1/I keep coming back to the Chivas Regal 18, $125 at Dan Murphy's. Eighteen years old, bottled at 40%. Vanilla, almond slice and toffee on the nose, then malt, dark fudge, leather and raisin, into a warm, long finish. Colin Scott's blend, and it shows.
2/If the Johnnie Walker 18 is your pour, the Chivas gives you about 93% of what it does, for 70% of the price. That's $5.66 a standard drink poured at home, a shade under a pint at the pub at $6.28 for the same measure.
3/What you give up, coming from the Johnnie Walker 18, is mostly some of the sherry and dried fruit, and the name on the label. That's the honest size of it.
4/The Johnnie Walker 18 at $179 keeps its place for the faithful: bonfire smoke, honey over baked apples, that classical pull. The Chivas Regal 18 is the one I'd reach for every other night. Both earn a yes; it just comes down to the night.
None recorded.
None recorded.
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