If Chivas Regal XV 15 is your bottle and you'd like the same evening for a little less, the closest answer comes from the same house: Chivas Regal 12, at $60, gives a Chivas Regal XV 15 drinker about 95% of what their own bottle does. That's the whole story in a line, and I'll spend the rest of this walking you around it.
Chivas Regal XV 15 is a grand, generous blend, and I mean grand warmly. The nose opens on marmalade, almond and cinnamon buns, and there's an extra layer of lush fruit here because part of it has rested in cognac casks; to my palate the cognac stays respectful of the scotch rather than talking over it. The whole thing is thoroughly integrated. On the palate it turns luxurious and velvety, all rich dark fruits and toffee, with that cognac fruit encircling the blend and a little wood spice to close. It's built for frosty winter nights, and that is exactly when I'd reach for it.
1/What are you paying for in a Chivas Regal XV 15? Price its age, strength, name and style the way Dan Murphy's prices everything else, and the features come to $117. This week it's $89, about 24% under that going rate.
2/That $117 breaks into parts. Age is the big one, 58%. The name on the label, 15%. Sherry and dried fruit, another 15%. Strength, 9%. Most of it is the years.
3/Its own drinker weights the same features differently. Age, but harder: 82%. Sherry and dried fruit, 13%. The going rate and the drinker both look at the years and the fruit; they just balance them their own way.
4/Want to spend more? Dewar's 18 is $131 this week and gives an XV 15 drinker about 95% of what the XV 15 does. More isn't always better. At $89 the XV 15 brings marmalade, dark fruit, toffee and wood spice for a frosty night. One to pour. Give it a go.
| slot | 08-13 | 08-20 | 08-27 | 09-03 | 09-10 | 09-17 | 09-24 | 10-01 | 10-08 | 10-15 | 10-22 | 10-29 | 11-05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list / member | 88.99 m 86.00 observed | 88.99 m 86.00 observed | 88.99 m 86.00 observed | 88.99 m 86.00 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 observed | 88.99 m 86.00 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 88.99 | 88.99 | 0.00 | 88.99 | 88.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 88.99 | 100 |
| member | 87.84 | 88.99 | 1.51 | 86.00 | 88.99 | 2.99 | 1.7% | 0.42 | 86.00 | 38 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 88.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 89.0 – 89.0 |
Drink Chivas Regal XV 15? The Chivas Regal 12, at $60, gives you about 95% of what it does for 67% of the price. Vanilla sponge, cut flowers, a little marzipan, an everyday pour. Save the XV 15 for a frosty night. More on it in this week's piece.
Hand a Dewar's 18 drinker the Chivas Regal XV 15 and they'd pay 83% of what their own bottle costs, mostly for it not being from the Highlands. That suits the Dewar's drinker after a softer, fruitier dram for frosty nights. More on the Chivas Regal XV 15 in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89. About 22 standard drinks in the bottle. That works out at $4.03 a pour at home. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. More on the Chivas Regal XV 15 in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV 15: marmalade and cinnamon buns on the nose, dark fruit and toffee on a velvety palate, wood spice on the finish. It's $89 this week, about where it usually sells, and we've seen it from $86 to $89. More on it in this week's piece.
Marmalade, almond and cinnamon buns, then dark fruits and toffee rolling in velvety, with a little wood spice to close. The cognac cask sits politely beside the scotch, and I'd keep this one for frosty nights. Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89, and that's where this week's piece starts.
Love the Chivas Regal XV 15? The Chivas Regal 12 pours vanilla sponge, cut flowers and marzipan, and for $60 it gives a Chivas Regal XV 15 drinker about 95% of what that bottle does at 67% of its price. Pour one this winter and see — more in this week's piece.
Hand a Dewar's 18 drinker a glass of Chivas Regal XV 15 — marmalade, almond, those cinnamon buns on a frosty night — and they'd put it at 84% of what their own bottle sets them back, docking it mostly for not hailing from the Highlands. The rest is in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV 15 comes to $4.03 a pour at home, about 22 standard drinks in the $89 bottle. A pint at the pub sits nearer $6.28 a standard drink. If a quiet dram sounds like your evening, pour one and see. More in this week's piece on Chivas Regal XV 15.
Marmalade, almond and cinnamon buns, then dark fruits and toffee over a velvety palate: Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89 at Dan Murphy's this week, about where it usually sells, sitting between $86 and $89 whenever we've seen it. More on it in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal XV, rated 92. Marmalade and cinnamon buns, then dark fruit and toffee — velvety smooth, wood spice on the finish. $89 this week, which is what it usually sells around. That's $4.03 a standard drink, against $6.28 for a pint at the pub.
Chivas Regal 18, $125 at Dan Murphy's. I get vanilla, almond slice and toffee on the nose, with a curl of pencil shavings. The palate turns to dark fudge, leather and raisin, then a warm, lengthy finish of oak and chocolate. More on it in this week's piece. Fancy a dram?
