Johnnie Walker 18: woodsmoke, honey, and the bottles beside it

The short version. Chivas Regal 18 gives a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker about 93% of what their own bottle does, for 70% of its price. That is the spine of the piece: a near-match in the glass, for less at the till.

What the nearby drinkers would pay. Here is the one figure worth sitting with. What would the drinkers of the bottles nearest Johnnie Walker 18 pay for it, each starting from what they already pay for their own? A Chivas Regal 18 drinker would pay about $108 for it — 86% of what their own bottle costs them — marking it down for sherry and dried fruit and for the name on the label. Turn it the other way and a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker puts Chivas at about 93% of their own, for much the same reasons. Across the drinkers of the bottles nearest it, the answers run from $108 to $234. At $179, this week's price sits comfortably inside that spread.

The bottle itself. Pour it and the textures arrive first, complex and elegant: woodsmoke off a bonfire of green twigs, ashy peat embers, a note of grain stores, then vanilla cream and honey drizzled over baked apples. It opens into golden syrup flapjacks and vanilla fudge, candied apricot and orange peel, with Quaker oats, gingerbread and a turn of pepper. A catch of smoke carries into the finish, where citrus and golden honeyed grains see it out. Classical in its bearing, and still an easy thing to drink.

The stand-ins.

Chivas Regal 18, usually $125. Vanilla, almond slice, toffee and a touch of pencil shavings on the nose; then malt, dark fudge, leather and raisin before the oak and chocolate take over. To a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker it gives about 93% of what the Johnnie Walker does, for 70% of its price.

Royal Salute 21, usually $260. Masses of orchard fruit with a hint of passion fruit, rounded supple oak, a banana note once you add water, thick and chewy with a little nut to close. To a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker it gives about 91% of what the Johnnie Walker does, for 145% of its price. It usually sells around $260, and we've seen it from $210 to $260.

At the glass. Each of these holds about 22 standard drinks, so a pour at home works out like this:

Chivas comes in under a pub pint per standard drink; the Johnnie Walker and the Royal Salute sit above it.

Who it's for. If Johnnie Walker 18 is already your pour, nothing here says move on — the smoke-and-honey character is its own, and $179 is the week's number for it. If you'd like the same sort of evening for a little less, Chivas Regal 18 is the one to reach for. If you drink Chivas and have been eyeing the Johnnie Walker, it helps to know you'd come to it expecting about $108, so you can decide the step up on your own terms. And if Royal Salute 21 is your usual, the Johnnie Walker keeps most of what you know in the glass for noticeably less at the till. Four drinkers, four honest answers.