If Craigellachie 19 is the bottle you reach for, the closest thing to it at a smaller outlay comes from its own distillery. Craigellachie 13, at $111, gives a Craigellachie 19 drinker about 87% of what the 19 itself does. Same hand, same house, a good deal of the same character, for less than a third of the money. That is the spine of this piece, and it is worth sitting with before we talk about anything else.
1/Love Craigellachie 19? The Craigellachie 13 gives a Craigellachie 19 drinker about 87% of what the 19 does, for 30% of its price. Like a good cover band: most of the songs you came for, at a fraction of the ticket.
2/The Craigellachie 13: $111, thirteen years old, bottled at 46%, about $4.37 a pour at home. The nose is rich and layered. Caramel, citrus peel and grapefruit pith, vanilla, then a big hit of grilled and candied pineapple. A funky edge too, like a freshly washed wool jumper.
3/What a Craigellachie 19 drinker gives up with the 13 is mostly six years of age. Not the character, not the pineapple. Six years.
4/The Craigellachie 19, $376, is still the one for its fans: leaner and crisp, the pineapple gone dried, with sweet chocolate pudding and honeysuckle. The 13, $111, is the one I'd reach for every other night. A yes for each kind of drinker.
Rum casks leave their mark. The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask, $151 at Dan Murphy's, opens banoffee-sweet with vanilla, toffee and banana, then turns soft and silky with pineapple, papaya and mango. More on it in this week's piece. Which fruit do you catch first?
Had them both open this week. Love The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask? Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve gives you about 95% of it for 75% of the price, $113 for members. Oak, heather, a little vanilla. Which one's on your bench tonight? More in this week's piece on the Balvenie.
Pour The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask: soft and silky, vanilla and toffee sliding into pineapple and mango from the rum casks. A Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 drinker would put 67% of their own bottle's price on it, a younger whisky than theirs. More in this week's piece.
The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask is $6.36 a standard drink, about 24 to the bottle. That's 242nd of 310 at Dan Murphy's per standard drink. A pint at the pub is about $6.28 a drink. A pour at home lands just over. More on The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask in this week's piece.
The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask is $151 at Dan Murphy's this week, a little under the $161 it usually sells around, so if those sweet-and-tropical notes are where you want to be the price sits in easy reach right now. More on it in this week's piece.
Here's the surprise: Craigellachie 13, at $111, gives a The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask drinker about 93% of what that bottle does, for 74% of its price. Grilled pineapple, caramel, a twist of grapefruit. Tempting before you reach for the Balvenie? More in this week's piece.
Two Speyside malts to put side by side this week. The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask is $151, soft and silky, vanilla and toffee up front before the rum casks bring pineapple, papaya and mango through. Craigellachie 13 is $111, a touch funky under the caramel and grapefruit peel, with candied pineapple coming through. At Dan Murphy's the pair come to $262 this week; they usually sell around $272, and the same two are $270 at Liquorland. If you're after both, that's your week to grab them, $262 for the pair.
Like the Craigellachie 19? I'd point a Craigellachie 19 drinker to the Craigellachie 13 at $111: about 87% of what the 19 gives, for 30% of its price. Caramel, citrus peel, a little grapefruit. One for lovers of the house style. More on the 19 in this week's piece. Tempted?
At $376, Craigellachie 19 lands inside what the drinkers of its nearest bottles would pay for it, each starting from their own: the answers run from $102 to $748. Which end you sit near depends on your usual dram — more in this week's piece on it.
I worked out the per-pour at home: Craigellachie 19 is $376, about 25 standard drinks in the bottle, so $14.80 a drink. A pint at the pub sits around $6.28 a standard drink, so this one lands above it. More on the 19 in this week's piece.
Craigellachie 19 sits at $376 at Dan Murphy's this week, which is about where it usually sells, around $376, so the price is holding to its own quiet pattern rather than doing anything out of character. The full read on it is in this week's piece.
Ever met a whisky that tastes its age? I nosed the Dalmore 21 Malt and found dark fruit, chocolate, orange peel and sherry; the palate turns to caramel and oak, the finish runs long with sherry and spice. $990, and it drinks like twenty-one years. More in this week's piece.
Like the Dalmore 21 Malt? The Dalmore 18 gives a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker about 96% of what the 21 does. American oak and oloroso, honey, orange marmalade, a long citrus finish. At $536 it comes to 54% of the 21's price. More on the Dalmore 21 Malt in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfiddich 18 drinker a Dalmore 21 Malt and they'd put up 66% of what their own bottle costs them, the markdown resting more on the name than the pour. This week's piece walks through where that lands — so which way would you lean?
