As my old grand daddy used to say, "there are no bad whiskies ------ just some better than others.
And for all you connieseurs out there, the main flavour in any whisky comes from burnt oak and the atmosphere its stored in. Island malts can seem a bit seaweedish due to the sea air being absorbed into the cask, whereas speysides can seem quite peaty.
Personally i have no particular favourite though I'd recommend people try some of the small independants like Glen Elgin or Miltonduff.
I used to work in the Glenlochy distillery in Fort William, sadly a disco or something nowadays, and we probably poured gallons of the stuff down the drains. I liked the eight year old stuff we had but the majority was sent for blending. Connieseurs Choice bottled a few casks but its now a rarety and selling in Gordon McPhails, Elgin for close on £130 a bottle. No way I'd pay that sort of prices. Theres so many good malts out there at proper prices if you go looking. And as has been said some of the cheaper ones in supermarkets etc. are the same stuff as the well known. Distilleries would not be able to survive if they depended on only selling their label so they bottle for other outlets. They dont change the way its made or matured. The only provisio is that the outlet is not permitted to divulge the source of the product.