Glen Moray 15, and the bottles that sit nearest it

Now the point worth carrying away: the whisky most like Glen Moray 15, for less money, comes from the same distillery. Glen Moray 12, at $71 for members, gives a Glen Moray 15 drinker about 97% of what their own bottle does, which is to say very nearly all of it, for roughly three-quarters of the outlay.

It's also worth asking what the drinkers of the bottles nearest Glen Moray 15 would pay for it, each starting from what they already pay for their own. An Aberfeldy 12 drinker would put it at about $91, some 87% of what their own bottle costs them, marking it down mostly for not being from the Highlands and for carrying more years than theirs. The other way round, a Glen Moray 15 drinker settles Aberfeldy 12 at about 97% of their own, marking it down mostly for being the younger whisky. Across the drinkers of the nearest bottles the answers run all the way from $73 to $118, a wide spread, and at $94 for members Glen Moray 15 sits well inside it.

As for the whisky itself, Glen Moray 15 is aged in a mix of bourbon and sherry casks, and it keeps its cards close at first: a nose that is slightly earthy and reticent before a little drinking chocolate and some emerging sherry come through, with a thread of orange behind them. The palate is the fuller part of it, toffee and more of that chocolate alongside spicy dried fruits, and the finish is long, carrying wood spices well past the swallow. Measured out, it comes to about $4.25 a standard drink, a pour at home that lands under the roughly $6.28 a standard drink of a $13 pint at the pub.

Glen Moray 12, which usually sells around $79, leans sweeter and brighter off those bourbon casks, honey and icing sugar, toffee bonbons and orange peel, then barley sugar, soft oak and a little nectarine and lychee through the middle. To a Glen Moray 15 drinker it gives about 97% of what the 15 does, for 76% of its price.

Dalwhinnie 15, usually around $95, is one of the quietly held members of the old Classic Six, honeyed and soft, with caramelised fruits, a touch of thick cream and a light turn of fennel and sharp citrus; the beauty of it is the chunkiness through the centre. To a Glen Moray 15 drinker it gives about 97% of what the 15 does, for 101% of its price.

Aberfeldy 12, usually around $104, is fresh and floral, lively tropical fruit over honey and vanilla, gentle on the palate with a slightly syrupy malt and an orange marmalade finish. To a Glen Moray 15 drinker it gives about 97% of what the 15 does, for 111% of its price.

So, a yes for each of you. If Glen Moray 15 is your bottle, $94 for members is simply what it costs this week, and nothing here is telling you to move. If you'd like very nearly all of what it offers for less, Glen Moray 12 is the one to reach for. If you came in from Aberfeldy 12 and want a touch more weight in the glass, Glen Moray 15 will read as close to home. And if it's Dalwhinnie 15 you usually pour, the swap is near enough a straight across at the till.