A mate had it open on the kitchen bench the other night, no ceremony, just a bottle of Craigellachie 13 and two glasses. Before I'd got halfway down he asked the only question that matters in that moment: if I like this, what else would do the job?
Here's the short version. Hand a Craigellachie 13 drinker a Mortlach The Wee Witchie 12 and they get about 90% of what they like. Turn it around, and a Mortlach drinker handed a Craigellachie 13 would pay only 75% of what their own bottle costs them, marking it down mostly for the name on the label. So it's a one-way swap: it travels better in one direction than the other.
What's in the glass. Craigellachie 13 is a Speyside single malt, thirteen years old. The nose is rich and layered — caramel, citrus peel and a bit of grapefruit pith, vanilla, then a big hit of tropical fruit, grilled and candied pineapple. There's a funky note running underneath, like a freshly washed wool sweater, and it belongs there.
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.
| 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 | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed | 110.99 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 110.99 | 110.99 | 0.00 | 110.99 | 110.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 110.99 | 100 |
| member | 110.99 | 110.99 | 0.00 | 110.99 | 110.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 110.99 | 100 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 110.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 111.0 – 111.0 |
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.
Craigellachie 19 arrives slimmed and crisp, fresh fruits giving way to dried pineapple, then sweet chocolate pudding, char and honeysuckle. Classy and large, and $376 this week. Pour one to meet the leaner side of the house. More on it in this week's piece.
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.
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.
Same distillery, the same pineapple thread running through all three. The question each step asks is simple: what does the extra get you, and what does the younger bottle still give the older one's drinker?
A mate pours you a finger of something golden at the end of a long week, no label in sight, and asks you to guess. It is soft, sweet, faintly tropical. You land on The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask, and you are right. Then he tells you what he actually poured, and it changes how you shop.
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.
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.
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.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Balvenie 12 Year Old American Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $104.97 | -5.97 |
| 2 | Tomintoul 16 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $180.99 | $104.52 | +76.47 |
| 3 | Craigellachie 19YO Single Malt Whisky 700ml | $375.99 | $103.56 | +272.43 |
| 4 | The Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $160.99 | $102.38 | +58.61 |
| 5 | The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $377.99 | $101.75 | +276.24 |
| 6 | Glenfiddich 14YO Bourbon Res 700ml | $129.99 | $101.27 | +28.72 |
| 7 | The Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $635.99 | $99.58 | +536.41 |
| 8 | Mortlach The Wee Witchie 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 750mL | $158.66 | $98.68 | +59.98 |
| 9 | Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1L | $77.69 | $98.35 | -20.66 |
| 10 | Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $75.95 | $98.35 | -22.40 |