One cold evening at a mate's place, he reaches into the cupboard and pours The Glenlivet 18 without asking. You settle in. It is the kind of whisky that makes you want to pull the curtains and let the week go.
Here is the thing worth knowing before you buy the next one: the bottle most like The Glenlivet 18, for less money, comes from the very same distillery. The Glenlivet 15, at $153, gives a The Glenlivet 18 drinker about 96% of what their own bottle does. Same house, a few years younger, nearly all of the character.
There is no mistaking where The Glenlivet 18 comes from. That pure combination of fruit and flowers is still there, only now nudged toward a more concentrated expression: the flowers dried and heathery, the fruit turned to tinned pineapple and windfall apples, with a note of cedar and nutmeg added for complexity. On the palate it is liquorous and tongue-clinging, custard tart first and then the autumn fruits coming through. It drinks like the season turning.
1/Friday night, the cupboard open, and you pour something eighteen years old: dried flowers, tinned pineapple, a little cedar and nutmeg, custard tart. The Glenlivet 18 is $170 for members at Dan Murphy's — about 90% of a Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 for 52% of the price.
2/The Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 is $328 at Dan Murphy's: toffee and caramel, sweet vanilla, sultanas and figs, a rich pull of Cuban rum cask. Side by side, what a Gran Reserva 21 drinker gives up with The Glenlivet 18 is mostly the name on the label and three years of age.
3/So, two drams more alike than not. The Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21, $328, is still the one for its fans, all toffee and rum-cask richness. The Glenlivet 18, $170 for members, is the one for every other night.
| 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 | 249.99 m 180.00 observed | 249.99 observed | 184.99 observed | 184.99 observed | 199.99 m 180.00 observed | 249.99 m 180.00 observed | 249.99 m 180.00 observed | 249.99 m 180.00 observed | 249.99 observed | 249.99 observed | 199.99 observed | 249.99 observed | 249.99 m 170.00 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 232.30 | 249.99 | 27.96 | 184.99 | 249.99 | 65.00 | 12.0% | 7.75 | 249.99 | 100 |
| member | 203.07 | 184.99 | 33.20 | 170.00 | 249.99 | 79.99 | 16.3% | 9.21 | 170.00 | 8 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 232.30 | 781.73 | -1.03 | -0.98 | 217.1 – 247.5 |
I keep coming back to this: if you love The Glenlivet 18, The Glenlivet 15 at $153 gives you about 96% of what it does, for 90% of the price. Perfumed oak, apple and pear, soft white pepper. More in this week's piece.
Hand a The Glenlivet 15 drinker a bottle of The Glenlivet 18 and they'd pay 78% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down mostly for the extra years it carries over theirs. More on The Glenlivet 18, and where it sits, in this week's piece. Pour one and see.
Melon and apricot, a little apple pie. That's Glen Moray 18. For a The Glenlivet 18 drinker it gives about 87% of what the 18 does, at 96% of the price. $164 this week. More in this week's piece on The Glenlivet 18.
Poured after dinner, lamp on. Glen Moray 21 noses like oolong and red fruit with a wisp of tawny port; the palate goes creamy and honeyed, a touch of baking spice. $304 for members at Dan Murphy's. A quiet, sweet old Speyside for the unshowy drinker. More in this week's piece.
Melon and apricot. A warm, soft dram. Glen Moray 18 gives a Glen Moray 21 drinker about 95% of what the 21 does, for 54% of the price. It's $164. A soft yes for the 21 lover who'd happily pour this of an evening. More on Glen Moray 21 in this week's piece.
Put Glen Moray 21 beside the bottles nearest it and ask those drinkers what it's worth to them. Their answers run from $76 to $415, each starting from what they pay for their own. This week it's $304 for members, sitting inside that spread. More in this week's piece.
Glen Moray 21 comes to about $11.89 a pour at home, roughly 26 standard drinks to the bottle. If a creamy, honeyed sipper to linger over after dinner is your kind of thing, this is one to pour slowly and savour. More on where it sits this week.
Glen Moray 21 is the pour for someone after an old Speyside that stays soft and sweet: creamy, honeyed, a wisp of Tawny Port and ripe red fruits. It's $304 for members at Dan Murphy's this week; it usually sells around $343. More on where it sits in this week's piece.
