1/Climbing the Hellyers Road range. Two Tasmanian rungs, one step apart. Hellyers Road 7 Peated, $139 this week. The Journeyman 8, $150. One peated and younger; one a year older, no peat. The question for each step: what does going up get you, and what does the younger bottle give the older one's drinker? Let's climb.
2/Step up to the Journeyman 8 at $150: a year's more age for $11. Those ex-bourbon casks give banana lollies and creme caramel up top, black bread and savoury stock underneath. Going up, it gives a 7 Peated drinker about 99% of what their own bottle does. Coming back down, the 7 Peated gives a Journeyman 8 drinker about 98% of what theirs does, for 93% of its price. What changes is mostly less of the wine-cask fruit, and that one year.
3/So, a yes for each. The 7 Peated if peat's your thing: light, sweet, an ashy finish like drawing on a cigar. The Journeyman 8 if you'd swap that wine-cask fruit for something drier and more savoury. At about $5.45 and $5.88 a standard drink, each pour at home sits under a $13 pint. More is not always better. Both earn a yes; take the one that's already yours.
Standing at the bottle shop doing the sums in my head, and the cheaper sticker isn't the cheaper pour. Morris Rutherglen Muscat Barrel asks $10 more a bottle than Starward Panettone, yet at 46% against 40% it's the cheaper drink — $4.53 a standard drink against $4.75. Pour the Morris for dates, cocoa and cinnamon, the Starward for candied orange and spiced bread, the Lawrenny Homestead ($6.33, white peaches and smoked almonds) when you fancy a longer sit. The first two come in under a pub pint's $6.28, the Lawrenny just over — a yes for each.
Light peat, mint and liquorice, an ashy finish like drawing on a cigar. Pour Hellyers Road 7 Peated, it's $139 for members this week, 46.2% in about 26 standard drinks, so $5.45 a pour at home: 7th of 20 Australian single malts, 4th of 15 from Tasmania, 207th of 305.
A members' price on Starward Solera has just lapsed. It is back to its full $143 at Dan Murphy's this week, so a member now pays what everyone else does. Worth eyeing the cheaper bench-mate while the gap is open.
310 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: Grant's Triple Wood 1 litre at $1.99 a standard drink; the median is $4.16; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 235 of the 310 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
305 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: McAllister 1 litre at $2.00 a standard drink; the median is $4.03; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 228 of the 305 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Rose Australian Original Whisky | $78.99 | observed | $60.00 | $56.30 | 6.2% | #3 of 36 | $3.58 | #6 of 35 | 2 | |
| Archie Rose Distilling Co. Rye Malt Australian Whisky | New South Wales | $98.99 | observed | $80.00 | $59.94 | 25.1% | #18 of 36 | $3.11 | #4 of 35 | 2 |
| Archie Rose Single Malt Whisky | $118.99 | observed | $118.99 | $113.40 | 4.7% | #2 of 36 | $4.68 | #15 of 35 | 2 | |
| Archie Rose Straight Rye Malt Whisky | $99.99 | observed | $99.99 | $96.35 | 3.6% | #1 of 36 | $3.94 | #10 of 35 | 2 | |
| Callington Mill Enigma Whisky | Tasmania | $99.99 | observed | $89.00 | $69.48 | 21.9% | #13 of 36 | $4.53 | #14 of 35 | 2 |
| Coastal Stone Discover Blended Whisky | New South Wales | $58.99 | observed | $58.99 | $45.03 | 23.7% | #14 of 36 | $2.85 | #1 of 35 | 1 |
| Hellyers Road 7 Year Old Peated Single Malt Whisky | Tasmania | $149.99 | observed | $149.99 | $112.13 | 25.2% | #19 of 36 | $5.88 | #20 of 35 | 4 |
| Hellyers Road Double Cask Whisky | Tasmania | $119.99 | observed | $119.99 | $96.78 | 19.3% | #9 of 36 | $4.70 | #16 of 35 | 2 |
| Hellyers Road Roaring Forties Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky | Tasmania | $98.99 | observed | $98.99 | $78.83 | 20.4% | #10 of 36 | $3.62 | #7 of 35 | 2 |
