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.
Dewar’s 18 is a gentle thing. The nose is light and soft, sweet but quite dry, with toasted barley, buttered toast, hay and heather-honey, a little toffee and some warm apple with vanilla. On the palate it turns sweet and creamy, more than the low ABV would promise. If you want the three words that matter: soft, floral, malty.
It’s $131 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $131. No surprises there — that’s the going rate for what’s in the glass.
1/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.
2/In the glass the Dewar’s 18 is sweet and creamy, toasted barley and buttered toast with toffee and roasted almonds. The Chivas Regal XV 15 runs luxurious and dark-fruited, marmalade and cinnamon buns over toffee. Both reviews share toffee, almonds and spices.
3/This week the Dewar’s 18 is $131 at Dan Murphy's while the Chivas Regal XV 15 is $89, so the saving sits right there beside the flavour. A yes for each: stay with the Dewar’s 18 if it's your bottle, and reach for the Chivas Regal XV 15 when you fancy the change.
| 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 | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed | 130.99 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 130.99 | 130.99 | 0.00 | 130.99 | 130.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 130.99 | 100 |
| member | 130.99 | 130.99 | 0.00 | 130.99 | 130.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 130.99 | 100 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 130.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 131.0 – 131.0 |
I kept coming back to the cinnamon buns on the nose, marmalade and almond just behind, before the palate turned to dark fruit and toffee, velvety smooth, cognac cask woven through. Chivas Regal XV 15, $89, it's in this week's piece. A dram for frosty nights — would it tempt you?
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 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.
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.
Chivas Regal 25 is one to pour on a slow evening: red apple and cinnamon drifting up, then coffee, malty cocoa and sticky toffee pudding, a long aniseed finish trailing behind. $646. Pour one and sit with it — more on it in this week's piece.
Like Chivas Regal 25? Pour a Chivas Regal 18 and you still get about 81% of what the 25 gives you, for 19% of the price, yours at $125, with vanilla, almond slice, toffee and sweet oak warming up as it sits in the glass. More on the Chivas Regal 25 in this week's piece.
Aged blends, every one. Hand a Dewar's 18 drinker the Chivas Regal 25 and they'd pay 71% of what their own bottle costs, mostly because it's older than theirs. More on the Chivas Regal 25 in this week's piece.
Sunday night, one glass, no rush. On the nose, Chivas Regal 25 gives red apple and salted almonds; the palate turns to coffee and sticky toffee pudding, then a long aniseed finish. A pour at home is $29.24 a standard drink. More in this week's piece. Pour yourself one.
Chivas Regal 25 is $646 this week, and it usually sells around $646 — steady ground, no surprises. A polished, smooth dram, toffee running long on the finish. Take that as a guide, not a flag, and read the rest in this week's piece.
Fancy Chivas Regal 25? Royal Salute 21 gets a Chivas Regal 25 drinker about 76% of the way there, for 40% of the price, at $260. Orchard fruit, supple oak, a little nut on the finish. More on Chivas Regal 25 in this week's piece.
For anyone who loves Chivas Regal 25, a Dewar’s 18 at $131 gives back about 76% of what the 25 does for 20% of its price, all toasted barley and toffee, which is where this week’s piece on Chivas Regal 25 picks up.
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.
What are you paying for in a Chivas Regal 18? Price its age, strength, name and style like the rest of the whisky at Dan Murphy's and you land near $147. It's $125 this week, about 15% under that going rate for its features.
Friday night, the good glasses come out, and someone reaches past the usual suspects for the Dewar's 18. It's the bottle a room tends to agree on, poured slow and talked over rather than fussed about. This week it's $131, about what it usually sells around.
A price guide for Chivas Regal 25 and the three blended Scotch whiskies closest to it. What each usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a pour costs this week. Chivas Regal 25 sits at the top at $646, with Royal Salute 21, Dewar's 18 and Johnnie Walker 18 alongside it. Read the week against the everyday price, not the other way around.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glencadam 15YO Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $150.00 | $113.80 | +36.20 |
| 2 | Glengoyne 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $161.99 | $110.30 | +51.69 |
| 3 | Glenfiddich 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $174.90 | $109.42 | +65.48 |
| 4 | Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $94.95 | $107.68 | -12.73 |
| 5 | Glengoyne 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $93.00 | $104.13 | -11.13 |
| 6 | Aberfeldy 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $103.99 | $104.11 | -0.12 |
| 7 | Clynelish 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $109.00 | $102.60 | +6.40 |
| 8 | Dewar's 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | $64.99 | $102.47 | -37.48 |
| 9 | Glengoyne 21 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $360.99 | $102.23 | +258.76 |
| 10 | Dimple 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | $53.90 | $100.91 | -47.01 |