Monkey Shoulder Whisky 70cl

This is the Scotch you reach for when you want flavour without the fuss. A Speyside blend that’s big on orange, vanilla and warm spice, with enough malty depth to keep you coming back.

• Nose: Orange peel, vanilla, honeyed cereal, toasted oak
• Taste: Malt biscuits, caramel, gentle baking spices (think cinnamon and clove), a little cocoa
• Finish: Medium length, warming oak and spice, with a last flicker of citrus

It’s a blend of three Speyside single malts, so you get layers, not chaos. One sip goes from bright citrus to creamy vanilla to a nutty, toasty note that feels like the edge of a fresh-baked cookie.

Why it’s such a go-to (and why it keeps landing in Best Sellers) is how well it behaves in a glass. It has enough character to stand up in classic whisky cocktails, but it doesn’t bulldoze the rest of your ingredients. That means your Whisky Sour tastes like you meant it, and your Old Fashioned stays balanced instead of turning into an oak wrestling match.

The flavour profile is friendly but not boring. You’ll catch soft honey and malt up front, then a richer swirl of caramel and cocoa, with oak spice keeping everything tidy. It’s the kind of Scotch that makes you want to pour “just one more” because the second pour shows you something new.

If you’re building a home bar, this covers a lot of ground. It’s the bottle you can hand to a whisky newbie without a long speech, and it’s also the one your whisky-nerd friend won’t side-eye when you use it in a cocktail.

In other words, it’s versatile in the way you actually need. Weeknight easy. Party-proof. Cocktail-friendly. Still clearly Scotch.

Fun Fact: Those three little monkeys on the bottle are a nod to the old “monkey shoulder” injury, a real thing maltmen used to get from turning barley by hand on the malting floor.