Pour The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 on a slow evening and you get the Speyside house style in full. Floral first, then honey, oak and almonds on the nose. The palate is silky: spicy sherry, nutmeg, dried fruit. The finish runs quite long, a hint of orange under drying spices. Twelve years in ex-bourbon casks, nine months finished in Spanish oak oloroso sherry. Elegant, and robust with it.
What to pay. It's $105 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $100, so this week lands just above the usual mark.
Here's the part worth knowing. The bottle most like the DoubleWood 12 at a lower price comes from the same distillery. The Balvenie 12 American Oak is $99, and to a DoubleWood 12 drinker it gives about 91% of what their own bottle does. Same hand, same house, a few dollars less.
1/Friday night, the heavy glass comes off the bench. The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 is $105 at Dan Murphy's. Twelve years, floral and honey on the nose, silky with nutmeg and dried fruit. For a Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker it gives about 87% of that bottle, for 66% of the price.
2/Side by side, the Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is $160 this week; it usually sells around $170. What a Macallan drinker gives up with the Balvenie is mostly the name on the label and some of the sherry and dried fruit. Against that usual $170, the Balvenie is about 59% of the price.
3/Here's the yes for each. The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, $160: sherry, Christmas cake, old leather, still the one for its fans. The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, usually around $100 and $105 this week: the one for every other night. We've seen it between $98 and $105.
| 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 | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 observed | 98.90 observed | 99.95 observed | 99.95 observed | 99.95 observed | 104.95 observed | 104.85 observed | 104.85 observed | 104.95 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 100.99 | 99.95 | 2.75 | 98.90 | 104.95 | 6.05 | 2.7% | 0.76 | 104.95 | 100 |
| member | 100.71 | 99.95 | 3.00 | 98.00 | 104.95 | 6.95 | 3.0% | 0.83 | 104.95 | 100 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 100.99 | 7.55 | 0.86 | -1.38 | 99.5 – 102.5 |
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 usually sells around $170. This week it's $160 at Dan Murphy's. In the glass: Christmas cake, jaffa oranges, old leather. Full and smooth, a long finish, a last hint of smoke. Want to know who else it suits? That's in this week's piece.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, poured after a long Tuesday: sherry, Christmas cake, old leather, a wisp of smoke. Want that without the full $160? The Macallan 12 Double Cask, $137, gives a Sherry Oak drinker 98% of it for 86% of the price. Fair swap? More in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfiddich 15 drinker The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 and they'd pay 68% of what their own bottle costs, a generous nod from a neighbour and reason enough to pour one yourself. The rest of the story waits in this week's piece on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12.
Christmas cake and Jaffa oranges, a little old leather, then a last hint of smoke: The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is one to pour slowly of an evening. This week it is $160 at Dan Murphy's; it usually sells around $170. More on where that price sits in this week's piece.
The odd part: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, at $105, hands a The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 87% of what their own bottle gives, for 66% of its price. Honey, almonds, a touch of nutmeg. The rest of the story on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is in this week's piece.
Like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12? Glenfiddich 15 gives you about 74% of what it does, for 87% of the price, at $140. Cooked plums and stewed rhubarb on the nose, then hedgerow fruit and a little grip on the palate. More on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 in this week's piece.
Here is the short answer before the long one: the bottle most like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, for less money, comes from the same still house. The Macallan 12 Double Cask, at $137, gives a Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 98% of what their own bottle does. Same family, same warmth, a little less at the counter.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $139.99 | $96.97 | +43.02 |
| 2 | The Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $136.99 | $96.80 | +40.19 |
| 3 | GLENFIDDICH 12YO SHERRY CASK FINISH 700ML | $136.99 | $96.71 | +40.28 |
| 4 | The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $169.99 | $95.73 | +74.26 |
| 5 | Mortlach The Wee Witchie 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 750mL | $158.66 | $94.79 | +63.87 |
| 6 | The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $377.99 | $94.71 | +283.28 |
| 7 | Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $105.00 | $94.28 | +10.72 |
| 8 | Aberlour 14 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.99 | $93.37 | +66.62 |
| 9 | Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $98.00 | $91.03 | +6.97 |
| 10 | The Balvenie 12 Year Old American Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $91.01 | +7.99 |