If Chivas Regal XV 15 is your bottle and you'd like the same evening for a little less, the closest answer comes from the same house: Chivas Regal 12, at $60, gives a Chivas Regal XV 15 drinker about 95% of what their own bottle does. That's the whole story in a line, and I'll spend the rest of this walking you around it.
Chivas Regal XV 15 is a grand, generous blend, and I mean grand warmly. The nose opens on marmalade, almond and cinnamon buns, and there's an extra layer of lush fruit here because part of it has rested in cognac casks; to my palate the cognac stays respectful of the scotch rather than talking over it. The whole thing is thoroughly integrated. On the palate it turns luxurious and velvety, all rich dark fruits and toffee, with that cognac fruit encircling the blend and a little wood spice to close. It's built for frosty winter nights, and that is exactly when I'd reach for it.
1/Royal Salute 21 sits at $210 this week. Love it? The Chivas Regal 18 gives a Royal Salute 21 drinker about 86% of what the Royal Salute 21 does, for 60% of the price.
2/Chivas Regal 18, $125 at Dan Murphy's. Eighteen years old, bottled at 40%. The nose: vanilla, almond slice, toffee, a little sweet oak. The palate warms slowly through malt, dark fudge, leather and raisin. A long, warm finish of oak and chocolate.
3/What a Royal Salute 21 drinker gives up with the Chivas Regal 18 is mostly the name on the label and three years of age. So: Royal Salute 21, $210, still the one for its fans. Chivas Regal 18, $125, the one for every other night.
Johnnie Walker 18, $131 at Dan Murphy's: woodsmoke off green twigs, vanilla fudge and baked apples under honey, with a catch of smoke that carries into the finish. Classical, but easy to like. Pour one and see. More on it in this week's piece.
Fancy a Johnnie Walker 18 but eyeing the price? Chivas Regal 18 gives you about 97% of what you love about it, for 95% of the price, at $125 this week. Nose of vanilla and toffee, soft oak and spice on the finish. More on Johnnie Walker 18 in this week's piece.
Who's it for? Anyone chasing woodsmoke and honeyed oats; I'd pour it gladly. Its neighbours' drinkers would pay $120 to $231 for Johnnie Walker 18, each from their own bottle. This week it's $131, inside that range. More in this week's piece.
Pour one after dinner, lamps low. Johnnie Walker 18 works out at $5.93 a standard drink, just under a pub pint's $6.28 a standard drink. Woodsmoke off green twigs, honey over baked apples, a catch of smoke into the finish. More in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21, $210 at Dan Murphy's, and it drinks its age: orchard fruit in masses, a hint of passion fruit, oak gone soft and round, a banana note with a drop of water. Thick and chewy, a nut on the finish. One for the patient sipper. More in this week's piece. Fancy a dram?
Friday night, cupboard open, deciding what to pour. Chivas Regal 18, $125, gives a Royal Salute 21 drinker about 86% of the whisky for 60% of the price. Vanilla, almond, toffee. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21 is $210 this week. Hand it to a Chivas Regal 25 drinker and they'd pay $502 for it, 78% of what their own bottle sets them back. Across the nearer drinkers the figure runs from $107 to $502. Where it all settles is in this week's piece.
A pour of Royal Salute 21 lands 274th of 310 at Dan Murphy's per standard drink: at $210 for about 22 pours, that's $9.51 a glass at home, a touch over a pub pint's $6.28 a drink. One for the lover of rounded orchard fruit. More in this week's piece.
I kept coming back to the orchard fruit on Royal Salute 21. Masses of it, a hint of passion fruit, then a drop of water lets a banana note up. Thick and chewy, a little nut on the finish. $210 at Dan's. More on it in this week's piece.
Like Royal Salute 21? Johnnie Walker 18 gives you about 91% of what it does, for 85% of the price. That's $179. Woodsmoke, honey, baked apples. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Hand Royal Salute 21 to a Chivas Regal 18 drinker and they'd pay about $99 for it, close to 79% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down mostly for the name on the label. More on where Royal Salute 21 sits with its neighbours in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21 runs about 22 standard drinks a bottle, so a pour at home is $9.51. A pint at the pub sits near $6.28 a standard drink. The 21 lands above that; Chivas 18 slips under at $5.66. What's a fair price for a pour in your own glass? More in this week's piece.
Like Royal Salute 21? Chivas Regal 18 gives a Royal Salute 21 drinker about 85% of it, for 60% of the price, at $125. Vanilla, almond slice and toffee on the nose. Malt, dark fudge and raisin, then a warm, long finish. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Drink Chivas Regal XV 15? The Chivas Regal 12, at $60, gives you about 95% of what it does for 67% of the price. Vanilla sponge, cut flowers, a little marzipan, an everyday pour. Save the XV 15 for a frosty night. More on it in this week's piece.
Hand a Dewar's 18 drinker the Chivas Regal XV 15 and they'd pay 83% of what their own bottle costs, mostly for it not being from the Highlands. That suits the Dewar's drinker after a softer, fruitier dram for frosty nights. More on the Chivas Regal XV 15 in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89. About 22 standard drinks in the bottle. That works out at $4.03 a pour at home. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. More on the Chivas Regal XV 15 in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV 15: marmalade and cinnamon buns on the nose, dark fruit and toffee on a velvety palate, wood spice on the finish. It's $89 this week, about where it usually sells, and we've seen it from $86 to $89. More on it in this week's piece.
