At $370 for members this week, Glenfarclas 25 sits above what the drinkers of the bottles nearest it would pay for it. That is the shape of the thing: it fits its own fans and pinches everyone else. Priced for its fans.
1/Dried fruits, toffee, leather and spices: aka Glenfarclas 15, $185 at Dan Murphy's this week. For a Glengoyne 18 drinker, about 92% of what the Glengoyne 18 gives, for 67% of its price.
2/Glenfarclas 15, $185 at Dan Murphy's. Fifteen years, bottled at 46%. The nose is deep and aromatic: dried fruits, toffee, a little leather and warming spice. The palate is full-bodied and smooth: dark fruit, Christmas cake, raisins and roast oak. Non-chill filtered.
3/What a Glengoyne 18 drinker gives up with the Glenfarclas 15 is mostly three years of age and some strength. The Glengoyne 18, $276, is still the one for its fans: milk chocolate, vanilla, sweeter sherry. The Glenfarclas 15 is the one for every other night.
The Glendronach 12, $110 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $119. After a parade of Glendronachs over the years, this is the 12 that won me over: the sherry held back just enough to let the spirit speak. My favourite of them. More in this week's piece.
Hand The Glendronach 12 to drinkers of its nearest bottles and they'd pay $90 to $248 for it, each from what their own bottle costs. The closest, a Glenfarclas 15 drinker, lands at $125, 68% of their own. It's $110 this week. More in this week's piece. Where would you sit?
The Glendronach 12 is $110 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $119, so a few dollars under its regular mark as you pour one. Where it sits against the neighbours is in this week's piece.
Tamdhu 15 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker 73% of what the Glenfarclas 25 does, for 55% of the price, at $202. Molasses, orange peel on the nose, sherry and Turkish Delight on the palate, cloves and dark chocolate on a long finish. More on Glenfarclas 25 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfarclas 15 drinker a dram of Glenfarclas 25 and they'd put down 54% of what their own bottle costs them. The nearest drinkers all land higher. I lay it out in this week's piece. Where would you sit?
Glenfarclas 25 is $370. About 24 pours in the bottle, so $15.58 a standard drink at home. That puts it 294th of 310 at Dan Murphy's by the pour. An old, sherried, honeyed thing. More on it in this week's piece.
Like Glenfarclas 25? A Glenfarclas 15 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker about 74% of what the 25 does, for 50% of the price, at $185. Dried fruits and toffee on the nose, then dark fruit, Christmas cake and roast oak. Pour one and see — more in this week's piece.
Both lean on honey and a bit of age. Glengoyne 21 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker about 93% of what the Glenfarclas 25 does, for 98% of its price. Its own price this week: $361. More on Glenfarclas 25 in this week's piece.
Glenfarclas 15: Christmas cake in a glass. Dried fruit, toffee, a hint of leather, warming spice. Full-bodied and smooth, non-chill filtered. This week it's $185 at Dan Murphy's. The whole story's in this week's piece.
If you love Glenfarclas 15, I'd happily pour you a Tamdhu 12. At $126 it's about 68% of the Glenfarclas price, and for a Glenfarclas 15 drinker it gives you about 88% of what you already enjoy, with citrus, hazelnut and dry sherry. More on Glenfarclas 15 in this week's piece.
Hand a Tamdhu 12 drinker a Glenfarclas 15 and they'd pay about $87 for it, 69% of what their own bottle costs them. The sherry and dried fruit sit close enough to home. Who it suits: a sherried-malt drinker. More in this week's piece on the Glenfarclas 15.
Glenfarclas 15, all dried fruit and Christmas cake, is $7.28 a standard drink poured at home — the kind of pour you sit with rather than rush. This week's piece has the rest.
Like Glenfarclas 15? Aberlour 14 pours jammy peaches, marzipan and vanilla, then slips into milk chocolate and a whisper of coffee. For a Glenfarclas 15 drinker it gives about 88% of the ride at 76% of the price, $140 for members. More in this week's piece.
The Glendronach 12 keeps its sherry held back rather than piled on, which is where this distillery seems at its happiest. Twelve years old, and $110 this week at Dan Murphy's. It usually sells around $119.
If Glenfarclas 15 is your bottle, its closest twin at Dan Murphy's is The GlenDronach 15 Revival — nearest both on the words in the two reviews and on what drinkers choose. It gives you about 99% of what the Glenfarclas 15 does, for 95% of the price.
Some bottles are adored by a small circle. Aberlour 14 is the one a whole room gets along with — the dram you can pour for almost anyone and watch them settle in. Let me show you what I mean, because the numbers say it plainly.
Glenfarclas 15 is the sherried Speyside a lot of drinkers call the range's sweet spot. This week members pay $146 for it at Dan Murphy's, while the shelf price stays $195. The lower figure is a members' offer that wasn't running last Thursday.
What to pay
Glenfarclas 15 is $185 at Dan Murphy's this week, which is about where it usually sits. As a pour at home that works out to around $7.28 a standard drink, a touch over a $13 pint at the pub (roughly $6.28 a drink, since a pint holds about two). There are about 25 standard drinks in the bottle.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenfarclas 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $184.99 | observed | $129.99 | $114.10 | 12.2% | #55 of 79 | $7.28 | #56 of 75 | 22 |
| Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $440.00 | observed | $389.99 | $282.94 | 27.4% | #76 of 79 | $15.58 | #67 of 75 | 7 |