1/Two of Islay's benchmark malts are both at their own floor this week at Dan Murphy's. Laphroaig 10 is $97. Ardbeg An Oa is $75. Neither has been cheaper across the eight weeks I've been tracking them.
2/Buy the pair and you're at $172. Those two bottles together have averaged about $247 over that window, so the basket is running roughly $75 under its own norm. That's well outside the usual week-to-week wobble.
3/The engine rates them close on character too — ninth-nearest to each other by utility. Both live at the Peat & Maritime end: Laphroaig the medicinal, iodine hit; the An Oa softer and a shade sweeter off the char.
4/Same island, same style, both at the bottom of their range on the same morning. If you were ever going to stock the peat shelf, it's this week. Which is your pour — the TCP punch of the 10, or the rounder An Oa?
| slot | 08-13 | 08-20 | 08-27 | 09-03 | 09-10 | 09-17 | 09-24 | 10-01 | 10-08 | 10-15 | 10-22 | 10-29 | 11-05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list / member | 96.95 observed | 127.99 m 97.00 observed | 127.99 m 97.00 observed | 127.99 m 97.00 observed | 127.99 observed | 96.95 observed | 96.95 observed | 96.95 observed | 96.95 observed | 109.15 m 97.00 observed | 109.15 m 97.00 observed | 109.10 m 97.00 observed | 108.85 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 110.23 | 109.10 | 13.38 | 96.95 | 127.99 | 31.04 | 12.1% | 3.71 | 108.85 | 46 |
| member | 100.28 | 97.00 | 8.95 | 96.95 | 127.99 | 31.04 | 8.9% | 2.48 | 108.85 | 92 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 110.23 | 179.08 | 0.44 | -1.55 | 103.0 – 117.5 |
Ardbeg Wee Beastie: wood smoke and sea breeze, black pepper, then milk chocolate raisins and vanilla. Peaty, punchy, oily, with a long smoky finish. $92 this week; it usually sells around $106. A young Islay with teeth. Love peat? This one's for you. More in this week's piece.
I love handing a Laphroaig 10 drinker an Ardbeg Wee Beastie. They'd pay about $68 for it, roughly 62% of what their own bottle costs them, docking it a little for the extra strength. A yes either way, really. More on the Beastie in this week's piece.
A dram of Ardbeg Wee Beastie after the plates are cleared, and the sums are the small ones: about 26 drinks to the bottle, which comes to $3.51 a pour at home. A pint at the pub runs closer to $6.28 for the same measure. The tasting is in this week's piece.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie is $92 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $106, so you're catching it below the usual. If you like your Islay loud, peat, smoke and sea air, this one's for you. At about $3.51 a pour it's easy to keep on the bench. More in this week's piece.
Lagavulin 8 is light in colour but no wimp: the nose heads straight to the shore, mineral and salt, then turns sweet and lively. Menthol, bay laurel, brine, a touch of Parma violet. Peat smoke blown off a kiln into salt air. $113 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
If Lagavulin 8 is your dram, Ardbeg Wee Beastie, $92, gives a Lagavulin 8 drinker about 92% of what the Lagavulin 8 does for 81% of the price, all wood smoke, sea breeze and black pepper, with more on the Lagavulin 8 in this week's piece.
Hand a Caol Ila 12 drinker a Lagavulin 8 and they'd pay 59% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down for being the younger pour. Still an easy yes for anyone who loves salt, shore and peat smoke. Where would it sit for you? More in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8.
At $4.26 a standard drink, a pour of Lagavulin 8 at home sits under the $6.28 a pint costs at the pub. The $113 bottle holds about 27 standard drinks, 161st of 310 at Dan Murphy's by price per drink. Where does that leave you? More in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8.
Like Lagavulin 8? Laphroaig 10 gives a Lagavulin 8 drinker about 80% of the same pour, for 96% of the price — and it's $109. Brine, iodine, charcoal, a sweet oak finish. The rest sits in this week's piece on Lagavulin 8.
Ardbeg Wee Beastie is $92 this week, and from what we have seen it usually sells around $106, which puts it about as low as we have ever found it sitting in a Dan Murphy's cabinet.
A mate tips a finger of Lagavulin 8 into your glass at his kitchen bench, says nothing, and waits. You've had the 16. You've not had this one. It's pale in the glass, so you brace for something thin, and then it isn't thin at all.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bowmore 12 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $95.00 | $94.81 | +0.19 |
| 2 | Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700ml | $164.99 | $94.43 | +70.56 |
| 3 | Caol Ila 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $94.26 | +4.74 |
| 4 | Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $89.99 | +9.01 |
| 5 | Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $145.99 | $87.54 | +58.45 |
| 6 | Laphroaig Select Cask Scotch Whisky 700mL | $75.00 | $82.95 | -7.95 |
| 7 | Ardbeg Wee Beastie Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $105.99 | $81.79 | +24.20 |
| 8 | Lagavulin 16 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.95 | $80.80 | +79.15 |
| 9 | Smokehead Islay Single Malt 700mL 40% | $81.99 | $80.01 | +1.98 |
| 10 | Laphroaig Quarter Cask Scotch Whisky 700mL | $169.99 | $77.72 | +92.27 |