Here's the short version, and then we'll walk the long way round it. Aberlour 12 Double Cask is $105 for members this week, and it usually sells around $109. That's about as low as we've seen it.
So if you've been circling this one, waiting for a week to pull the trigger, this is a fair week to do it. Nothing dramatic has happened to the price. It's just sitting a touch below where it normally lands. Worked out per standard drink, that's about $4.75 a pour at home, against roughly $6.28 for a standard drink in a $13 pint at the pub. A bottle holds about 22 of those pours.
1/Fire's down to embers, last snag gone. Old mate wanders over, swirls his glass. "Orange peel and banana off this, a bit of toasted nut. What've you poured me?" Aberlour 12 Double Cask, I tell him. $105 for members at Dan's.
2/"You on the same?" he asks, nodding at mine. Nah — Aberlour 14. Jammy peaches, marzipan, a touch of polished oak, slips down sweet and creamy. "Keeping the good stuff for yerself, are ya?" He's not wrong there.
3/"Go on then, what's the 14 set ya back?" $160 this week. It usually sells around $150, and against that the 12 Double Cask sits at about 73% of the price. The 12 gives an Aberlour 14 drinker about 98% of what the 14 does, for 66% of it.
4/So what's an Aberlour 14 drinker give up stepping across to the 12 Double Cask? Mostly two years of age — both poured at 40%. The 14 stays the one for its fans, peaches and all. The 12 Double Cask? The one for every other night round the fire.
| slot | 08-13 | 08-20 | 08-27 | 09-03 | 09-10 | 09-17 | 09-24 | 10-01 | 10-08 | 10-15 | 10-22 | 10-29 | 11-05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list / member | 119.99 observed | 119.99 m 99.00 observed | 119.99 m 99.00 observed | 119.99 m 99.00 observed | 119.99 observed | 112.99 observed | 112.99 observed | 112.99 observed | 112.99 m 105.00 observed | 112.99 m 105.00 observed | 112.99 m 105.00 observed | 112.99 m 105.00 observed | 112.99 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 115.68 | 112.99 | 3.54 | 112.99 | 119.99 | 7.00 | 3.1% | 0.98 | 112.99 | 62 |
| member | 108.38 | 105.00 | 7.44 | 99.00 | 119.99 | 20.99 | 6.9% | 2.06 | 112.99 | 85 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 115.68 | 12.56 | 0.54 | -2.06 | 113.8 – 117.6 |
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 at $160, the youngest of the Sherry Oak line. A classic nose of sherry, Christmas cake, dried fruit and old leather. Smooth and full, with jaffa oranges and brittle toffee, then a long finish of spice and smoke. Aberlour 12 Double Cask at $113. Bourbon and sherry casks. Orange peel, banana, red apple and toasted nuts. Thin but intense, with chocolate and cooked apple. About $5.11 a pour at home, under a pint at the pub. This week the two come to $273 at Dan Murphy's, $283 at their usual prices, and $290 for the same two at Liquorland. A yes whichever way you lean.
Jammy peaches and marzipan on the nose, polished oak behind. The palate turns creamy: oranges, yellow plums, summer berries, then clove and black pepper. It closes on milk chocolate. Aberlour 14 is $140 for members at Dan Murphy's. Pour one this week; the piece has the rest.
Like Aberlour 14? The Aberlour 12 Double Cask gives an Aberlour 14 drinker about 98% of what it does for 81% of the price, at $113 this week, all orange peel, red apple and a little chocolate as it opens. More on the Aberlour 14 in this week's piece.
A Glenfarclas 15 drinker, handed the Aberlour 14, would pay 64% of what their own bottle costs — marked down mostly for the lighter strength. That's the nearest neighbour's answer. More on where Aberlour 14 sits in this week's piece.
Poured one after dinner and noticed how rounded it sits, no rough edges. Aberlour 14 comes to $6.34 a standard drink, about 22 pours in the bottle. That's a shade over a $13 pint at the pub (around $6.28). One for a slow evening at home. More in this week's piece.
Aberlour 14 sat in front of me this week at $140 for members at Dan Murphy's, and from everything I've seen it usually sells around $140, so take this as a steady guide rather than any sort of surprise. More on where it lands, and who it suits, in this week's piece.
Dry citrus and hazelnut on the nose, then fuller sherry, cinnamon and banoffee; jaffa oranges and hot chocolate to finish. That's Tamdhu 12. For an Aberlour 14 drinker it gives about 91% of the Aberlour 14, at 90% of the price, $126. More on Aberlour 14 this week.
I kept returning to the nose on the Tamdhu 12: dry citrus, hazelnut, a whiff of dry sherry. The palate turns sweeter, with cinnamon and banoffee pie, before jaffa oranges and hot chocolate settle into a lightly tannic finish. It's $126 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
Orange peel, banana and red apple opening up with a little chocolate — that's the Aberlour 12 Double Cask, and if you love Tamdhu 12 it gives you about 93% of what you're after for 90% of the price, around $113. More on Tamdhu 12 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfarclas 15 drinker a dram of Tamdhu 12 and I reckon they'd pay 64% of what their own bottle sets them back. Coming off all that deep sherry and dried fruit, Tamdhu's drier, more citrus-led sherry reads a touch lighter to them. More on it in this week's piece.
I keep coming back to sherried malts, and Tamdhu 12 sits among them at $5.31 a pour at home, about 24 to the bottle. A pint at the pub runs around $6.28 a standard drink. More on Tamdhu 12 in this week's piece.