A glass of Dalmore 21 Malt comes to $42.68 a standard drink at home, about 23 pours from the bottle — rich, chocolatey, long on sherry. Pour one and see; this week's piece has the full tasting of the Dalmore 21 Malt.
Dalmore 21 Malt is $990 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $990, so this is the shape of it to keep in mind. Twenty-one years of sherry, dark fruit and chocolate, with a finish that stays. Worth a pour if it's calling you. More in this week's piece.
Fond of the Dalmore 21 Malt? The Dalmore 12 at $149 carries about 72% of what it gives a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker, for 15% of the outlay: tangerines and soft toffee on the nose, orange and spicy dark chocolate, then vanilla and prunes to close. More in this week's piece.
Craigellachie 23 sits at $780 this week, where it usually sells around $800. For a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker it gives about 69% of what that bottle does, at 79% of its price — ripe dried fruit, a little peat smoke, maple syrup. More on Dalmore 21 Malt in this week's piece.
I noticed the smoke first, just a touch of it. Then the Craigellachie 23 opens out: ripe and dried fruits, spice, melted white chocolate, baked pineapple, a little waxiness with water. Thick and silky, long and elegant. It's $780 this week. More in this week's piece.
Like Craigellachie 23? Craigellachie 19 gives a Craigellachie 23 drinker about 93% of it, at 48% of the price. That's $376. Leaner, crisp, fresh fruits, a little dried pineapple. More on Craigellachie 23 in this week's piece.
Hand a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker the Craigellachie 23 and they'd pay 69% of what their own bottle costs, missing the sherry and dried fruit they're used to. Where the 23 lands among the bottles nearest it is in this week's piece.
Melted white chocolate, then baked pineapple and a drift of lilies: that's where Craigellachie 23 settles. It's $780 this week, usually around $800, with about 25 standard drinks in the bottle, so a pour at home works out to $30.70. More on it in this week's piece.
The bottle shop was quiet on a weekday afternoon, the kind of hour when you can read the back labels properly. Craigellachie 23 was $780 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $800. More on where it sits in this week's piece.
Love Craigellachie 23? Then Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 is worth a pour: it gives a Craigellachie 23 drinker about 75% of what they're after, at 42% of the price, landing at $331 this week, all toffee, caramel and sweet vanilla. Try one, and read the rest in this week's piece.
Craigellachie 13, $111. Speyside with its sleeves up: caramel and grapefruit pith on the nose, vanilla, then a rush of grilled pineapple, and an odd, lovable note of freshly washed wool jumper. More in this week's piece. What's your take on that pineapple?
Love Craigellachie 13? I'd reach for The Balvenie 12 American Oak at $99. It gives a Craigellachie 13 drinker about 90% of what that bottle does, for 89% of the price. Honeyed nose, navel oranges, lemon drops, then oak spice and a whisper of smoke. More in this week's piece.
Hand a Mortlach Wee Witchie 12 drinker a Craigellachie 13 and they'd pay 75% of what their own bottle costs them. Near enough, not quite level. Where its neighbours land is the thread running through this week's piece on the Craigellachie 13. Pour one and see where you sit.
$4.37 a pour at home: that's Craigellachie 13 at $111, about 25 standard drinks in the bottle. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. If a rich, fruity Speyside is your thing, pour one and see. More in this week's piece on Craigellachie 13.
Craigellachie 13 is $111 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $111, so it's sitting right where you'd expect. If that grilled-pineapple Speyside has been catching your eye, this week's piece makes the case for pouring one. Give it a go.
What does a Craigellachie 23 actually cost, and what else sits beside it? This is a price guide: the usual price for Craigellachie 23, the range we've seen, and what a standard drink works out to this week — set next to its three closest single malts. One question, four bottles, and no surprises buried in the small print.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Craigellachie 19YO Single Malt Whisky | Speyside | $375.99 | observed | $375.99 | $335.09 | 10.9% | #52 of 79 | $14.80 | #64 of 75 | 25 |
| Craigellachie 23 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $799.99 | observed | $799.99 | $676.30 | 15.5% | #67 of 79 | $31.49 | #75 of 75 | 28 |
| Craigellachie CRAIGELLACHIE® 13 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $110.99 | observed | $110.99 | $101.34 | 8.7% | #45 of 79 | $4.37 | #35 of 75 | 24 |