One cold evening at a mate's place, he reaches into the cupboard and pours The Glenlivet 18 without asking. You settle in. It is the kind of whisky that makes you want to pull the curtains and let the week go.
Here is the thing worth knowing before you buy the next one: the bottle most like The Glenlivet 18, for less money, comes from the very same distillery. The Glenlivet 15, at $153, gives a The Glenlivet 18 drinker about 96% of what their own bottle does. Same house, a few years younger, nearly all of the character.
There is no mistaking where The Glenlivet 18 comes from. That pure combination of fruit and flowers is still there, only now nudged toward a more concentrated expression: the flowers dried and heathery, the fruit turned to tinned pineapple and windfall apples, with a note of cedar and nutmeg added for complexity. On the palate it is liquorous and tongue-clinging, custard tart first and then the autumn fruits coming through. It drinks like the season turning.
1/Friday night, the cupboard open, and you pour something eighteen years old: dried flowers, tinned pineapple, a little cedar and nutmeg, custard tart. The Glenlivet 18 is $170 for members at Dan Murphy's — about 90% of a Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 for 52% of the price.
2/The Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21 is $328 at Dan Murphy's: toffee and caramel, sweet vanilla, sultanas and figs, a rich pull of Cuban rum cask. Side by side, what a Gran Reserva 21 drinker gives up with The Glenlivet 18 is mostly the name on the label and three years of age.
3/So, two drams more alike than not. The Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21, $328, is still the one for its fans, all toffee and rum-cask richness. The Glenlivet 18, $170 for members, is the one for every other night.
I keep coming back to this: if you love The Glenlivet 18, The Glenlivet 15 at $153 gives you about 96% of what it does, for 90% of the price. Perfumed oak, apple and pear, soft white pepper. More in this week's piece.
Hand a The Glenlivet 15 drinker a bottle of The Glenlivet 18 and they'd pay 78% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down mostly for the extra years it carries over theirs. More on The Glenlivet 18, and where it sits, in this week's piece. Pour one and see.
Melon and apricot, a little apple pie. That's Glen Moray 18. For a The Glenlivet 18 drinker it gives about 87% of what the 18 does, at 96% of the price. $164 this week. More in this week's piece on The Glenlivet 18.
Light and floral for a Speysider: honeyed vanilla, a little marshmallow and hay, then a soft dry finish. The Glen Grant 10 is $66 at Dan Murphy's. An easy, clean malt to begin with. Pour one and see for yourself. More on it in this week's piece.
A mate keeps his Glen Moray 15 on the bench for Fridays. Hand him The Glen Grant 10 and he'd put it at 88% of what his own bottle costs him — a fair swap, near enough, from the drinker standing closest. Where would yours land? More on The Glen Grant 10 in this week's piece.
The Glenlivet 12 keeps it light: lily, pineapple, and a thick cream that beds the airy flavours down, with a little white pepper once you add water. $76 at Dan Murphy's. The full tasting is in this week's piece.
Like The Glenlivet 12? The Singleton of Dufftown 12 is $69. For anyone on The Glenlivet 12, it does about 99% of what that bottle does, at 91% of the price. Soft, faintly fruity, an easy evening pour. The full write-up on The Glenlivet 12 is in this week's piece.
Ask the drinkers of the bottles closest to The Glenlivet 12 what they'd pay for it, each starting from their own, and you get a spread: $68 at the low end, $117 at the top. This week it's $76, sitting comfortably inside that. The whole of it is in this week's piece.
The Glenlivet 12 is $76 this week, about 22 pours in the bottle, so $3.44 a standard drink at home. That sits 109th of 310 at Dan Murphy's per pour. A pint at the pub is about $6.28 a drink. A light, floral Speyside to sip slowly. More in this week's piece.
The Glenlivet 12 is $76 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $79, so the price has quietly sat down for one. Where that leaves it is your call to make. The full read on The Glenlivet 12 is in this week's piece.
Like The Glenlivet 12? The Glen Grant 10 gives you about 98% of what it does, for 87% of the price. This week it's $66. Honeyed vanilla, a little marshmallow and hay, a soft dry finish. More on The Glenlivet 12 in this week's piece. Fancy a side-by-side?
Poured after dinner, lamp on. Glen Moray 21 noses like oolong and red fruit with a wisp of tawny port; the palate goes creamy and honeyed, a touch of baking spice. $304 for members at Dan Murphy's. A quiet, sweet old Speyside for the unshowy drinker. More in this week's piece.
Melon and apricot. A warm, soft dram. Glen Moray 18 gives a Glen Moray 21 drinker about 95% of what the 21 does, for 54% of the price. It's $164. A soft yes for the 21 lover who'd happily pour this of an evening. More on Glen Moray 21 in this week's piece.
Put Glen Moray 21 beside the bottles nearest it and ask those drinkers what it's worth to them. Their answers run from $76 to $415, each starting from what they pay for their own. This week it's $304 for members, sitting inside that spread. More in this week's piece.
Glen Moray 21 comes to about $11.89 a pour at home, roughly 26 standard drinks to the bottle. If a creamy, honeyed sipper to linger over after dinner is your kind of thing, this is one to pour slowly and savour. More on where it sits this week.