Marmalade, almond and cinnamon buns, then dark fruits and toffee rolling in velvety, with a little wood spice to close. The cognac cask sits politely beside the scotch, and I'd keep this one for frosty nights. Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89, and that's where this week's piece starts.
Love the Chivas Regal XV 15? The Chivas Regal 12 pours vanilla sponge, cut flowers and marzipan, and for $60 it gives a Chivas Regal XV 15 drinker about 95% of what that bottle does at 67% of its price. Pour one this winter and see — more in this week's piece.
Hand a Dewar's 18 drinker a glass of Chivas Regal XV 15 — marmalade, almond, those cinnamon buns on a frosty night — and they'd put it at 84% of what their own bottle sets them back, docking it mostly for not hailing from the Highlands. The rest is in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV 15 comes to $4.03 a pour at home, about 22 standard drinks in the $89 bottle. A pint at the pub sits nearer $6.28 a standard drink. If a quiet dram sounds like your evening, pour one and see. More in this week's piece on Chivas Regal XV 15.
Marmalade, almond and cinnamon buns, then dark fruits and toffee over a velvety palate: Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89 at Dan Murphy's this week, about where it usually sells, sitting between $86 and $89 whenever we've seen it. More on it in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV, rated 92. Marmalade and cinnamon buns, then dark fruit and toffee — velvety smooth, wood spice on the finish. $89 this week, which is what it usually sells around. That's $4.03 a standard drink, against $6.28 for a pint at the pub.
Royal Salute 21, $210: orchard fruit, a hint of passion fruit, oak rounded and supple. If that's your pour, the Chivas Regal 18 gives you about 85% of what it does, for 60% of the price.
A mate's fortieth, and I've been handed the good stuff in the backyard. Birthday boy drifts over, nose in the glass. "Vanilla sponge and marzipan in here, little waft of smoke at the end. What've you given me?" "Chivas Regal 12 — $60 at Dan's."
The Chivas Regal 12 sits at $60 at Dan Murphy's, twelve years old at 40%, and it drinks like an everyday luxury: a nose of vanilla sponge and marzipan, an oily palate of malty toffee and cake, then cocoa, hazelnut and a last waft of smoke. It usually sells around $60.
Fancy the Dewar’s 18 but wondering what tastes most like it for less to pour? That bottle is Chivas Regal XV 15. It gives a Dewar’s 18 drinker about 89% of what the Dewar’s 18 itself does, and it manages all of that for 68% of the price.
Chivas Regal 25 is a $646 blend this week — the house's flagship, priced for the cabinet.
Twenty-one dollars dearer than a week ago: that's where Chivas Regal 18 has landed. The shelf reads $136 today. Seven days back it was $114.95, and no member offer bridges the two.
Here is the odd thing about Johnnie Walker 18. The critics and the drinkers see it differently. On how the critics rate it, it sits in the top 21% of the whiskies at Dan Murphy's. On how broadly everyday drinkers like it, it lands in the bottom 7%. Same bottle, two verdicts. So which one is yours?
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | Speyside | $81.90 | observed | $55.30 | $54.62 | 1.2% | #3 of 79 | $2.60 | #4 of 75 | 0 |
| Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | Speyside | $59.95 | observed | $59.95 | $59.19 | 1.3% | #4 of 79 | $2.71 | #11 of 75 | 14 |
| Chivas Regal 18 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $124.95 | observed | $124.95 | $114.19 | 8.6% | #44 of 79 | $5.66 | #44 of 75 | 20 |
| Chivas Regal 25 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $645.99 | observed | $645.99 | $481.95 | 25.4% | #75 of 79 | $29.24 | #73 of 75 | 6 |
| Chivas Regal Charles LeClerc 16YO | Speyside | $99.99 | observed | $99.99 | $95.95 | 4.0% | #26 of 79 | $4.53 | #37 of 75 | 0 |
| Chivas Regal Extra 13 Year Old Sherry Cask Blended Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $73.99 | observed | $73.99 | $72.40 | 2.1% | #15 of 79 | $2.72 | #12 of 75 | 0 |
| Chivas Regal Extra 13 Year Old Tequila Cask Blended Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $74.99 | observed | $65.00 | $63.91 | 1.7% | #10 of 79 | $3.39 | #22 of 75 | 0 |
| Chivas Regal Extra Blended Scotch Whisky Rum Cask | Speyside | $74.99 | observed | $74.99 | $73.35 | 2.2% | #16 of 79 | $3.39 | #23 of 75 | 0 |
| Chivas Regal Ultis Blended Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $295.99 | observed | $295.99 | $149.70 | 49.4% | #79 of 79 | $13.40 | #63 of 75 | 0 |
| Chivas Regal XV 15 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $88.99 | observed | $88.99 | $85.20 | 4.3% | #29 of 79 | $3.89 | #28 of 75 | 16 |