If Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve is your pour and you'd like to spend a little less without leaving the taste behind, you don't have to go looking at other distilleries. The answer is one cupboard over in the same range. Glenfiddich 12, at $75, gives a Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve drinker about 96% of what their own bottle does. Same house, smaller number, nearly all of the whisky.
So what are you actually drinking? Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve is a 14-year-old Speyside, matured in bourbon barrels. The nose is woody and floral at the same time: a firm line of oak under heather, with vanilla, honey and barley, and a touch of citrus zest. The palate is well balanced, the finish long and easy. It's a tasty, inoffensive dram for a weeknight, and it doesn't ask much of you.
This week it's $113 for members at Dan Murphy's. Think of that as the going rate for a 14-year-old Speyside of this make. It works out to about $4.76 a standard drink across the roughly 24 standard drinks in the bottle, so a pour at home lands under the $6.28 a standard drink you'd pay for a $13 pint at the pub. The home dram comes in cheaper.
1/In-laws over for the roast, me on drinks duty. Father-in-law swirls his glass. 'Woody, little bit floral, oak and honey under it, touch of citrus. Well balanced, this. What've you poured me?' Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve, $113 for members at Dan Murphy's, I tell him.
2/'You on the same?' he asks, nodding at my glass. 'Nah — The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask, $151. Vanilla, toffee, a bit of banana, that sweet coconut off the rum casks. The good gear.' It usually sells around $161; against that the Glenfiddich sits at about 70% of the price.
3/So here it is, side by side: the Glenfiddich gives about 95% of what the Balvenie does, for 75% of the price. What a Balvenie drinker gives up is mostly the name on the label. The Balvenie for its fans; the Glenfiddich for every other night. Both a yes.
Like Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve? The Balvenie 12 American Oak, $99, gives a Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve drinker about 94% of it, at 88% of the price. Honey and navel orange. More on Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve in this week's piece.
Hand a Glen Moray 18 drinker the Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve and they'd pay 88% of what their own bottle costs. They dock it a touch for the younger years, not the dram: oak, heather, honey. Worth a pour? The full read on Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve is in this week's piece.
A Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve poured at home works out at $4.76 a standard drink, about 24 to the bottle. A pint at the pub sits nearer $6.28 a drink, so the couch is quietly ahead. That's the price per pour; the full tasting is in this week's piece.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 usually sells around $170. This week it's $160 at Dan Murphy's. In the glass: Christmas cake, jaffa oranges, old leather. Full and smooth, a long finish, a last hint of smoke. Want to know who else it suits? That's in this week's piece.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, poured after a long Tuesday: sherry, Christmas cake, old leather, a wisp of smoke. Want that without the full $160? The Macallan 12 Double Cask, $137, gives a Sherry Oak drinker 98% of it for 86% of the price. Fair swap? More in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfiddich 15 drinker The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 and they'd pay 68% of what their own bottle costs, a generous nod from a neighbour and reason enough to pour one yourself. The rest of the story waits in this week's piece on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12.
Christmas cake and Jaffa oranges, a little old leather, then a last hint of smoke: The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is one to pour slowly of an evening. This week it is $160 at Dan Murphy's; it usually sells around $170. More on where that price sits in this week's piece.
The odd part: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, at $105, hands a The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 87% of what their own bottle gives, for 66% of its price. Honey, almonds, a touch of nutmeg. The rest of the story on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is in this week's piece.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lagavulin 16 reference | Islay | $149.90 | observed | $159.95 | $130.52 | 18.4% | #138 of 171 | $6.31 | #122 of 164 | 7 |
| Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Islay | $164.99 | observed | $164.99 | $142.09 | 13.9% | #113 of 171 | $4.84 | #98 of 164 | 2 |
| Bowmore 12 | Islay | $109.99 | observed | $95.00 | $83.49 | 12.1% | #101 of 171 | $4.98 | #101 of 164 | 15 |
| Caol Ila 12 | Islay | $137.99 | observed | $99.00 | $88.74 | 10.4% | #93 of 171 | $5.81 | #113 of 164 | 28 |
| Bunnahabhain 12 | Islay | $127.99 | observed | $127.99 | $103.15 | 19.4% | #142 of 171 | $3.87 | #62 of 164 | 6 |
| Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Islay | $108.85 | observed | $97.00 | $86.43 | 10.9% | #95 of 171 | $4.93 | #100 of 164 | 13 |
| Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Year Old Scotch Whisky | Islay | $145.99 | observed | $145.99 | $127.43 | 12.7% | #104 of 171 | $5.29 | #105 of 164 | 29 |
| Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Islay | $112.99 | observed | $99.00 | $91.35 | 7.7% | #70 of 171 | $4.26 | #79 of 164 | 32 |
| Glencadam 15YO Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Highlands | $159.99 | observed | $150.00 | $137.15 | 8.6% | #83 of 171 | $6.30 | #121 of 164 | 23 |
| The Glenlivet 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $152.99 | observed | $125.00 | $117.76 | 5.8% | #57 of 171 | $6.93 | #130 of 164 | 20 |
| The Glenlivet 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $249.99 | observed | $184.99 | $165.98 | 10.3% | #92 of 171 | $7.70 | #134 of 164 | 24 |