A mate of mine was standing in front of the Scotch cabinet at Dan Murphy's, Aberlour 14 in one hand, phone in the other, doing the sum we all do. He likes the 14. He just wondered if he had to pay for the 14 to get the 14.
Here's the short answer, and it's the whole point of this one. The bottle most like Aberlour 14, for less money, comes from the same distillery. Aberlour 12 Double Cask, $113, gives an Aberlour 14 drinker about 98% of what their own bottle does. Same hallway, one door down.
1/Some bottles are adored by a small circle. Aberlour 14 is the one a whole room gets along with — the dram you can pour for almost anyone and watch them settle in. Let me show you what I mean, because the numbers say it plainly.
2/Aberlour 14 sits among the ten closest bottles for the drinkers of 16 others. The typical bottle manages 9. So where most whiskies are a near-neighbour to a handful, this one keeps turning up close to far more people's favourites.
3/Pour Aberlour 12 Double Cask, Glenfiddich 15 or Glenfarclas 15 and you've already found someone who'd rate Aberlour 14 near the top of their own list. It speaks the same language as all three, which is a rare and easy kind of overlap.
4/In the glass it's rounded and welcoming: jammy peaches, marzipan, vanilla and toffee, with orange cake and honey behind a little polished oak. Sweet and creamy to taste, all oranges and summer berries, then clove, candied ginger and milk chocolate.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 at $160, the youngest of the Sherry Oak line. A classic nose of sherry, Christmas cake, dried fruit and old leather. Smooth and full, with jaffa oranges and brittle toffee, then a long finish of spice and smoke. Aberlour 12 Double Cask at $113. Bourbon and sherry casks. Orange peel, banana, red apple and toasted nuts. Thin but intense, with chocolate and cooked apple. About $5.11 a pour at home, under a pint at the pub. This week the two come to $273 at Dan Murphy's, $283 at their usual prices, and $290 for the same two at Liquorland. A yes whichever way you lean.
Glenfarclas 15: Christmas cake in a glass. Dried fruit, toffee, a hint of leather, warming spice. Full-bodied and smooth, non-chill filtered. This week it's $185 at Dan Murphy's. The whole story's in this week's piece.
If you love Glenfarclas 15, I'd happily pour you a Tamdhu 12. At $126 it's about 68% of the Glenfarclas price, and for a Glenfarclas 15 drinker it gives you about 88% of what you already enjoy, with citrus, hazelnut and dry sherry. More on Glenfarclas 15 in this week's piece.
Hand a Tamdhu 12 drinker a Glenfarclas 15 and they'd pay about $87 for it, 69% of what their own bottle costs them. The sherry and dried fruit sit close enough to home. Who it suits: a sherried-malt drinker. More in this week's piece on the Glenfarclas 15.
Glenfarclas 15, all dried fruit and Christmas cake, is $7.28 a standard drink poured at home — the kind of pour you sit with rather than rush. This week's piece has the rest.
Like Glenfarclas 15? Aberlour 14 pours jammy peaches, marzipan and vanilla, then slips into milk chocolate and a whisper of coffee. For a Glenfarclas 15 drinker it gives about 88% of the ride at 76% of the price, $140 for members. More in this week's piece.
Like Aberlour 14? The Aberlour 12 Double Cask gives an Aberlour 14 drinker about 98% of what it does for 81% of the price, at $113 this week, all orange peel, red apple and a little chocolate as it opens. More on the Aberlour 14 in this week's piece.
A Glenfarclas 15 drinker, handed the Aberlour 14, would pay 64% of what their own bottle costs — marked down mostly for the lighter strength. That's the nearest neighbour's answer. More on where Aberlour 14 sits in this week's piece.
Poured one after dinner and noticed how rounded it sits, no rough edges. Aberlour 14 comes to $6.34 a standard drink, about 22 pours in the bottle. That's a shade over a $13 pint at the pub (around $6.28). One for a slow evening at home. More in this week's piece.
Aberlour 14 sat in front of me this week at $140 for members at Dan Murphy's, and from everything I've seen it usually sells around $140, so take this as a steady guide rather than any sort of surprise. More on where it lands, and who it suits, in this week's piece.
Dry citrus and hazelnut on the nose, then fuller sherry, cinnamon and banoffee; jaffa oranges and hot chocolate to finish. That's Tamdhu 12. For an Aberlour 14 drinker it gives about 91% of the Aberlour 14, at 90% of the price, $126. More on Aberlour 14 this week.
