If the Dalmore 21 Malt is the one you reach for, the closest thing to it at a lower price carries the same name. The Dalmore 18 is $536, and to a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker it gives about 96% of what their own bottle does. Same distillery, most of the way there, a little over half the money.
Start with the bottle itself. Twenty-one years in the cask show up as dark fruit and chocolate on the nose, with sherry sitting underneath and a bit of orange peel and warm spice. The palate is full and luscious: dried fruit, caramel, vanilla, oak. The finish goes on and on, sherry and chocolate and spice lingering well after the glass is down. It tastes its age, in the good way.
What to pay. The Dalmore 21 Malt is $990 at Dan Murphy's this week, and from what we've seen it usually sells around $990. That works out to about $42.68 a standard drink, roughly 23 of them in the bottle, so a pour at home is a considered thing rather than a habit.
What its neighbours' drinkers would pay. Here is the one figure worth sitting with: what the drinkers of the bottles nearest the Dalmore 21 Malt would pay for it, each starting from what they already pay for their own. A Glenfiddich 18 drinker lands at about $119, which is 66% of what their own bottle costs them, marking it down for the name on the label and for its being older than theirs. Turn it around and a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker puts the Glenfiddich 18 at 62% of their own, marking it down for the name and for its being younger. Across the drinkers of the nearest bottles the answers run from $113 to $580. At $990 the Dalmore 21 Malt sits above all of them: priced for its own fans.
If you want the same character for less, three bottles will do the job.
| Bottle | Usual price | Does the job of the 21 |
|---|---|---|
| The Dalmore 18 | $536 | about 96% |
| The Dalmore 12 | $149 | about 72% |
| Craigellachie 23 | $800 | about 69% |
The Dalmore 18, usually around $536. American oak and oloroso, honey and orange marmalade, a long finish of liquorice and citrus. To a Dalmore 21 Malt drinker it gives about 96% of what the 21 does, for 54% of the price. It is the nearest stand-in on the list, and it is a close one.
The Dalmore 12, usually around $149, and we've seen it anywhere from $130 to $149. Bourbon barrels and oloroso, tangerine and barley sugar, dark chocolate and cocktail cherries. It gives about 72% of what the 21 does, for 15% of the price. At about $6.74 a standard drink it is the easy everyday version of the house style.
Craigellachie 23, usually around $800. A step up in spice, with ripe and dried fruit and a touch of old peat smoke, maple syrup coming through with water. Thick and silky, structured and long. It gives about 69% of what the 21 does, for 79% of the price, and it takes the family character somewhere slightly different.
Who it's for. If the Dalmore 21 Malt is already your bottle, $990 is what it costs this week, and nobody needs to talk you out of it. If you'd like most of what it offers for a good deal less, the Dalmore 18 is the one to try first, with the Dalmore 12 waiting as the everyday pour. If you're a Glenfiddich 18 drinker curious about Dalmore, start low with the 12 and work up. And if you just want a rich, sherried, fully mature dram and the name matters less to you, Craigellachie 23 will scratch the same itch.
None recorded.
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