As you can see, there are only a few 'avoidable' single malts produced in Scotland.
The list used to be a little bit longer, but keeping some very limited releases like the Bruichladdich 1989/2002 'Valinch' (58.5%, OB, Bottled especially for the 2002 Paris Whisky Festival) on the list seemed a little pointless. Even though there's a slim chance you might run into some of the bottlings that are still on the list (Loch Dhu comes to mind), it's best to be prepared. You won't be able to say I didn't warn you. If you do encounter one of the malts on the Shit List: don't panic - just walk away...

Obviously these are exceptions; most single malts score in the 70's and 80's.
But there are other types of whisky as well; blends and vatted malts, for instance.
After I published a list of the Worst Whiskies In The World in 1998 I received many
responses by visitors and published them as 'Public Warnings' on a seperate page.
Over the years the focus of the site drifted more and more towards single malts,
so I've removed this 'Public Warnings' page (with mostly blends) a while ago.

However, here are a few of the highlights I've rescued from the 'Public Warnings' page;

Lous Perlman On Four Roses: 'The Roadkill of Alcoholic beverages.'
Mike Avery on Glen Eden: 'If it were a person it would be a red-headed stepchild you'd have to beat...'
Robert Montgomery on House of Stuart: 'The best thing about it is that the plastic bottle is recylcable.'
Brian Palmer on Johnnie Walker Red: 'Keep Walking. That's what I'll do the next time I see it in a bar.'
Simon Godfrey on isle of Jura 10yo: 'I wouldn't even use it to power the lawn mower.'
Bill Buchan on Sheep Dip: 'Sheep Dip by name, sheep dip by nature... Yeuchh..'
Keith Bourgeois on Speyburn 10yo: 'The smell of turpintine and the taste of shoe polish.'
Daniel Bond on Edradour 10yo: 'How did they make this? Burn gummibears and dissolve them in gasoline?'
Henk Daalmeijer on J&B: 'It keeps you smiling all night because it pulls your gums back over your teeth.'
Harry Butler on Old Smuggler: 'Its singular redeeming quality is the finish that vanishes within seconds.'
Wendy Morgenstern on Loch Dhu 10yo: 'This stuff is like licking an ashtray.'
David Means on Loch Dhu 10yo: 'Needs no water. What it really needs is to be poured down the nearest sink.'
Christos Sigalas on Tullibardine 10yo: 'It's like licking Wembley's Arena green grass. Good only for drunk hooligans.'
W. Ripley on Mekong: 'Never drink anything that only gets a lukewarm recommendation from an Australian infantryman!'
S. Godfrey on Tobermory: 'While Tobermory may be a fine name for a womble, as a whisky it should be avoided at all costs.'

Please bear in mind that only one Scotch single malt I ever tasted (Loch Dhu 10yo) scores below your average bottom shelf blend like Johnnie Walker Red Label or William Lawson's. The other Scotch single malts on te Shit List generally score in the 40's (meaning I'm experiencing mild discomfort) and 50's (meaning I enjoy them - but just barely). Two distilleries that keep popping up in this section of my Hit List are Loch Lomond and the generically named 'Speyside' distillery. I haven't tried anything remotely decent from these distilleries yet. Edradour had a moment of weakness around the turn of the millennium, but they seem to be on the right track again. Some mildly peated 'Ledaig' bottlings have kept me from writing off Tobermory alltogether, but I'm not likely to try a young Tobermory OB again.

If you're really interested in exploring the nether regions of the whisky world, check out the Deviant Drams page.
It contains information on all the 'other' types of whisky (blends, vatted malts, grain whiskies) from Scotland, 'foreign' whiskies (Ireland, Canada, USA, Australia, Germany, France, India, etc.) and all sorts of other alcoholic beverages. Some of them reach the same level of character and complexity as a single malt whiksy, but sadly enough many of them don't...
Everybody that's NOT a sado-masochist should just consult the Hit List.