1/Johnnie Walker 18 is $131 this week. Price its age, strength, name and style the way the rest of Dan Murphy's is priced and you land near $181. That's about 28% under the going rate for its own features. Worth a quiet look.
2/What makes up that $181? Age carries most of it at 55%. Sherry and dried fruit, 20%. The name on the label, 18%. Strength, 7%. Age alone sets more than half.
3/Here's what the going rate can't see: peat smoke and sea air. That ashy, bonfire-smoke note is where Johnnie Walker 18 is strongest, and none of the features that set the $181 carries a price for it.
4/More isn't always better. Royal Salute 21 is $210 and gives a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker about 91% of what the 18 does. Per standard drink, the 18 is $5.93, under a pint at the pub ($6.28); the 21 is $9.51, over it. Want the 18? Yes. Want more years? The 21.
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