The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, and what sits beside it

Here's the short version I gave him first. The bottle most like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, for less money, comes from the same distillery. It's the Macallan 12 Double Cask, $137, and to a Sherry Oak 12 drinker it gives about 97% of what their own bottle does. Same house, a little less at the till.

The Sherry Oak 12 is the youngest of the Sherry Oak run, and it drinks like a classic Macallan. I get sherry on the nose, baking Christmas cake, dried fruits, hot butter, a bit of old leather. The palate is smooth and full: jaffa oranges, brittle toffee, light oak. The finish runs fairly long on spice, malt and oak, with a final hint of smoke. It's the kind of dram you pour slowly.

Three bottles sit near it, and the fun is in how they differ.

The Dalmore 12, usually around $149. Bourbon barrels and oloroso sherry casks, and it shows: tangerines, barley sugar, milky coffee and soft toffee on an inviting nose, then orange, spicy dark chocolate, ginger and cocktail cherries, with vanilla and prunes on the close. To a Sherry Oak 12 drinker it gives about 98% of what their bottle does. At roughly $6.74 a standard drink, that's the cost of a pour at home.

The Macallan 12 Double Cask, usually around $137. This one marries American and European oak, both sherry-seasoned. Raisins, figs, hazelnuts, blanched almonds, candied orange peel and leather, then a vanilla backbone carrying ginger, white pepper, dark chocolate and orange oil. It gives a Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 97% — the nearest thing to the bottle in my mate's hand, from the same family.

The Dalmore 18, usually around $536. American oak and oloroso again, but older and more fragrant: honey, vanilla, ginger, orange marmalade, a hint of smoke, then tangy orange, marzipan, bitter chocolate and oak, finishing long on liquorice and citrus. About 90% for a Sherry Oak 12 drinker, and a different evening altogether.

What should you pay for the Sherry Oak 12 itself? It's $170 this week. It usually sells around $170, and I've seen it between $158 and $170, so this is it sitting at its usual mark.

There's one more way to read the price. Picture the drinkers of the bottles nearest it, each asked what they'd pay for the Sherry Oak 12, each starting from what they pay for their own. A Dalmore 21 Malt drinker would pay about $656 for it — 66% of what their own bottle costs them — marking it down mostly for being younger than theirs, and for not being a Highland malt. The other way round, a Sherry Oak 12 drinker puts the Dalmore 21 at about 81% of their own bottle, marking it down for being older than theirs. Across all those drinkers, the answers run from $135 to $656. At $170, this week's price lands inside that spread.

So, who's it for? If the Sherry Oak 12 is already your bottle, $170 is what it costs this week, and there's nothing here telling you to move. If you want the same house for a touch less, the Macallan 12 Double Cask is the one to reach for. If you'd rather keep the sherried, orange-and-chocolate shape but step across to the Highlands, the Dalmore 12 does it, close as can be. And if you're after a longer, older, more marmalade-heavy pour for a particular night, the Dalmore 18 is waiting. Four bottles, four yeses — just pick the evening you're in.