Like the Aberlour 12 Double Cask? Pour a Tamdhu 12: dry and citrusy, hazelnut and sherry, then cinnamon and banoffee. It gives an Aberlour 12 Double Cask drinker about 97% of the whisky, for 93% of the price, $98 for members. More in this week's piece.
Hand a Glengoyne 15 drinker the Aberlour 12 Double Cask — orange and chocolate — and they'd pay 86% of what their own bottle runs, marking it down for sitting in Speyside, not the Highlands. It usually sells around $109, $105 this week. Fancy it at that in this week's piece?
I worked it out over the weekend: at $105 the Aberlour 12 Double Cask comes to about $4.75 a standard drink across the roughly 22 in the bottle, while a pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 a drink. A quiet pour at home, then. More on it in this week's piece.
Aberlour 12 Double Cask is $105 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $109. About $4.75 a pour at home. Pour one and see. More in this week's piece on Aberlour 12 Double Cask.
Which of these costs you less a drink? Glengoyne 15 runs $2 more a bottle than Aberlour 14, yet at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $6.82 a standard drink against $7.24. Both sit over a pint at the pub, about $6.28 a drink. Tamdhu 12 ($4.13), Aberlour 12 Double Cask ($4.75) and Edradour 10 ($5.07) come in under it. Pour the Glengoyne of a quiet evening: vanilla, ginger, toffee and old leather, spicy through to a cocoa finish. $162 this week, $6.82 a standard drink.
Orange peel, banana and red apple on the nose, with chocolate and barley turning up once it opens. A thin pour but a loud one, orange and cooked apple on a short finish. Aberlour 12 Double Cask, $105 for members. The rest of the tasting's in this week's piece.
Glass poured, telly on, no one coming over. If you're happy with Aberlour 12 Double Cask, Tamdhu 12 lands close: about 97% of what you'd get from it, for 93% of the price, at $98 for members. Citrus, hazelnut, dry sherry. More on Aberlour 12 Double Cask in this week's piece.
Hand Aberlour 12 Double Cask to a Glengoyne 15 drinker, the nearest bottle along, and they'd put 86% of what their own bottle costs on it. This week's piece walks through where the rest land.
At home, an Aberlour 12 Double Cask pours at $4.75 a standard drink, about 22 to the bottle. A pint at the pub is around $6.28 a drink. Orange, chocolate and a little cooked apple in the glass. More on it in this week's piece.
Aberlour 12 Double Cask is $105 for members at Dan's this week. It usually sells around $113. That's the guide, not a nudge. The full picture's in this week's piece.
Aberlour 14, $160. The nose is rounded and gentle, jammy peaches and marzipan folding into toffee and orange cake; the palate sweet and creamy, oranges and summer berries before clove, candied ginger and black pepper, closing on milk chocolate. More in this week's piece.
Fond of the Aberlour 14? The Aberlour 12 Double Cask gives its drinker about 98% of what they love, for 66% of the price: $105 for members. Orange peel, red apple, a touch of chocolate, and the sums quietly in your favour. More on the Aberlour 14 in this week's piece.
Here's one that stuck with me: hand a Glenfiddich 18 drinker an Aberlour 14 and they'd pay 82% of what their own bottle costs them, which is closer than you might expect. Would you make the same call? More on where the Aberlour 14 sits in this week's piece.
Aberlour 14 comes to $7.24 a standard drink, a shade over the $6.28 a pint works out to at the pub across its two drinks, so a pour at home sits in much the same place. More on it in this week's piece.
How's the Aberlour 14 looking this week? It's $160 at Dan Murphy's, where it usually sells around $140, and we've seen it land anywhere from $140 to $160. Read it as a guide, not a worry. More on the Aberlour 14 in this week's piece.
Oranges and a bit of spice run through both: Tamdhu 12 gives an Aberlour 14 drinker about 96% of what the 14 does, for 61% of the price, at $98 for members. Jaffa oranges, hazelnut, a touch of cinnamon. More on Aberlour 14 in this week's piece.
Some bottles are adored by a small circle. Aberlour 14 is the one a whole room gets along with — the dram you can pour for almost anyone and watch them settle in. Let me show you what I mean, because the numbers say it plainly.
A price guide for The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 and the three single malts closest to it. For each one: what it usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what it costs this week. Four bottles set side by side, so you can read this week against the usual and see where The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 sits among its nearest company.
Tamdhu 12 is $98 for members this week, about 20% under the going rate for its features, $123. The going rate prices its age, sherry, strength and single malt build the way Dan Murphy's prices the rest of its whisky.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aberlour 14 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.99 | $103.43 | +56.56 |
| 2 | Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $98.00 | $103.36 | -5.36 |
| 3 | GLENFIDDICH 12YO SHERRY CASK FINISH 700ML | $136.99 | $98.85 | +38.14 |
| 4 | Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $139.99 | $98.44 | +41.55 |
| 5 | The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.95 | $97.80 | +2.15 |
| 6 | Mortlach The Wee Witchie 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 750mL | $158.66 | $97.23 | +61.43 |
| 7 | Aultmore AULTMORE® 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $115.99 | $95.98 | +20.01 |
| 8 | The Glenlivet 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $125.00 | $93.51 | +31.49 |
| 9 | The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $69.00 | $92.24 | -23.24 |
| 10 | Tamdhu 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $201.99 | $91.68 | +110.31 |