At $370 for members this week, Glenfarclas 25 sits above what the drinkers of the bottles nearest it would pay for it. That is the shape of the thing: it fits its own fans and pinches everyone else. Priced for its fans.
1/Let's open with the gap. Glenfarclas 25 is $370 for members this week. Price its age, strength, name and style the way the rest of Dan Murphy's is priced and the going rate for those features is $271. So this week it sits about 36% over that going rate.
2/What makes up that $271? Most of it is age, at 61%. Then sherry and dried fruit at 17%, strength at 10%, and being a single malt at 7%. The reviews back the shape: an old sherry-soaked oakiness, stewed fruits, sherried vanilla, and age that comes through even at the lower ABV.
3/Its own drinker weights the same features differently: age 71%, sherry and dried fruit 19%, being a single malt 8%. So the thing they most want, age, is the thing the going rate charges most for. At about $15.58 a standard drink across roughly 24 in the bottle, it is a slow pour.
4/More is not always better. Tamdhu 15 is $202 this week and gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker 73% of what they value, at $7.95 a standard drink. Molasses, orange peel, sweet sherry, fruitcake, dark chocolate. Two yeses: reach for the 25 for the age, the 15 for most of the feeling.
The Glendronach 12, $110 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $119. After a parade of Glendronachs over the years, this is the 12 that won me over: the sherry held back just enough to let the spirit speak. My favourite of them. More in this week's piece.
Hand The Glendronach 12 to drinkers of its nearest bottles and they'd pay $90 to $248 for it, each from what their own bottle costs. The closest, a Glenfarclas 15 drinker, lands at $125, 68% of their own. It's $110 this week. More in this week's piece. Where would you sit?
The Glendronach 12 is $110 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $119, so a few dollars under its regular mark as you pour one. Where it sits against the neighbours is in this week's piece.
Tamdhu 15 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker 73% of what the Glenfarclas 25 does, for 55% of the price, at $202. Molasses, orange peel on the nose, sherry and Turkish Delight on the palate, cloves and dark chocolate on a long finish. More on Glenfarclas 25 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfarclas 15 drinker a dram of Glenfarclas 25 and they'd put down 54% of what their own bottle costs them. The nearest drinkers all land higher. I lay it out in this week's piece. Where would you sit?
Glenfarclas 25 is $370. About 24 pours in the bottle, so $15.58 a standard drink at home. That puts it 294th of 310 at Dan Murphy's by the pour. An old, sherried, honeyed thing. More on it in this week's piece.
Like Glenfarclas 25? A Glenfarclas 15 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker about 74% of what the 25 does, for 50% of the price, at $185. Dried fruits and toffee on the nose, then dark fruit, Christmas cake and roast oak. Pour one and see — more in this week's piece.
Both lean on honey and a bit of age. Glengoyne 21 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker about 93% of what the Glenfarclas 25 does, for 98% of its price. Its own price this week: $361. More on Glenfarclas 25 in this week's piece.
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.
Jammy peaches and marzipan on the nose, polished oak behind. The palate turns creamy: oranges, yellow plums, summer berries, then clove and black pepper. It closes on milk chocolate. Aberlour 14 is $140 for members at Dan Murphy's. Pour one this week; the piece has the rest.
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.
Back on sale after three years away, The GlenDronach 15 Revival is a full sherry dram: ripe cherries and marzipan on the nose, then spicy damsons and dark chocolate into a long finish of cloves and blackcurrants. $176 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
If you like The GlenDronach 15 Revival, The Glendronach 12 gives you about 96% of what it does for 68% of the price, landing at $119, and that sherried thread runs through both, which is really what I get into in this week's piece on the Revival.
Here's the one that stuck with me: an Edradour 10 drinker, handed The GlenDronach 15 Revival, would pay 77% of what their own bottle costs them. Not the whole way, but close. What would you give for a neighbour's dram? More in this week's piece.
The GlenDronach 15 Revival, back after three years away: ripe cherries, dark chocolate, a long clove finish. $176 over about 25 standard drinks is $6.93 a pour at home, just over the $6.28 a standard drink of a $13 pint. More in this week's piece.
The GlenDronach 15 Revival is $176 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $176. Nose of sherry, cherries and marzipan; a palate of spicy damsons and dark chocolate; a long finish of cloves and blackcurrants. More in this week's piece. Your kind of dram?
Love The GlenDronach 15 Revival? The Glenfarclas 15 gives its drinkers about 94% of what the Revival does, and at $130 that is 74% of its price, with dried fruit, toffee and a touch of leather over a full, smooth palate. The full tasting sits in this week's piece. Fancy a pour?
Glengoyne 21, $361 at Dan Murphy's: a creamy malt foundation, then honey, cookie dough and soft citrus-and-apple, with dry vanilla and cinnamon running through. Clean, polished, easy to keep pouring. More on it in this week's piece.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenfarclas 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $184.99 | observed | $129.99 | $114.10 | 12.2% | #55 of 79 | $7.28 | #56 of 75 | 59 |
| Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $440.00 | observed | $389.99 | $282.94 | 27.4% | #76 of 79 | $15.58 | #67 of 75 | 35 |