Like Glen Moray 21? The Glenlivet 18 gives a Glen Moray 21 drinker about 88% of what they love, for 56% of the price, and it's $170 for members. Dried flowers, tinned pineapple, a settling-in-for-winter dram. Worth a pour. More on the Glen Moray 21 in this week's piece.
Smooth and easy to like: perfumed oak, apple and pear, a whisper of white pepper, with pineapple and honey sneaking in. The Glenlivet 15, $125 for members. That's about $5.66 a standard drink, a touch under a pint at the pub. More on it in this week's piece.
Like The Glenlivet 15? An Aberfeldy 12, poured of an evening, gives you about 95% of what the 15 does. Fresh tropical fruit, honey, a little orange marmalade on the finish, for 83% of its price, at $104. Give one a pour. More on The Glenlivet 15 in this week's piece.
Hand a The Glenlivet 18 drinker a glass of The Glenlivet 15 and they'd set it at $177, about 71% of what their own bottle runs, easing it back mainly for the younger age. Orchard fruit, soft spice, smooth. The rest sits in this week's piece on The Glenlivet 15.
These Speyside malts lean the same way, orchard fruit and a soft trace of spice. The Glenlivet 15 comes to about 22 standard drinks a bottle, so a pour at home settles around $5.66, while a standard drink of a pub pint sits near $6.28. More on it in this week's piece.
Love The Glenlivet 15? The Singleton of Dufftown 12 gives you about 94% of what it does for 55% of the price, and at $69 for members the price is what stands out. More in this week's piece.
The Glenlivet 18 keeps that familiar mix of fruit and flowers, now more concentrated: dried heather, tinned pineapple, windfall apples, cedar and nutmeg, liquorous and tongue-clinging over custard tart. Curtains drawn, winter settling in. $250, more in this week's piece.
Friday night, the 18 feels too good to open on a whim. The Glenlivet 15 steps in: perfumed oak, apple and pear, a little white pepper. For anyone on The Glenlivet 18, it gives about 95% of the 18 at 50% of the price, $125 for members. More in this week's piece.
Dried flowers, tinned pineapple, the curtains drawn for winter. Pour The Glenlivet 18 for a Glencadam 15 drinker and they'd pay 82% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down for being lighter in strength. More on The Glenlivet 18 in this week's piece.
Glencadam 15 stands in nicely for The Glenlivet 18, giving that drinker about 84% of what it pours for 56% of the price, at $140 for members; the delicate floral nose, cooking apples and white pepper make the case quietly, and this week's piece has the fuller account.
A mate pours you a finger of Glen Moray 21 at his place, the good cupboard open, and you spend the next ten minutes working out whether the one you've been eyeing at Dan Murphy's is really worth the stretch. Here's the short version before the glass is empty: the bottle most like the Glen Moray 21, for less, is made down the road at the same distillery. The Glen Moray 18, $164, gives a Glen Moray 21 drinker about 95% of what the 21 does.
The bottle that comes closest to The Glenlivet 15 for less money is sitting one rung down in the same range. The Glenlivet 12 is $79, and to someone who drinks the 15 it does about 93% of what their own bottle does. Same distillery, same light Speyside character, a smaller bill. That is the whole story, so let's walk the rest of it.
If The Glenlivet 18 is your bottle, here is the question worth asking: what sits nearest to it for less money? The answer comes from the same distillery. The Glenlivet 15, $125 for members, gives a Glenlivet 18 drinker about 95% of what their own bottle does. Same house, half the outlay, nearly all the whisky.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Glenlivet 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $125.00 | $178.33 | -53.33 |
| 2 | GLEN GRANT 18 YEARS 700ML | $213.99 | $173.46 | +40.53 |
| 3 | Glen Moray 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $163.99 | $168.87 | -4.88 |
| 4 | Glen Moray 21 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $342.99 | $168.56 | +174.43 |
| 5 | Glen Moray 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $94.00 | $168.55 | -74.55 |
| 6 | Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1L | $88.19 | $162.65 | -74.46 |
| 7 | The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $69.00 | $161.74 | -92.74 |
| 8 | Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $298.95 | $160.40 | +138.55 |
| 9 | Cragganmore 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $85.90 | $159.01 | -73.11 |
| 10 | Aultmore AULTMORE® 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $115.99 | $158.22 | -42.23 |