Most of our readers come for one thing: a good single malt at a sensible price. So this round-up is computed with a basket where malt whisky takes the lead, and bourbon and liqueurs are just the backdrop. The question is: where does it statistically pay to buy? — and the answer is aimed specifically at the single malt lover.
A shop with the lowest price "on everything" does not exist — one wins on peated Islay, another on bourbons, and a third simply keeps a broad range at even, decent prices. What matters is the statistics, not a single bargain.
The basket — 70 single malts across four price bands
We took 100 bottles (700 ml, published, with an active in-stock offer), deliberately weighted towards single malts: 70 single malts + 10 blended scotch + 10 whisky liqueurs + 10 bourbons (plus American rye/Tennessee). Blends, liqueurs and bourbons are the backdrop — a single malt fan's real basket is rarely "pure".
The key methodology change: the 70 single malts are spread across price bands instead of a flat "top-70 by popularity". A pure popularity ranking would be dominated by the cheap classics, leaving the premium shelf uncounted — yet it is on the expensive bottles that price gaps between shops are largest. So the single-malt basket is:
| Price band (bottle's lowest price) | Single malts |
|---|---|
| up to 300 PLN | 30 |
| 300–600 PLN | 20 |
| 600–1000 PLN | 10 |
| 1000–2000 PLN | 10 |
Within each band we take the single malts that are the most popular there — i.e. offered by the largest number of shops. The band is set by the bottle's lowest active price (the least you would realistically pay for it). This way the basket covers both the everyday "12-year-olds" and the collector's shelf — and a shop specialising purely in cheap blends cannot "win" a ranking that is about malt whisky across its full price range.
How do we score it? Methodology
For each of the 100 bottles we find the lowest price in Poland and award points per shop for that specific whisky:
| Shop's position on a given whisky | Points |
|---|---|
| Lowest price in Poland | 10 pts |
| Best prices (band I) | 7 pts |
| A little pricier (band II) | 4 pts |
| Still in the game (band III) | 2 pts |
| Above the value threshold | 0 pts |
Band thresholds depend on the price level (at higher prices the same percentages mean bigger amounts, so the bands tighten):
| Base (lowest) price | 7 pts — up to | 4 pts — up to | 2 pts — up to |
|---|---|---|---|
| below 200 PLN | +5% | +10% | +15% |
| 200–500 PLN | +4% | +8% | +12% |
| above 500 PLN | +3% | +6% | +9% |
Finally we add a price-efficiency bonus — the average points per bottle offered (points ÷ number of basket bottles the shop carries at all). The bonus goes to the TOP-5 shops, but only among those carrying at least 25 of the 100 bottles — so a tiny shop with three lucky prices cannot win the lottery. Bonuses: 100 / 90 / 80 / 70 / 60 pts.