Glen Moray 21 is the pour for someone after an old Speyside that stays soft and sweet: creamy, honeyed, a wisp of Tawny Port and ripe red fruits. It's $304 for members at Dan Murphy's this week; it usually sells around $343. More on where it sits in this week's piece.
Like Glen Moray 21? The Glenlivet 18 gives a Glen Moray 21 drinker about 88% of what they love, for 56% of the price, and it's $170 for members. Dried flowers, tinned pineapple, a settling-in-for-winter dram. Worth a pour. More on the Glen Moray 21 in this week's piece.
Glenlivet 12 costs $1 more a bottle than The Glenlivet 15: $126 against $125, near enough the same money. Then you pour. The 12 sits at 40%, the 15 at 40% too, yet the 12 comes out $3.99 a standard drink against the 15 at $5.66. The one that costs more a bottle is the cheaper glass. Per standard drink this week: The Singleton of Dufftown 12 — $3.12 The Glenlivet 12 — $3.56 Glenlivet 12 — $3.99 Aultmore 12, at 46% — $4.57 The Glenlivet 15 — $5.66 Each is a pour at home for less than a pint at the pub, about $6.28. Younger or older, there's one here to suit.
The Glen Grant 10, $70 for members at Dan's. Light, floral, fresh. Honeyed vanilla and lively fruit, with a whisper of marshmallow and hay. The finish turns soft and dry. A clean malt to start on. It usually sells around $76. More on The Glen Grant 10 in this week's piece.
Hand The Glen Grant 10 to someone who drinks Aberfeldy 12 and they'd put it at 89% of what their own bottle costs, easing it down for being a Speysider rather than a Highlander. Light, floral and an easy introduction either way. More on it in this week's piece.
I keep half an eye on The Glen Grant 10, and this week it's $70 for members at Dan Murphy's. It usually sells around $76, and I've seen it wander between $70 and $81, so nothing too dramatic. More on this light, floral little Speysider in this week's piece.
I've set two Speysiders side by side this week. The Glen Grant 10, $70 for members, is the lighter one: floral and fresh, honeyed vanilla with a touch of marshmallow and hay, and a soft dry finish I'd happily pour a newcomer. The Glenlivet 12, $79, carries more: lily, orchid and pineapple, with a creaminess that beds those flowers down where the Glen Grant lets them drift, and a drop of water brings mandarin, rose petal and white pepper. The two come to $149 at Dan Murphy's for members, against $154 at their usual prices, and $187 for the same pair at Liquorland this week.
Smooth and easy to like: perfumed oak, apple and pear, a whisper of white pepper, with pineapple and honey sneaking in. The Glenlivet 15, $125 for members. That's about $5.66 a standard drink, a touch under a pint at the pub. More on it in this week's piece.
Like The Glenlivet 15? An Aberfeldy 12, poured of an evening, gives you about 95% of what the 15 does. Fresh tropical fruit, honey, a little orange marmalade on the finish, for 83% of its price, at $104. Give one a pour. More on The Glenlivet 15 in this week's piece.
Hand a The Glenlivet 18 drinker a glass of The Glenlivet 15 and they'd set it at $177, about 71% of what their own bottle runs, easing it back mainly for the younger age. Orchard fruit, soft spice, smooth. The rest sits in this week's piece on The Glenlivet 15.
These Speyside malts lean the same way, orchard fruit and a soft trace of spice. The Glenlivet 15 comes to about 22 standard drinks a bottle, so a pour at home settles around $5.66, while a standard drink of a pub pint sits near $6.28. More on it in this week's piece.
Love The Glenlivet 15? The Singleton of Dufftown 12 gives you about 94% of what it does for 55% of the price, and at $69 for members the price is what stands out. More in this week's piece.
The Glenlivet 18 keeps that familiar mix of fruit and flowers, now more concentrated: dried heather, tinned pineapple, windfall apples, cedar and nutmeg, liquorous and tongue-clinging over custard tart. Curtains drawn, winter settling in. $250, more in this week's piece.
Friday night, the 18 feels too good to open on a whim. The Glenlivet 15 steps in: perfumed oak, apple and pear, a little white pepper. For anyone on The Glenlivet 18, it gives about 95% of the 18 at 50% of the price, $125 for members. More in this week's piece.
Dried flowers, tinned pineapple, the curtains drawn for winter. Pour The Glenlivet 18 for a Glencadam 15 drinker and they'd pay 82% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down for being lighter in strength. More on The Glenlivet 18 in this week's piece.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $125.99 | observed | $88.19 | $84.91 | 3.7% | #24 of 79 | $3.17 | #19 of 75 | 3 |
| The Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $75.95 | observed | $78.85 | $76.46 | 3.0% | #20 of 79 | $3.44 | #25 of 75 | 76 |
| The Glenlivet 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $152.99 | observed | $125.00 | $117.76 | 5.8% | #35 of 79 | $6.93 | #54 of 75 | 45 |
| The Glenlivet 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $249.99 | observed | $184.99 | $165.98 | 10.3% | #51 of 79 | $7.70 | #57 of 75 | 65 |
| The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Speyside | $69.85 | observed | $67.90 | $65.11 | 4.1% | #28 of 79 | — | — | 0 |