If you drink Bowmore 12, here is the pleasant thing to know: among the bottles sitting closest to it, almost every one is a bottle its own drinkers would happily reach for. Bowmore 12 fits nearly every foot near it. It lands in the top 19% of bottles for how broadly it's liked, which is another way of saying it rarely leaves a room divided.
Start with the dram itself. This is the easy way into Bowmore's single malts, and it holds its own as one of the better twelve-year-old scotches you can pour. The nose opens on tropical fruit and sweet smoke, with a hint of brine, a little new leather and a floral lift behind it. The palate is rounded: peaches, honey and vanilla first, then the smoke arriving fuller. The finish carries brine, cocoa powder and citrus fruits as the woodsmoke slowly fades. It is peated, but gently so, and that is much of why it travels so well from drinker to drinker.
On price, Bowmore 12 is $95 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. From what we've seen it usually sells around $102, so this week sits a touch under its usual mark. That works out to about $4.30 for each standard drink in the bottle, with roughly twenty-two of them inside. A pint at the pub, near $13 for about two standard drinks, lands closer to $6.28 a drink. So a pour of this at home comes in under a pint out.
1/If Bowmore 12 is your bottle and you fancy something close, Highland Park 12 is the one that lands nearest to it. It gives a Bowmore 12 drinker about 91% of what the Bowmore 12 does, for 95% of the price.
2/Bowmore 12 leans into sweet smoke and brine, with peaches and honey rounding it out. Highland Park 12 is more fragrant and floral, heather and a little spice before a honeyed, citrus finish. Both reviews land on the same notes: smoke, floral, honey and citrus.
3/At Dan Murphy's this week, Bowmore 12 is $95 for members and Highland Park 12 is $90 for members, about $4.30 a standard drink against $4.07. Stay with Bowmore 12 if it's your favourite; try Highland Park 12 when you fancy a change. Which way are you leaning?
| 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 | 109.99 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 observed | 109.99 observed | 109.99 observed | 109.99 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 m 95.00 observed | 109.99 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 109.99 | 109.99 | 0.00 | 109.99 | 109.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 109.99 | 100 |
| member | 101.92 | 95.00 | 7.78 | 95.00 | 109.99 | 14.99 | 7.6% | 2.16 | 109.99 | 100 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 109.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 110.0 – 110.0 |
Friday night, two Islay bottles on the bench look almost twins. Caol Ila 12 is $99 this week, Bowmore 12 is $95. So Caol Ila costs $4 more a bottle. But at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $4.17 a standard drink against $4.30. Per standard drink: Bowmore 12 $4.30, Caol Ila 12 $4.17, Bunnahabhain 12 $5.01, Lagavulin 16 $6.74, Lagavulin 11 Sweet Peat $6.95. A pint at the pub is about $13, near two standard drinks, so $6.28 each. Bowmore, Caol Ila and Bunnahabhain come in under; the two Lagavulins sit over. Pick by taste. The price per pour won't trip you up.
Caol Ila 12 is a beach barbecue in a glass: fresh fish wrapped in bacon, a squeeze of lemon. The palate turns oily and meaty, medium smoke carrying pineapple and melon, then dries into peppery peat. Caol Ila 12, $99 for members. Which barbecue is yours? More this week.
If you reach for Caol Ila 12, Bowmore 12 gives you about 98% of what it does for 96% of the price, landing at $95 for members, with tropical fruit, sweet smoke and a touch of brine on top. Worth a pour. The full story on Caol Ila 12 is in this week's piece.
Ask the drinkers of the bottles nearest Caol Ila 12 what they'd pay for it, each starting from what they pay for their own, and the answers land between $77 and $101. At $99 for members it sits near the top of that spread. The full read is in this week's piece.
Caol Ila 12 comes to about $4.17 a pour at home, near 24 to a bottle, while a pint at the pub lands around $6.28 a standard drink, so the sofa wins on arithmetic if not on company. Worth a nightcap on the numbers? More in this week's piece.
Like Caol Ila 12? Here's a stand-in. Highland Park 12 gives a Caol Ila 12 drinker about 94% of what Caol Ila 12 does, for 91% of the price. $90 for members. Fragrant and floral, heather and honey, a wisp of smoke. More in this week's piece on Caol Ila 12.
Caol Ila 12 costs $4 more a bottle than Bowmore 12, but at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $4.17 a standard drink against $4.30. Per standard drink this week: • Highland Park 12 — $90, 40%, $4.07 • Caol Ila 12 — $99, 43%, $4.17 • Bowmore 12 — $95, 40%, $4.30 All three come in under a pint at the pub ($6.28 a standard drink). Pour the Caol Ila of an evening: fish and bacon off a beach barbecue, a squeeze of lemon, peppery peat drying the finish. After honey, heather and a wisp of smoke, it's the Highland Park; sweet smoke and peaches, the Bowmore.
Pour the Bowmore 12 and the nose turns tropical and sweetly smoky, with brine and new leather, then peaches and honey on the palate before cocoa powder and woodsmoke fade. A fine introduction to the distillery, $95 for members this week. More in this week's piece.
Ripe red apples, a little heather, a wisp of smoke. That's Cragganmore 12, $86. For a Bowmore 12 drinker it gives about 97% of what Bowmore 12 does, at 90% of the price. More on Bowmore 12 in this week's piece.
Pour one after the washing-up, the Bowmore 12 you keep by the kettle. Ask the drinkers of its nearest neighbours what they'd give for it: $69 to $97. At $95 for members, it lands inside their range. More on Bowmore 12 in this week's piece — worth a pour.
