From the Tamdhu desk · Thread · climbing-the-range · 2026-10-22

Climbing the Tamdhu range

mergedmay_publish truequality passsite_publish falseprices: 2 price claim(s) verified live

1/Two rungs on the Tamdhu ladder this week. The 12 at $98, the 15 at $202. Same house, both leaning on sherry. Before you reach past the younger bottle, the question worth asking is this: what does the step up actually get you, and what does the 12 still give a 15 drinker who reaches back down?

2/The step up is three years and $104 more. The 15 runs darker: molasses, orange peel and prickly oak on the nose, then supple sweet sherry, Turkish Delight and fruitcake, closing long on cloves and dark chocolate. Going up, the 15 gives a 12 drinker about 92% of what the 12 does. Coming back down, the 12 gives a 15 drinker about 91% of what the 15 does, for 49% of the price. What's different is mostly the extra sherry and dried fruit and three years of age.

3/A yes for each. The 12 is the one for most nights, dry sherry, hazelnut and jaffa orange, around $4.13 a standard drink against about $6.28 for the same measure at the pub. The 15 is for when you want the richer sherry and dried fruit, and don't mind the longer, oak-dried finish. More is not always better. If the 12 is already your pour, the 15 at $202 is the reach that gives you something new rather than more of the same.

Sources

Prices at Dan Murphy's as of 2026-10-22 (22 October 2026); vintage 2026-10-22.1; bottles: Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL, Tamdhu 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL.
Tamdhu 12 price this week: $98 (price.ticket)
Tamdhu 15 price this week: $202 (price.ticket)
Tamdhu 15 costs more than Tamdhu 12 by: $104 (price.ticket diff)
Tamdhu 15 for a Tamdhu 12 drinker (share of what the Tamdhu 12 gives): 92% (brand.siblings.stand_ins.sib_for_me.share)
Tamdhu 12 for a Tamdhu 15 drinker (share of what the Tamdhu 15 gives): 91% (brand.siblings.stand_ins.me_for_sib.share)
Tamdhu 12 price as a share of Tamdhu 15's: 49% (price.ticket ratio)
what's different between Tamdhu 12 and Tamdhu 15, mostly (from the model's ledger): the extra sherry and dried fruit and three years of age (brand.siblings.stand_ins.gives_up)
Tamdhu 12 per standard drink: $4.13 (price.ticket / standard drinks)
Tamdhu 15 per standard drink: $7.95 (price.ticket / standard drinks)
a pint at the pub, per standard drink (about $13 a pint, about 2 standard drinks): $6.28 (PUB_PINT)
a pint at the pub: $13 (PUB_PINT)
THE POINT (fixed: keep its figures): Going up, the Tamdhu 15 gives a Tamdhu 12 drinker about 92% of what the Tamdhu 12 does. It isn't more of the same: what's different is mostly the extra sherry and dried fruit and three years of age. Coming back down, the Tamdhu 12 gives a Tamdhu 15 drinker about 91% of what the Tamdhu 15 does, for 49% of its price.
Tamdhu 12: standard drinks in the bottle: about 24
Tamdhu 15: standard drinks in the bottle: about 25
under a pint at the pub, per standard drink: Tamdhu 12
over a pint at the pub, per standard drink: Tamdhu 15 (never say every bottle is under the pint)

Omissions

None recorded.

Notes for reviewer

None recorded.

Frontmatter as merged

{
 "date": "2026-10-22",
 "title": "Climbing the Tamdhu range",
 "angle": "climbing-the-range",
 "shape": "thread",
 "masthead": "the-whisky-guy",
 "status": "draft",
 "may_publish": true,
 "generator": "new",
 "artefact_id": "2026-10-22-cycle/climbing-the-range/tamdhu-12-year-old-single-malt-scotch-whisky-700ml-tamdhu-15-e56ecb",
 "grounded_on": "2026-10-22.1",
 "subjects": [
  "Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
  "Tamdhu 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL"
 ],
 "claims": [
  {
   "item": "Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "price",
   "value": 98,
   "basis": "member",
   "stockcode": "829404"
  },
  {
   "item": "Tamdhu 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL",
   "kind": "price",
   "value": 201.99,
   "basis": "list",
   "stockcode": "67662"
  }
 ],
 "score": 465.5,
 "news": [],
 "seed": 1475192441,
 "plan_n": 379,
 "plan_day": "Sat",
 "plan_source": "derived from the article",
 "writer": "claude -p --output-format json",
 "tries": 1,
 "passed_on_try": 1,
 "needs_a_person": false,
 "checks": {
  "required facts": true,
  "no invented reason": true,
  "Australian spelling": true,
  "machine habits": true,
  "proofread": true,
  "reluctance": true,
  "post plan": true,
  "no causal claims": true,
  "invented flavours": true,
  "swap reasons": true,
  "banned words": true,
  "length": true,
  "comparisons": true,
  "numbers traced": true,
  "like for like": true
 },
 "site_publish_share": false,
 "site_share_pct": 25,
 "verified_at": "2026-10-24T08:09:23.000Z",
 "verified_by": "etl/price_verify.py",
 "verified_prices": {
  "67662": {
   "value": 201.99,
   "basis": "list"
  },
  "829404": {
   "value": 98,
   "basis": "member"
  }
 },
 "verification_note": "2 price claim(s) verified live",
 "quality_gate": "pass",
 "gated_at": "2026-10-24T08:09:23.000Z",
 "site_publish": false,
 "quality_notes": "new generator: 15 of 15 checks passed"
}

premium over CE 360° · shared scale 0% to +70% across the eleven

Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

$125.99list 11-05

CE 360° $90.93 · 7.2% over · #37 of 79 in Speyside

per standard drink $5.31 · #42 of 75 in Speyside

60 pieces · observed

Tamdhu 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

$201.99list 11-05

CE 360° $170.63 · 15.5% over · #68 of 79 in Speyside

per standard drink $7.95 · #58 of 75 in Speyside

46 pieces · observed

source file: drafts/2026-10-22-n379-climbing-the-range-climbing-the-tamdhu-range.md