Is there a Highland that almost everyone takes to?
Highland Park 12 is $90 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. That works out at about $4.07 a standard drink across the roughly 22 standard drinks in the bottle, which keeps a pour at home under the $6.28 a standard drink of a $13 pint at the pub.
Here is the thing worth knowing before you weigh any of that. Highland Park 12 fits nearly every foot near it: it sits in the top 16% of bottles for how broadly it's liked. Plenty of whiskies are loved by a narrow set of drinkers; this is one of the few that lands with almost anyone you hand it to.
Now put a figure on that goodwill. Ask the drinkers of the bottles closest to it what it would be worth to them, each starting from what they already pay for their own, and the answers run from $69 to $95. At $90 for members, this week's price sits inside what those drinkers would pay, and every one of them who shares its flavours puts it at nine-tenths or more of their own bottle.
The bottleThe Highland Park desk
Also from the Highland Park desk
Caol Ila 12: tasting
Caol Ila 12 is a beach barbecue in a glass: fresh fish wrapped in bacon, a squeeze of lemon. The palate turns oily and meaty, medium smoke carrying pineapple and melon, then dries into peppery peat. Caol Ila 12, $99 for members. Which barbecue is yours? More this week.
Caol Ila 12: stand-in 1
If you reach for Caol Ila 12, Bowmore 12 gives you about 98% of what it does for 96% of the price, landing at $95 for members, with tropical fruit, sweet smoke and a touch of brine on top. Worth a pour. The full story on Caol Ila 12 is in this week's piece.
Caol Ila 12: neighbours' price
Ask the drinkers of the bottles nearest Caol Ila 12 what they'd pay for it, each starting from what they pay for their own, and the answers land between $77 and $101. At $99 for members it sits near the top of that spread. The full read is in this week's piece.
Caol Ila 12: per drink
Caol Ila 12 comes to about $4.17 a pour at home, near 24 to a bottle, while a pint at the pub lands around $6.28 a standard drink, so the sofa wins on arithmetic if not on company. Worth a nightcap on the numbers? More in this week's piece.
Caol Ila 12: stand-in 2
Like Caol Ila 12? Here's a stand-in. Highland Park 12 gives a Caol Ila 12 drinker about 94% of what Caol Ila 12 does, for 91% of the price. $90 for members. Fragrant and floral, heather and honey, a wisp of smoke. More in this week's piece on Caol Ila 12.
Bowmore 12: price per drink
Caol Ila 12 costs $4 more a bottle than Bowmore 12, but at 43% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $4.17 a standard drink against $4.30. Per standard drink this week: • Highland Park 12 — $90, 40%, $4.07 • Caol Ila 12 — $99, 43%, $4.17 • Bowmore 12 — $95, 40%, $4.30 All three come in under a pint at the pub ($6.28 a standard drink). Pour the Caol Ila of an evening: fish and bacon off a beach barbecue, a squeeze of lemon, peppery peat drying the finish. After honey, heather and a wisp of smoke, it's the Highland Park; sweet smoke and peaches, the Bowmore.
Bowmore 12: tasting
Pour the Bowmore 12 and the nose turns tropical and sweetly smoky, with brine and new leather, then peaches and honey on the palate before cocoa powder and woodsmoke fade. A fine introduction to the distillery, $95 for members this week. More in this week's piece.
Bowmore 12: stand-in 1
Ripe red apples, a little heather, a wisp of smoke. That's Cragganmore 12, $86. For a Bowmore 12 drinker it gives about 97% of what Bowmore 12 does, at 90% of the price. More on Bowmore 12 in this week's piece.
Bowmore 12: neighbours' price
Pour one after the washing-up, the Bowmore 12 you keep by the kettle. Ask the drinkers of its nearest neighbours what they'd give for it: $69 to $97. At $95 for members, it lands inside their range. More on Bowmore 12 in this week's piece — worth a pour.
Bowmore 12: per drink
Bowmore 12 comes to about $4.30 a standard drink poured at home, where a pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 for the same measure. Roughly 22 drinks in the bottle to work through slowly. This week's piece walks through where it all lands. What's a pour at home worth to you?
Bowmore 12: price guide
Bowmore 12 is $95 for members at Dan Murphy's this week, a little under the $102 it usually sells around, so read it as a quiet guide rather than a nudge. More on it in this week's piece.
Bowmore 12: stand-in 2
Like Bowmore 12? Highland Park 12 comes close: a fragrant, heathery nose, honey and citrus on the palate, then warm wood smoke lingering through the finish, giving a Bowmore 12 drinker about 97% of what they love for 95% of the price, $90 for members. More in this week's piece.
Highland Park 12: stand-in 1
Cragganmore 12 gives a Highland Park 12 drinker about 99% of what Highland Park 12 does, at $86 — 95% of its price. Cider, heather and ripe apples, with vanilla fudge and a faint wisp of smoke. The full stand-in sits in this week's piece on Highland Park 12.
Highland Park 12: neighbours' price
Ask the drinkers of the bottles closest to Highland Park 12 what they'd give for it, each starting from what they pay for their own, and the answers land between $69 and $95. At $90 for members it settles near the upper end of that spread. The rest is in this week's piece.
Highland Park 12: per drink
What does a pour at home actually cost? Highland Park 12 works out at $4.07 a standard drink, about 22 to the bottle. A pint at the pub sits nearer $6.28. Which one would you reach for? More in this week's piece on Highland Park 12.
Cragganmore 12: the one everyone gets along with
Pour the Cragganmore 12 and the room leans in: cider and heather, a little ginger, ripe red apple with honey underneath. Some whiskies gather fans. This one gathers friends, the bottle a roomful of different drinkers all end up fond of.
Tastes like Bowmore 12
If Bowmore 12 is your bottle and you fancy something close, Highland Park 12 is the one that lands nearest to it. It gives a Bowmore 12 drinker about 91% of what the Bowmore 12 does, for 95% of the price.
Per standard drink: the whole list at Dan Murphy's, cheapest first
310 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: Grant's Triple Wood 1 litre at $1.99 a standard drink; the median is $4.16; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 235 of the 310 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
Which single malt is hard to say no to?
Caol Ila 12 is the sort of bottle that suits almost anyone who reaches for it. It sits in the top 19% of bottles for how broadly it's liked. That is the whole case for it, in one line.
Which bottle near you would its neighbours gladly pay for too?
If you drink Bowmore 12, here is the pleasant thing to know: among the bottles sitting closest to it, almost every one is a bottle its own drinkers would happily reach for. Bowmore 12 fits nearly every foot near it. It lands in the top 19% of bottles for how broadly it's liked, which is another way of saying it rarely leaves a room divided.
Per standard drink: the whole list at Dan Murphy's, cheapest first
305 bottles at Dan Murphy's can be priced per standard drink this week. Cheapest first: McAllister 1 litre at $2.00 a standard drink; the median is $4.03; Dalmore 21 Malt is the highest at $42.68. 228 of the 305 come in under a pint at the pub, which works out at $6.28 a standard drink.
The numbers behind these bottles
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland Park 12 | Islands | $108.99 | observed | $90.00 | $74.58 | 17.1% | #3 of 9 | $4.93 | #7 of 9 | 23 |