From the Speyside desk · Thread · The whole shelf · 2026-08-06

Speyside's cheap blends stay honest; its age charges the tax

mergedmay_publish falsequality passsite_publish falseprices: Label 5 Classic Black Blended Scotch Whi: no Stockcode resolved for...

1/Seventy-six bottles carry the Speyside name on this shelf, every one price-checked today and set against what its own CE 360 jury reckons it is worth. Widest span on the floor: a $70 blend at one end, an $800 single malt at the other.

2/Nothing here sits under its own mark, so the hot end means closest to the line, not cheap. Nearest of all: Glenlivet Founder's Reserve at $66, a Chivas tequila-cask blend at $62, Glen Moray's Shiraz finish at $72. Each within a whisker of fair.

3/The shelf's own words read the way Speyside should: sherry and dark fruit, apple, a thread of rum, European and American oak both turning up. Pooled off the region's reviews. Classic, and mostly priced to match.

4/The cold end is where the badge costs. Chivas Regal Ultis at $296 wears the biggest premium here, past half again its jury's figure. Aberlour A'Bunadh ($170) and Glenfarclas 25 ($390) sit next, with Craigellachie 23 topping the price list at $800.

5/So Speyside is a shelf of two halves: everyday blends priced honest, the aged sherry-bombs charging for the name. Fairer everyday pour, the $66 Glenlivet or the $62 Chivas blend? (Dan Murphy's, this Thursday.)

Sources

generate_cycle.py replay payload, artefact 2026-08-06-replay/whole-shelf/speyside-region-af249f, vintage 2026-08-06.r, pack region-speyside-aggregate.json. Gap basis: percentage.
Coverage: 76 of 76 members observed this cycle (100%). Price band $57.95-799.99, median $117.99; CE 360 mean-avg about $151.55. Words (region-pooled): sherry, rum, speyside, dark, apple, european, american, dram.
Hot 5 (smallest premium over own mean, all observed): Label 5 Classic Black 1L $70 (0.42% over); Glen Moray Shiraz Finish $72 (0.58%); Glenlivet Founder's Reserve $66 (0.58%); Chivas Regal Extra 13 Tequila Cask $62 (0.61%); Glen Moray Peated $72 (0.65%).
Cold 5 (largest premium): Chivas Regal Ultis $296 (52.26% over); Aberlour A'Bunadh $170 (27.07%); Glenfarclas 25 $390 (24.18%); Chivas Regal 25 $646 (21.51%); Craigellachie 23 $800 (20.65%).

Omissions

Full coverage this cycle: 76 of 76 members priced live, so no carried prices and no excluded members to name.
The Sources cut is the aggregate's stored top/bottom movers, not the full 76-bottle ranking; the sidecar does not store every member's gap.
'Hot'/'cold' are value-position labels against each bottle's own CE 360 mean, not sales velocity, popularity or any movement over time.

Notes for reviewer

Replay draft on rehearsal vintage 2026-08-06.r; may_publish: false and never flips in replay.
No bottle on this shelf sits below its own consensus (ce_gap_pct is never negative); the hot end is smallest-premium, and the post does not read it as a discount.

Format note

Whole Shelf, Speyside (region), vintage 2026-08-06.r, pack region-speyside-aggregate.json. Gap basis percentage (the aggregate's own, chosen by its wide $57.95-799.99 range). Coverage 76 of 76 members priced live this cycle (100%). ce_gap_pct is each bottle's premium over its own CE 360 mean; 'hot' is closest to fair value, not a bargain, and never a velocity or trend read. Sources holds the ranked cut; the sidecar stores the top/bottom movers, not every member.

Frontmatter as merged

{
 "date": "2026-08-06T00:00:00.000Z",
 "title": "Speyside's cheap blends stay honest; its age charges the tax",
 "angle": "whole-shelf",
 "position": "n/a",
 "status": "draft",
 "derives_from": "none — standalone; the automated cycle grounds this on the vintage build and live tickets, no long-form article backs it",
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 "claims": [
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   "item": "Label 5 Classic Black Blended Scotch Whisky 1L",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Label 5 Classic Black Blended Scotch Whisky 1L",
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  {
   "item": "Glen Moray Shiraz Finish Whisky 700mL",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Glen Moray Shiraz Finish Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "value",
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  {
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  },
  {
   "item": "Glen Moray Peated Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Chivas Regal Ultis Blended Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "value",
   "value": 52.26
  },
  {
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   "kind": "price",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Aberlour A'Bunadh Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "value",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "price",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "value",
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  },
  {
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   "kind": "price",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Chivas Regal 25 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "value",
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  },
  {
   "item": "Craigellachie 23 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "price",
   "value": 800
  },
  {
   "item": "Craigellachie 23 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "value",
   "value": 20.65
  }
 ],
 "subjects": [
  "Speyside (region)"
 ],
 "verified_at": "2026-09-27T05:07:31.000Z",
 "verified_by": "etl/price_verify.py (harvest sidecar danmurphys_whisky_products_2026-08-06.normalised.csv, as of 2026-08-06)",
 "verification_note": "Label 5 Classic Black Blended Scotch Whi: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Glen Moray Shiraz Finish Whisky 700mL: no Stockcode resolved for this name; The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve Single M: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Chivas Regal Extra 13 Year Old Tequila C: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Glen Moray Peated Single Malt Scotch Whi: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Chivas Regal Ultis Blended Malt Scotch W: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Aberlour A'Bunadh Single Malt Scotch Whi: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scot: no Stockcode resolved for this name; Chivas Regal 25 Year Old Blended Scotch : no Stockcode resolved for this name; Craigellachie 23 Year Old Single Malt Sc: no Stockcode resolved for this name",
 "quality_gate": "pass",
 "gated_at": "2026-09-27T05:07:31.000Z",
 "site_publish": false,
 "quality_notes": "soft template-structure: structure 'p2 p3 p3 p3 p3' shared with 1 whole-shelf draft(s)"
}

source file: drafts/2026-08-06-whole-shelf-speyside-blends-honest-age-charges.md