Deanston 12 opens with orange marmalade and salted caramel, honeyed shortbread on the nose, milk chocolate and a little peppery oak to close. Soft all the way. $97 for members at Dan's this week. Pour one and see where it settles. More in this week's piece.
Like Deanston 12? Dalwhinnie 15 is made for you. It hands a Deanston 12 drinker about 95% of what you already love, for 98% of the price, at $95. Pour it slow: caramelised fruits, a touch of cream, a light note of fennel. More on Deanston 12 in this week's piece.
I lined up the bottles nearest Deanston 12 and asked their drinkers what they'd pay for it. The answers ran $83 to $129. At $97 for members, it sits comfortably inside that spread. Where exactly, and what it means for you, is in this week's piece.
A pour of Deanston 12 at home comes to $3.79 a standard drink. A pint at the pub sits nearer $6.28 for the same measure, and there are about 26 pours in the bottle. More on how it tastes and who it suits in this week's piece. Which way does your week lean?
Deanston 12 is $97 for members at Dan Murphy's this week; it usually sells around $104. Marmalade and honeyed shortbread on the nose, salted caramel and milk chocolate on the palate, a peppery oak finish. One for the sweet-and-spice drinker — more on it in this week's piece.
Like Deanston 12? Glengoyne 12 gives a Deanston 12 drinker about 93% of what it does, for 92% of the price, at $89 for members. Fragrant once it opens up, cherry and apple over a clean malt. One to try if that's your corner. More on Deanston 12 in this week's piece.
Deanston 12 noses of orange marmalade and shortbread dipped in honey, then turns soft and sweet on the palate: salted caramel, milk chocolate, hazelnuts, fudge, into a peppery oak finish. $97 for members this week; it usually sells around $112. More in this week's piece.
If Deanston 12 is your usual, Dalwhinnie 15 sits close by at $95, giving a Deanston 12 drinker about 94% of what the Deanston does for 98% of the price, all caramelised fruits, soft cream and a light touch of fennel. More on it in this week's piece on Deanston 12.
Ask the drinkers of Deanston 12's nearest bottles what it's worth, each starting from what they pay for their own, and you get a spread: $83 to $138. At $97 for members it lands comfortably inside. More on Deanston 12 in this week's piece.
Deanston 12 lands at $97 for members, about 26 standard drinks, so roughly $3.79 a pour at home — a pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. Orange marmalade, honeyed shortbread in the glass. More on it in this week's piece.
Deanston 12 is $97 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $112, and we've seen it between $97 and $112. Orange marmalade, salted caramel, a little peppery oak on the way out. Pour one and see what you make of it. More in this week's piece.
Like Deanston 12? Glengoyne 12 gives that drinker about 93% of what the Deanston 12 does, for 92% of its price, at $89 for members. Clean malt, and a splash of water brings it out fragrant: cherry, apple, a touch of almond. More on Deanston 12 in this week's piece.
Same money, this week. Glencadam 10 and Dalwhinnie 15: $0 between them a bottle. But 46% against 43% tips it — the Glencadam is the cheaper drink, $3.74 a standard drink against $4.00. Per standard drink: Glencadam 10, $95 — $3.74 Deanston 12, $97 — $3.79 Dalwhinnie 15, $95 — $4.00 Tomatin 12, $98 — $4.13 Glencadam 15, $140 — $5.51 A pint at the pub is about $6.28 a drink. All five sit under it, poured at home. The Dalwhinnie's still there for that honeyed, chunky middle: caramelised fruit, a little cream, a nightcap you sip slow.
Some whiskies have fans. Dalwhinnie 15 has friends. It's the bottle that drinkers reach for as a matter of course, the one that turns up again and again near the top of other people's lists, quietly well-liked across the room rather than loved by a loyal few.
Thursday night, someone's kitchen bench, three of you standing around deciding what to open. One mate likes his dram sweet, another leans towards something gentle, and nobody's in the mood for a debate about it. Reach for the Deanston 12 and the question tends to answer itself before the first pour lands.
Of all the bottles sitting close to Deanston 12, few are liked as widely. It lands in the top 18% for how broadly it pleases a room. That is a roundabout way of saying it rarely meets a drinker it puts off, and it is the thing to hold onto before anything else here.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tomatin 12YO Single Malt Whisky | Highlands | $97.99 | observed | $97.99 | $92.15 | 6.0% | #5 of 38 | $3.79 | #6 of 36 | 16 |