Honestly, once you hit about the $35 price point give or take the taste is subjective because the quality is there. So most of the whiskeys and Scotches I have range from about $30 to $80 with maybe 3-4 more expensive and one or two cheaper.
I can definitely instantly tell (unless it’s the rare actually good quality cheap guy, the “hidden gems” so to speak) anything about $30 and under as they have a noticeable chemical/electrical wang either from not being appropriately distilled (using too big of a “heart” or only post stilled a couple of times), not aged appropriately and/or too low quality of a mash. For instance, take Johnnie Walker. Their highest end named brand (as the Walker & Sons brand have even more expensive) that is commonly available is the blue label. Other than the cheap red label (which is instantly recognizeable as cheap) and Swing (which isn’t cheap but made cheaply), the blue label is actually my least favorite Johnnie by far. I prefer even the black label (their second cheapest) to the blue and my personal preference is for the green. But all of the Johnnies from black up (excluding Swing which is priced higher but basically is a trumped up Red in an interesting bottle) are good quality whiskies. You’ll notice differences in flavor between a Blue and a Gold and a Platinum and a Green but not really a noticeable difference in quality unless you’ve got a superhuman palate.
So my opinion is why spend $150+ trying to find a high end whiskey you love when you’re just as likely to find a $50 whiskey you love. Plus at least for me, my taste will fluctuate with my mood and sometimes I want to the ridiculous smokiness of an Ardberg An Oa or the nuttiness and vanilla of a Baker’s Bourbon or the sweetness and full bodied flavor of Kentucky Spirit or the mellow smoothness of Maker’s Mark 46 or the punch you in the face sharpness and pepperiness of the Bulleit Barrel Strength or the...continue on basically forever. I’d rather spend that $200 getting 4 whiskeys roughly around $50 because you’re going to like at least one of them better than that $200 bottle and maybe even all four.
I generally tend to keep at least one or two types of whiskeys that focus on one or more “flavor profiles” or characteristics. Because especially if you’re making a particular cocktail you might want one strong flavor note shining through whether it’s vanilla, corn, smoke, rye, malt/barley, nuttiness, fruitiness, oaky/woodiness different than just strong vanillans, etc...