Bowmore 12 comes to about $4.30 a standard drink poured at home, where a pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 for the same measure. Roughly 22 drinks in the bottle to work through slowly. This week's piece walks through where it all lands. What's a pour at home worth to you?
Bowmore 12 is $95 for members at Dan Murphy's this week, a little under the $102 it usually sells around, so read it as a quiet guide rather than a nudge. More on it in this week's piece.
Like Bowmore 12? Highland Park 12 comes close: a fragrant, heathery nose, honey and citrus on the palate, then warm wood smoke lingering through the finish, giving a Bowmore 12 drinker about 97% of what they love for 95% of the price, $90 for members. More in this week's piece.
Highland Park 12 is fragrant and floral, a little heather and spice, then smooth and honeyed: citrus, malt, a thread of wood smoke. $90 for members at Dan Murphy's. That smoke stays with you after the glass is empty. More in this week's piece. Which note would pull you in?
Cragganmore 12 gives a Highland Park 12 drinker about 99% of what Highland Park 12 does, at $86 — 95% of its price. Cider, heather and ripe apples, with vanilla fudge and a faint wisp of smoke. The full stand-in sits in this week's piece on Highland Park 12.
Ask the drinkers of the bottles closest to Highland Park 12 what they'd give for it, each starting from what they pay for their own, and the answers land between $69 and $95. At $90 for members it settles near the upper end of that spread. The rest is in this week's piece.
What does a pour at home actually cost? Highland Park 12 works out at $4.07 a standard drink, about 22 to the bottle. A pint at the pub sits nearer $6.28. Which one would you reach for? More in this week's piece on Highland Park 12.
Bowmore 12 opens gently: tropical fruit and sweet smoke, a hint of brine and new leather beneath. Peaches, honey and vanilla fill the palate, then cocoa powder and citrus trail into woodsmoke. $95 for members at Dan's, with more in this week's piece. Which note pulls you first?
Ask an Ardbeg 10 drinker what they'd give for a Bowmore 12 and I reckon it lands at 88% of what their own bottle costs them, nudged down a touch for the lighter strength. I've set out where it sits with the neighbours in this week's piece.
Peaches, honey, a curl of smoke: that's Bowmore 12. It works out at $4.30 a standard drink poured at home, against $6.28 for one in a pint at the pub. Where would you rather take it? More on Bowmore 12 in this week's piece.
Peaches and honey on the Bowmore 12, then a curl of sweet smoke. It's $95 for members this week, and it usually sells around $110. More on it in this week's piece.
Caol Ila 12 costs $2 more a bottle than Laphroaig 10, yet at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $4.17 a standard drink against $4.39. Stand the neighbours alongside and Bowmore 12 slots between the two at $4.30, Ardbeg 10 sits a little beyond at $4.76, and Lagavulin 11 Sweet Peat keeps its own company at $6.95. A pint at the pub runs about $13, near enough two standard drinks, so around $6.28 each. Caol Ila, Bowmore, Ardbeg and Laphroaig all pour for less than that at home; the Lagavulin asks a little more.
Lagavulin 16: iodine, rich peat and a little caramel up front, then an oily, briny palate that turns medicinal before the embers and hot tar settle into a long finish. It's $160, the kind of pour that hangs about like woodsmoke on your coat. More on it in this week's piece.
It's Friday, the kettle's off and you want something with smoke. Love Lagavulin 16? Caol Ila 12 gives you about 89% of what it does, at 62% of the price, $99 for members. Fish wrapped in bacon off a beach barbecue, a squeeze of lemon. More in this week's piece. Fancy a pour?
Hand a Bunnahabhain 12 drinker a Lagavulin 16 and they'd put 85% of their own bottle's price on it — docked a touch for the extra years. The neighbours' price, in this week's piece: what the nearest drinkers would pay, each from their own pour. Where would you land?
Lagavulin 16 is $160, about 24 standard drinks in the bottle, so $6.74 a pour at home. A pint at the pub works out to $6.28 a drink, so it sits just over that. If you love rich peat and a long, spicy finish, it rewards a slow pour. More in this week's piece.
Love Lagavulin 16? Bowmore 12 gives a Lagavulin 16 drinker about 88% of what it does, for 59% of the price, $95 for members. Tropical fruit and sweet smoke on the nose, honey and fuller smoke on the palate, cocoa and fading woodsmoke to close. More in this week's piece.
If you love Lagavulin 16, I'd happily pour you a Bunnahabhain 12: at $128 it gives a Lagavulin 16 drinker about 84% of what the Lagavulin 16 does, for 80% of its price, all sea salt and tangerines and gentle smoke. More on Lagavulin 16 in this week's piece.
Pour the Cragganmore 12 and the room leans in: cider and heather, a little ginger, ripe red apple with honey underneath. Some whiskies gather fans. This one gathers friends, the bottle a roomful of different drinkers all end up fond of.
Who drinks this?
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laphroaig 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $97.00 | $93.14 | +3.86 |
| 2 | Lagavulin 11 Year Old Sweet Peat Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700ml | $164.99 | $92.82 | +72.17 |
| 3 | Caol Ila 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $91.72 | +7.28 |
| 4 | Lagavulin 16 Year Old Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.95 | $86.64 | +73.31 |
| 5 | Lagavulin 8 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $85.19 | +13.81 |
| 6 | Bruichladdich Port Charlotte 10 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $145.99 | $84.42 | +61.57 |
| 7 | Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $127.99 | $79.08 | +48.91 |
| 8 | Laphroaig Select Cask Scotch Whisky 700mL | $75.00 | $75.27 | -0.27 |
| 9 | Ardbeg Wee Beastie Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $105.99 | $73.85 | +32.14 |
| 10 | Cragganmore 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $85.90 | $72.79 | +13.11 |