Royal Salute 21 is $210 at Dan Murphy's this week. That is the number to carry to the counter.
Here is the useful part, and it comes from the same house. The bottle most like Royal Salute 21 at a lower price is Chivas Regal 18, $125, which gives a Royal Salute 21 drinker about 86% of what their own bottle does. Same family, most of the way there, and well under the price.
1/Royal Salute 21 is $259.99 at Dan Murphy's this morning. Last Thursday the same bottle was $209.95, no deal attached. There's a My Dan Murphy's member price this week, $250, and even that sits above last week's plain shelf.
2/Here's the standing behind the ticket. Royal Salute 21's own CE 360° jury (ten comparable bottles scored on make-up) reads it at about $191, topping out near $204. At $250 for members or $259.99 on the shelf, it's well over what that peer group calls it worth.
3/It's a sherried, dried-fruit 21-year-old blend in a handsome bottle, and none of that has changed. The number has. That's the whole note today: the price is out ahead of the liquid's peer value.
4/So this one reads as a hold, not a grab. Seen it under $250 in your state this Thursday? Post the ticket — I'd like to know where the older price is still ringing up.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
Royal Salute 21 is $210 at Dan Murphy's this week. A pour works out at about $9.51 a standard drink, and there are about 22 standard drinks in the bottle; a pint at the pub runs about $6.28 for the same measure, so this one sits a touch above the pub pour per glass.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Salute 21 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $209.99 | observed | $259.99 | $222.78 | 14.3% | #63 of 79 | $9.51 | #61 of 75 | 19 |