I kept returning to the nose on the Tamdhu 12: dry citrus, hazelnut, a whiff of dry sherry. The palate turns sweeter, with cinnamon and banoffee pie, before jaffa oranges and hot chocolate settle into a lightly tannic finish. It's $126 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
Orange peel, banana and red apple opening up with a little chocolate — that's the Aberlour 12 Double Cask, and if you love Tamdhu 12 it gives you about 93% of what you're after for 90% of the price, around $113. More on Tamdhu 12 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfarclas 15 drinker a dram of Tamdhu 12 and I reckon they'd pay 64% of what their own bottle sets them back. Coming off all that deep sherry and dried fruit, Tamdhu's drier, more citrus-led sherry reads a touch lighter to them. More on it in this week's piece.
I keep coming back to sherried malts, and Tamdhu 12 sits among them at $5.31 a pour at home, about 24 to the bottle. A pint at the pub runs around $6.28 a standard drink. More on Tamdhu 12 in this week's piece.
Aberlour 12 Double Cask, sweet and simple with power. Orange peel, banana and toasted nuts on the nose. The palate thin but intense, all orange, chocolate and oak. Cooked apple on a medium-short finish. $105 for members at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
Like the Aberlour 12 Double Cask? Pour a Tamdhu 12: dry and citrusy, hazelnut and sherry, then cinnamon and banoffee. It gives an Aberlour 12 Double Cask drinker about 97% of the whisky, for 93% of the price, $98 for members. More in this week's piece.
Hand a Glengoyne 15 drinker the Aberlour 12 Double Cask — orange and chocolate — and they'd pay 86% of what their own bottle runs, marking it down for sitting in Speyside, not the Highlands. It usually sells around $109, $105 this week. Fancy it at that in this week's piece?
I worked it out over the weekend: at $105 the Aberlour 12 Double Cask comes to about $4.75 a standard drink across the roughly 22 in the bottle, while a pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 a drink. A quiet pour at home, then. More on it in this week's piece.
Aberlour 12 Double Cask is $105 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $109. About $4.75 a pour at home. Pour one and see. More in this week's piece on Aberlour 12 Double Cask.
Which of these costs you less a drink? Glengoyne 15 runs $2 more a bottle than Aberlour 14, yet at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $6.82 a standard drink against $7.24. Both sit over a pint at the pub, about $6.28 a drink. Tamdhu 12 ($4.13), Aberlour 12 Double Cask ($4.75) and Edradour 10 ($5.07) come in under it. Pour the Glengoyne of a quiet evening: vanilla, ginger, toffee and old leather, spicy through to a cocoa finish. $162 this week, $6.82 a standard drink.
Orange peel, banana and red apple on the nose, with chocolate and barley turning up once it opens. A thin pour but a loud one, orange and cooked apple on a short finish. Aberlour 12 Double Cask, $105 for members. The rest of the tasting's in this week's piece.
Glass poured, telly on, no one coming over. If you're happy with Aberlour 12 Double Cask, Tamdhu 12 lands close: about 97% of what you'd get from it, for 93% of the price, at $98 for members. Citrus, hazelnut, dry sherry. More on Aberlour 12 Double Cask in this week's piece.
Hand Aberlour 12 Double Cask to a Glengoyne 15 drinker, the nearest bottle along, and they'd put 86% of what their own bottle costs on it. This week's piece walks through where the rest land.
At home, an Aberlour 12 Double Cask pours at $4.75 a standard drink, about 22 to the bottle. A pint at the pub is around $6.28 a drink. Orange, chocolate and a little cooked apple in the glass. More on it in this week's piece.
Aberlour 12 Double Cask is $105 for members at Dan's this week. It usually sells around $113. That's the guide, not a nudge. The full picture's in this week's piece.
Glenfiddich 18 opens on oak and fresh apple woven through barley, then turns to sweet fruit cake and Christmas pudding warmed with cinnamon, extraordinarily smooth. $180 at Dan Murphy's, one for the drinker who wants complexity without fuss. More in this week's piece.
If Glenfiddich 18 is your pour, Glengoyne 15 at $162 will suit you: sherried vanilla, ginger and a spicy, cocoa finish, giving a Glenfiddich 18 drinker about 95% of what they're after for 90% of the price. More on Glenfiddich 18 in this week's piece.
Hand an Aberlour 14 drinker the Glenfiddich 18 and they'd pay about 82% of what their own bottle costs, marked down a touch for the extra years. Who's it for? Anyone content near where they already sit. More on the Glenfiddich 18 in this week's piece — worth a look?
$8.14 — that's one pour of Glenfiddich 18 at home. The bottle runs $180, with about 22 standard drinks in it. Slippers not included. The full piece is up this week: where would you pour yours?
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $112.99 | observed | $105.00 | $97.25 | 7.4% | #38 of 79 | $5.11 | #41 of 75 | 42 |
| Aberlour 14 Year Old Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $159.99 | observed | $159.99 | $144.72 | 9.5% | #47 of 79 | $6.34 | #50 of 75 | 58 |
| Aberlour A'Bunadh Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $154.99 | observed | $130.00 | $98.42 | 24.3% | #74 of 79 | — | — | 0 |