Here's what surprised me: a Chivas Regal 18 drinker gets about 93% of the Chivas Regal 18 from Chivas Regal XV 15, and it's $89 — 71% of the price. Marmalade, almond, cinnamon buns. I've put more on Chivas Regal 18 in this week's piece.
Give a Dewar's 18 drinker a Chivas Regal 18, all vanilla, toffee and sweet oak, and they'd pay about 83% of what their own bottle runs, marked down mostly for not being from the Highlands. Smooth and gentle is its lane. More in this week's piece on Chivas Regal 18.
Chivas Regal 18 works out at $5.66 a standard drink, a pour at home across about 22 in the bottle. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. Vanilla, toffee, sweet oak, smooth and gradual. One for the unhurried sipper. More on it in this week's piece.
Dewar’s 18, $131 at Dan Murphy's. The nose comes over light and soft: toasted barley, buttered toast, heather-honey, raisins dipped in milk chocolate. Low in ABV, and yet the palate turns sweet and creamy anyway. More in this week's piece. Drinks richer than it reads?
Marmalade, almond, cinnamon buns. That's Chivas Regal XV 15, $89. For a Dewar’s 18 drinker it gives about 89% of what Dewar’s 18 does, at 68% of its price. Both earn a yes. More on Dewar’s 18 in this week's piece.
Hand a Chivas Regal 18 drinker a Dewar’s 18 — light, sweet, creamy — and they'd pay 88% of what their own bottle costs, missing a little of the dried fruit and wood spice they know. Worth pouring one to see where you land. More on Dewar’s 18 in this week's piece.
Dewar’s 18 is $131 the bottle, around 24 pours, which works out at $5.53 a standard drink at home. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. Sweet, malty, creamy. Pour yourself one and see where it sits for you; more on it in this week's piece.
Dewar’s 18 is $131 at Dan Murphy’s this week, and it usually sells around $131, so it’s sitting right where you’d expect. Nothing unusual to flag, just a steady marker to keep in mind. For the full pour on it, have a read of this week’s piece.
Pouring the last of the Dewar’s 18 on a quiet Thursday, I found myself reaching for the Chivas Regal 18 beside it: $125, giving a Dewar’s 18 drinker about 88% of what that bottle does for 95% of the price, all vanilla, almond and toffee. More on Dewar’s 18 in this week's piece.
A mate's fortieth, and I've been handed the good stuff in the backyard. Birthday boy drifts over, nose in the glass. "Vanilla sponge and marzipan in here, little waft of smoke at the end. What've you given me?" "Chivas Regal 12 — $60 at Dan's."
The Chivas Regal 12 sits at $60 at Dan Murphy's, twelve years old at 40%, and it drinks like an everyday luxury: a nose of vanilla sponge and marzipan, an oily palate of malty toffee and cake, then cocoa, hazelnut and a last waft of smoke. It usually sells around $60.
Fancy the Dewar’s 18 but wondering what tastes most like it for less to pour? That bottle is Chivas Regal XV 15. It gives a Dewar’s 18 drinker about 89% of what the Dewar’s 18 itself does, and it manages all of that for 68% of the price.
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.
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.
If you drink Chivas Regal XV 15, the question is a fair one: is there something close for less money? There is, and it comes from the same house. Chivas Regal 12, at $60, gives a Chivas Regal XV 15 drinker about 95% of what their own bottle does. Same family, same signature, a good deal of the way there.
A mate pours you a finger of Chivas Regal 18 at his kitchen table on a cold night, the kind where the heater's been on since four. You know the bottle before he says it, because it is the one you reach for too, and the two of you stand there agreeing that it rarely gets better than this. Then he asks the question that always comes once the bottle is open and the price is remembered: is there anything close to it that costs less.
At $131, Dewar’s 18 sits a little above what the drinkers of the bottles closest to it would pay. It’s priced for its fans: it fits them, and it asks a bit more of everyone else.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chivas Regal Charles LeClerc 16YO 700mL | $99.99 | $87.86 | +12.13 |
| 2 | The Glenlivet 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $125.00 | $87.05 | +37.95 |
| 3 | Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | $55.30 | $86.15 | -30.85 |
| 4 | The Glenlivet 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $184.99 | $85.66 | +99.33 |
| 5 | Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | $59.95 | $85.63 | -25.68 |
| 6 | Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $105.00 | $84.41 | +20.59 |
| 7 | Aultmore AULTMORE® 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $115.99 | $84.17 | +31.82 |
| 8 | The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $69.00 | $83.97 | -14.97 |
| 9 | Aberlour 14 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.99 | $83.58 | +76.41 |
| 10 | Glenlivet 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1L | $88.19 | $83.52 | +4.67 |