If Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 is already your pour, the question is simple: is $68 this week a fair ask? Here's the short answer. At $68 it sits above what the drinkers of the bottles nearest it would pay. It's priced for its fans. It fits them, and it pinches everyone else.
1/A price guide for Label 5 Premium Reserve 12, set beside the two blended Scotch whiskies that sit closest to it: Dewar's 12 and Dimple 12. For each one, what it usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a standard drink costs this week. Three bottles that look much of a muchness on paper — the guide is where you check whether they are.
2/| Bottle | Usually around | Range we've seen | This week | Per standard drink, this week | |---|---:|---|---:|---:| | Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 | $62 | $62–$68 | $68 | $3.08 | | Dewar's 12 | $63 | $63–$69 | $69 | $3.12 | | Dimple 12 | $54 | $54–$58 | $54 | $2.44 |
3/Read against the guide. Dimple 12 is at its everyday price this week, $54, the bottom of the range we've seen. Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 usually sells around $62; this week it's $68, the top of its range — if you're not in a hurry, it's usually nearer $62. Dewar's 12 is the same shape: usually around $63, this week $69, and usually nearer $63 if you can wait. All three pour for under a pint at the pub per standard drink ($6.28) — Dimple $2.44, Label 5 $3.08, Dewar's $3.12. A yes for each: Label 5 if you want fresh, easy and bright; Dewar's if caramel and oak is your thing; Dimple if you'd sooner pay least and lose little. Near-twins, when you line them up.
| 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 | 67.99 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 m 62.00 observed | 67.99 m 62.00 observed | 67.99 m 62.00 observed | 67.99 m 62.00 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 observed | 67.99 m 62.00 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 67.99 | 67.99 | 0.00 | 67.99 | 67.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 67.99 | 100 |
| member | 65.69 | 67.99 | 3.03 | 62.00 | 67.99 | 5.99 | 4.6% | 0.84 | 62.00 | 38 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 67.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 68.0 – 68.0 |
Like Label 5 Premium Reserve 12? Dimple 12 gives a Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 drinker about 99% of what that bottle does, at 79% of its price, sitting at $54 this week, with toffee, caramel and a slight citrus edge. More on Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 in this week's piece.
Hand a Dewar's 12 drinker the Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 and they'd put it at 89% of what their own bottle costs them. Close, not quite level, starting from what they already pay. The fuller read on Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 is waiting in this week's piece.
Soft smoke, banana and barley sugar, fresh and easy: that's Label 5 Premium Reserve 12, about 22 standard drinks in the bottle and $3.08 a pour at home, set against $6.28 a standard drink for a pint at the pub. The full tasting is in this week's piece.
Noticed Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 sitting at $68 at Dan's this week. It usually sells around $62, and I've seen it run from $62 to $68, so that's about the top of its range. Nothing to read into either way. More on it in this week's piece.
Soft, fruity and easy: that's Dewar's 15. Vanilla, melon, banana and apple on the nose, a little oak sitting behind. $80 at Dan's, and a gentle pour for anyone easing into blends. Pour one and see — the full tasting's in this week's piece.
Like your Dewar's 15? Dewar's 12 hands a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what the 15 gives, for 86% of the price, and it's $69 this week. Same family, a year shy. The rest is in this week's piece.
I handed a few Dewar's 12 drinkers a glass of Dewar's 15 the other night, just to see. They'd each pay about 87% of what their own bottle costs them for it. Not bad for a stranger's pour. Would you make the swap? The full story's in this week's piece on Dewar's 15.
Dewar's 15 is $80, around 22 standard drinks to the bottle, so a pour at home works out at about $3.62 a drink. A pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 a standard drink. More on Dewar's 15 in this week's piece.
Dewar's 15 is $80 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $80, so this sits about where it always does. Vanilla, melon, a little orange, a whisper of wood. Around $3.62 a pour at home, under a pint at the pub. The full read is in this week's piece.
Like Dewar's 15? Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 gives a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what it does, for 85% of the price. The price: $68. Soft smoke, banana, a little apple. More in this week's piece.
Like Dewar's 15? Pour a Dimple 12 — toffee, warm caramel, a slip of citrus. It gives a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what the Dewar's 15 does, for 67% of the price, at $54. More on Dewar's 15 in this week's piece.
What are you paying for in a bottle of Chivas Regal 12? Price its age, name, strength and style the way Dan Murphy's prices the rest of the whisky, and you land near $94. This week it's $60: about 36% under the going rate for its features.
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.
Here is the short version, and it stays true all the way down: the bottle nearest to Dewar's 15 for less money is its own younger sibling. Dewar's 12 is $69, and to a Dewar's 15 drinker it does about 97% of what the 15 does. Same house, same double ageing, a few dollars saved. If you came for a headline, that is it.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $69.00 | $67.96 | +1.04 |
| 2 | Cragganmore 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $85.90 | $67.77 | +18.13 |
| 3 | The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $78.85 | $67.46 | +11.39 |
| 4 | Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1L | $88.19 | $67.39 | +20.80 |
| 5 | Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | $59.95 | $67.36 | -7.41 |
| 6 | Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | $55.30 | $66.76 | -11.46 |
| 7 | The Glen Grant 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $80.99 | $66.52 | +14.47 |
| 8 | Glen Moray 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $78.99 | $66.32 | +12.67 |
| 9 | Chivas Regal Extra 13 Year Old Tequila Cask Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | $65.00 | $65.82 | -0.82 |
| 10 | Chivas Regal Extra Blended Scotch Whisky Rum Cask 700mL | $74.99 | $65.82 | +9.17 |