| Hellyers Road The Journeyman 8 Year Old Tasmanian Single Malt Whisky | Tasmania | $149.99 | observed | $149.99 | $110.70 | 26.2% | #21 of 36 | $5.45 | #19 of 35 | 3 |
| IronHouse Distillery Tasman Whisky - Port Cask - Tasmanian Single Malt | Tasmania | $229.99 | observed | $229.99 | $135.50 | 41.1% | #34 of 36 | $8.86 | #32 of 35 | 2 |
| Jack Daniels Bonded Whiskey | Tennessee | $88.99 | observed | $94.99 | $61.95 | 34.8% | #30 of 36 | $4.03 | #11 of 35 | 2 |
| LARK No.151 Fire Trail | Tasmania | $168.99 | observed | $149.00 | $129.54 | 13.1% | #4 of 36 | $7.37 | #26 of 35 | 2 |
| Lark Cask Strength Single Malt Australian Whisky | Tasmania | $258.99 | observed | $362.59 | $255.17 | 29.6% | #26 of 36 | $11.32 | #33 of 35 | 2 |
| Lark Classic Cask Single Malt Australian Whisky | Tasmania | $146.99 | observed | $260.40 | $216.01 | 17.1% | #6 of 36 | $8.67 | #31 of 35 | 2 |
| Lark Rebellion Single Malt | Tasmania | $238.99 | observed | $334.59 | $272.31 | 18.6% | #8 of 36 | $13.77 | #35 of 35 | 2 |
| Lark Symphony Malt Whisky | Tasmania | $112.99 | observed | $205.79 | $115.33 | 44.0% | #35 of 36 | $6.82 | #24 of 35 | 2 |
| Lark Tasmanian Peated Single Malt | Tasmania | $214.99 | observed | $300.99 | $245.57 | 18.4% | #7 of 36 | $11.85 | #34 of 35 | 2 |
| Lawrenny Homestead Single malt Whisky | Tasmania | $154.99 | observed | $145.00 | $125.76 | 13.3% | #5 of 36 | $6.76 | #23 of 35 | 3 |
| Limeburners Infinity Solera Cask Single Malt Whisky | Western Australia | $176.99 | observed | $176.99 | $122.90 | 30.6% | #27 of 36 | $7.45 | #27 of 35 | 3 |
| Manly Spirits Coastal Stone Sherry Cask Whisky | New South Wales | $202.99 | observed | $202.99 | $129.85 | 36.0% | #33 of 36 | $7.99 | #28 of 35 | 3 |
| Manly Spirits Coastal Stone Xplore Blended Australian Whisky | New South Wales | $68.99 | observed | $68.99 | $54.46 | 21.1% | #12 of 36 | $2.94 | #2 of 35 | 2 |
| Morris 36 South Double Grain Whisky | Rutherglen | $67.99 | observed | $65.00 | $51.48 | 20.8% | #11 of 36 | $3.08 | #3 of 35 | 2 |
| Morris Rutherglen Muscat Barrel Single Malt Australian Whisky | Victoria | $151.99 | observed | $115.00 | $82.47 | 28.3% | #25 of 36 | $5.98 | #21 of 35 | 3 |
| Morris Rutherglen Signature Single Malt Australian Whisky | Victoria | $96.99 | observed | $87.00 | $66.16 | 24.0% | #16 of 36 | — | — | 0 |
| Overeem Port Cask Single Malt Whisky | Tasmania | $197.99 | observed | $197.99 | $142.67 | 27.9% | #23 of 36 | $8.34 | #30 of 35 | 3 |
| Overeem Sherry Cask Single Malt Whisky | Tasmania | $195.00 | observed | $195.00 | $140.95 | 27.7% | #22 of 36 | $8.21 | #29 of 35 | 3 |
| STARWARD Solera Single Malt Australian Whisky | Victoria | $142.99 | observed | $142.99 | $91.65 | 35.9% | #32 of 36 | $6.02 | #22 of 35 | 3 |
| Starward (New) Old Fashioned Cocktail | Victoria | $63.99 | observed | $89.59 | $58.35 | 34.9% | #31 of 36 | $5.07 | #18 of 35 | 1 |
| Starward Nova Single Malt Australian Whisky | Victoria | $93.99 | observed | $93.99 | $70.03 | 25.5% | #20 of 36 | $4.15 | #12 of 35 | 2 |
| Starward Panettone Whisky | Victoria | $104.99 | observed | $104.99 | $69.19 | 34.1% | #28 of 36 | $4.75 | #17 of 35 | 3 |
| Starward Two-fold Double Grain Australian Whisky | Victoria | $73.99 | observed | $73.99 | $56.48 | 23.7% | #15 of 36 | $3.35 | #5 of 35 | 2 |
| Starward Whiskey Vitalis 52% | New South Wales | $205.99 | observed | $205.99 | $101.77 | 50.6% | #36 of 36 | $7.17 | #25 of 35 | 2 |
| The Gospel Solera Rye | Victoria | $89.99 | observed | $82.00 | $61.81 | 24.6% | #17 of 36 | $3.83 | #9 of 35 | 2 |
| The Gospel Straight Australian Rye Whisky | Victoria | $98.99 | observed | $98.99 | $71.01 | 28.3% | #24 of 36 | $3.70 | #8 of 35 | 2 |
| Whipper Snapper Upshot Australian Whiskey | Western Australia | $99.99 | observed | $99.99 | $65.88 | 34.1% | #29 of 36 | $4.21 | #13 of 35 | 2 |