Scotch at Dan Murphy's, priced every Thursday. Lagavulin 16 and the ten bottles that define it.
Dan Murphy's · week of 2026-11-05
vintage 2026-11-05.1
operator tier
nightly build · origin/main@940a5be

From the Whistler desk · Thread · Similarity surprise · 2026-09-17

An Irish blend and a Speyside malt the engine can't tell apart

mergedflaggedmay_publish falsequality passsite_publish trueprices: 2 price claim(s) verified live

1/Here's a pairing you'd never shelve together: The Whistler Double Oaked, an Irish blended whiskey, and Tamnavulin Double Cask, a Speyside single malt. Different countries, different styles. The engine ranks them second-closest of anything on the shelf.

2/Worth being clear what that means: it's profile geometry, how the two sit against each other on the model's flavour axes, not two glasses poured side by side. Both lean sweet and easy, gentle sherry-and-orchard territory rather than smoke.

3/The timing bit: both are cheap right now. Each is under its own cohort's floor and at the bottom of its own recent price range this week. That's on a My Dan Murphy's member price — $62 for the Whistler (list $69), $66 for the Tamnavulin (list $79).

4/Two independent measures agreeing on both bottles at once is rarer than one doing it alone. Which would you reach for — the Irish blend, or the Speyside malt?

Sources

  • generate_cycle.py replay payload, artefact 2026-09-17-replay/similarity-surprise/the-whistler-double-oaked-irish-whiskey-700ml-tamnavulin-dou-6897d7; window as-of 2026-09-17.
  • The Whistler Double Oaked: list ticket $69 (claim value 69.0; grounding.ref.price 69.0), member price $62 (position price $62.00, member_offer true; grounding.ref.price_in_window 62.0). Band position "under floor", own-history direction cheap, own-history percentile 0.0, axes agree (grounding.ref).
  • Tamnavulin Double Cask: list ticket $79 (claim value 79.0; grounding.cand.price 79.0), member price $66 (position price $66.00, member_offer true; grounding.cand.price_in_window 66.0). Band position "under floor", own-history direction cheap, own-history percentile 0.0, axes agree (grounding.cand).
  • Engine: CE rank 2, VSM score 0.936; the pair diverges on country and style (grounding). Character: The Whistler Corn & Charcoal 0.07 + Sherry & Dried Fruit 0.06; Tamnavulin Sherry & Dried Fruit 0.08 + Orchard & Cereal 0.07 (2026-09-17.r dossiers).

Omissions

  • Light form: no CE 360° band numbers, no cross-read CEARP, no Welch t-test — only the band-position labels and own-history percentiles are used, not the underlying numbers.
  • Member basis: the "cheap right now" signal for both bottles is read on the member price, not the list; both bases are given in the post.
  • No advice to join for the offer — the two bases are stated and the choice is left to the reader.

Notes for reviewer

  • Flagged — data error to fix upstream: the payload records Tamnavulin Double Cask's country as "Australia" and style as "Single Malt". Tamnavulin is a Speyside (Scotland) single malt; the draft describes it correctly and does not repeat the "Australian" label. The country/style surprise (Irish blend vs Speyside single malt) is true on the correct facts. Worth correcting the catalogue entry.
  • Flagged: both legs are member offers; confirm the member/list bases read cleanly and the piece does not tip into "join to get this".
  • Replay draft on rehearsal vintage 2026-09-17.r; may_publish: false and never flips in replay.

Format note

Similarity surprise, light form. Two live tickets, each item's band-position label and own-history percentile, and the pair's CE rank. No CE 360° band numbers, no cross-read CEARP, no Welch t-test. Both bottles are on a My Dan Murphy's member offer this week; the band-position and own-history signals are read on the member price, so the basis is member-to-member and stated. The payload labels Tamnavulin Double Cask as 'Australia'; that is a catalogue error — it is a Speyside single malt — so the country/style surprise is described from the correct facts, not the payload's country field (see Notes).

Frontmatter as merged
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