What should a Glen Moray 21 drinker reach for next?

The bottle itself. Glen Moray 21 opens quiet and generous. There's oolong on the nose, ripe red fruits, and a wisp of Tawny Port laid over the top, with baking spice sitting underneath. Caramel and oak follow, then summer berries and vanilla, a little honey. The palate is medium-rich and creamy, sweet, with that honey running through. Nothing shouts here; it's a whisky that unfolds.

What to pay. Glen Moray 21 is $343 at Dan Murphy's this week. That's about where it usually sells, and we've seen it between $304 and $343, so this week sits at the top of its own range.

What the drinkers nearest it would pay. Here's a way to read the price that isn't the one on the ticket. Ask the drinkers of the bottles nearest Glen Moray 21 what they'd pay for it, each starting from what they already pay for their own bottle. Their answers run from $121 to $254. The one who marks it down hardest is a The Glenlivet 18 drinker: they'd pay about $157, which is 79% of what their own bottle costs them, knocking it back mostly for being stronger and older than theirs. Turn that around, and a Glen Moray 21 drinker puts The Glenlivet 18 at about 86% of their own. So at $343, Glen Moray 21 sits above everything the drinkers nearest it would pay: priced for its fans.

Three that stand in.

Glen Moray 18 — $164. Warm, soft and rounded, with melon and apricot, a touch of dried hay, apple pie à la mode, and a peppery backbone of fruit and malt. To a Glen Moray 21 drinker it gives about 94% of what the 21 does, for well under half the price. It usually sells around $164.

The Glenlivet 18 — $200. Dried heathery flowers and tinned pineapple, windfall apples, a thread of cedar and nutmeg, custard tart giving way to autumn fruit. A Glen Moray 21 drinker gets about 86% of the 21 from it. It's $200 this week.

Glencadam 15 — $140. A delicate, floral nose with cereal, cooking apples and white pepper; then honey, vanilla, roasted chestnuts and nutmeg, finishing on oak and ginger. For that same drinker it, too, lands at about 86% of the 21. It usually sells around $140, and we've seen it from $140 to $160. A pour works out at roughly $5.51 a standard drink — under a pint at the pub, which runs about $13 for around two standard drinks, or $6.28 each; the two Glen Morays sit above that.

Who it's for. If Glen Moray 21 is already your bottle, nothing here replaces it; $343 is what it costs this week, and the 18 is there for the nights you'd rather not reach for the 21. If you come from The Glenlivet 18, you'll find Glen Moray 21 softer and sweeter than yours, worth a pour to see where the extra years land. And if you're new to all three, Glencadam 15 is the gentle way in at $140, with Glen Moray 18 the next step along. Pour one, sit with it, and let it open.