and raisins with hints of spice and a long, nutty finish. The balanced whisky has an overall crisp, clean character, medium body, and soft mouthfeel.
Region: Speyside | Tasting Notes: Malty Caramel, Delicate, Dried Raisins | ABV 43%

9. Glengoyne 18 Years Old
This Highland single malt offers warm notes of spice, apricot, vanilla, fruit, honey, and apples, along with a rich, luxurious mouthfeel and creamy butterscotch flavors. It’s the result of 18 long years and a generous proportion of first-fill sherry casks.
Region Highland | Tasting Notes Creamy Custard And Dried Peels. | ABV 43%

10. Glenmorangie 18 Years Old
This 18-year-old Scotch from Glenmorangie is made with its silky, fruity spirit steeped in American oak casks for at least 15 years. It’s then transferred to Oloroso sherry casks for three more years. After 18 years, the whiskies are combined for a warm balance of sweet, floral notes including rich marmalade, honey, fig, caramelized orange, and a bit of smoke.
Region Highland | Tasting Notes Nectarines In Yoghurt | ABV 43%
With this handy guide to the best 18 year Scotch, you’ll be ready to celebrate all of life’s special moments, big and small. It’s also nice to simply have a wonderful, aged expression in your home bar whenever the mood strikes. With these fantastic options, we totally understand if you can’t quite decide, though. A great solution is our Scotch Club – it’s super quick to sign up, and we do all the work of choosing a new bottle and sending it your way each month.
Look no further than Taster’s Club for the best Scotch Subscription Club!
We’ll take you on a personalized bourbon journey by curating amazing bottles from award-winning distilleries from Kentucky and beyond, delivering them straight to your door each month.