Keep It in the Family

So what are you actually drinking? Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve is a 14-year-old Speyside, matured in bourbon barrels. The nose is woody and floral at the same time: a firm line of oak under heather, with vanilla, honey and barley, and a touch of citrus zest. The palate is well balanced, the finish long and easy. It's a tasty, inoffensive dram for a weeknight, and it doesn't ask much of you.

This week it's $113 for members at Dan Murphy's. Think of that as the going rate for a 14-year-old Speyside of this make. It works out to about $4.76 a standard drink across the roughly 24 standard drinks in the bottle, so a pour at home lands under the $6.28 a standard drink you'd pay for a $13 pint at the pub. The home dram comes in cheaper.

Here's a question worth asking. What would the drinkers of the bottles nearest it pay for Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve, each starting from what they already pay for their own? A Glen Moray 18 drinker would pay about $144 for it, around 88% of what their own bottle costs them, marking it down for being younger than theirs and for the name on the label. Turn it around, and a Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve drinker puts Glen Moray 18 at about 86% of their own, marked down for being older than theirs and, again, for the name. Across the drinkers of the nearest bottles, the answers run from $73 to $156. At $113 for members, this week's price sits inside what those drinkers would pay.

If you do fancy a change, two stand-ins are worth a look.

The Balvenie 12 American Oak, $99. Sweet and citrusy on the nose: dripping honey, navel oranges, sliced red apples and lemon drops, with a gentle caramel and vanilla underneath. The finish brings lingering oak spices, a whisper of smoke and a tinge of burnt honey. To a Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve drinker it gives about 94% of what their own bottle does, for 88% of its price. It usually sells around $99, and it's been seen as high as $141.

Glen Moray 18, $164. Softer and more rounded than the Glenfiddich: melon and apricot, a hint of dried hay, apple pie à la mode, and a backbone of peppery fruit and malt. It leans on delicacy rather than power. To a Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve drinker it gives about 86% of what their own bottle does, for 145% of its price. It usually sells around $164.

So who's this for? A yes for each kind of drinker.

If Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Reserve is already your bottle, $113 for members this week keeps it right where it is, and nothing above asks you to move. If you'd rather spend less and stay in the family, Glenfiddich 12 at $75 is the one to reach for, with 96% of the experience in the glass for $75. If you came across from Glen Moray 18 and want something a touch younger and brighter on a given night, the Glenfiddich 14 will meet you most of the way there. And if The Balvenie 12 American Oak is the bottle you keep going back to, you already know the honeyed, oaky register the Glenfiddich 14 works in, so you'll feel at home with it.

One bottle, a few ways to drink around it, and a sibling that does most of the job for less. That's an easy yes however you come at it.