1/If Dimple 12 is the bottle you keep coming back to, its nearest flavour twin is Dewar's 12. Close enough that a Dimple 12 drinker gets about 100% of what their own bottle gives, and it costs $16 more.
2/Dimple 12 leans toffee and spice, settling into a warm caramel with a thread of smoke and oak. Dewar's 12 runs caramel and oak too, with a little sherry sweetness and a short, bitter grapefruit finish. Caramel and oak turn up in both glasses.
3/At Dan Murphy's this week, Dimple 12 is $53 and Dewar's 12 is $69. That works out to about $2.40 and $3.12 a pour, either one under the $6.28 a pub pint comes to. Stay with the Dimple 12 if it's your usual; reach for the Dewar's 12 when you fancy a 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 | 53.90 observed | 53.90 observed | 53.90 observed | 53.90 observed | 53.90 observed | 53.90 observed | 55.90 observed | 57.90 observed | 54.95 observed | 53.90 observed | 53.80 observed | 52.95 observed | 52.85 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 54.28 | 53.90 | 1.33 | 52.85 | 57.90 | 5.05 | 2.5% | 0.37 | 52.85 | 8 |
| member | 54.28 | 53.90 | 1.33 | 52.85 | 57.90 | 5.05 | 2.5% | 0.37 | 52.85 | 8 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 54.28 | 1.77 | 1.93 | 4.27 | 53.6 – 55.0 |
Soft smoke runs through these blends. Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 is the bright one. Astringent for a second, then banana, apple, barley sugar, a lick of burnt toast and toffee. Fresh and easy. $68 at Dan Murphy's. Give it a pour. More in this week's piece.
Like Label 5 Premium Reserve 12? Dimple 12 gives a Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 drinker about 99% of what that bottle does, at 79% of its price, sitting at $54 this week, with toffee, caramel and a slight citrus edge. More on Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 in this week's piece.
Hand a Dewar's 12 drinker the Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 and they'd put it at 89% of what their own bottle costs them. Close, not quite level, starting from what they already pay. The fuller read on Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 is waiting in this week's piece.
Soft smoke, banana and barley sugar, fresh and easy: that's Label 5 Premium Reserve 12, about 22 standard drinks in the bottle and $3.08 a pour at home, set against $6.28 a standard drink for a pint at the pub. The full tasting is in this week's piece.
Noticed Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 sitting at $68 at Dan's this week. It usually sells around $62, and I've seen it run from $62 to $68, so that's about the top of its range. Nothing to read into either way. More on it in this week's piece.
Soft, fruity and easy: that's Dewar's 15. Vanilla, melon, banana and apple on the nose, a little oak sitting behind. $80 at Dan's, and a gentle pour for anyone easing into blends. Pour one and see — the full tasting's in this week's piece.
Like your Dewar's 15? Dewar's 12 hands a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what the 15 gives, for 86% of the price, and it's $69 this week. Same family, a year shy. The rest is in this week's piece.
I handed a few Dewar's 12 drinkers a glass of Dewar's 15 the other night, just to see. They'd each pay about 87% of what their own bottle costs them for it. Not bad for a stranger's pour. Would you make the swap? The full story's in this week's piece on Dewar's 15.
Dewar's 15 is $80, around 22 standard drinks to the bottle, so a pour at home works out at about $3.62 a drink. A pint at the pub sits closer to $6.28 a standard drink. More on Dewar's 15 in this week's piece.
Dewar's 15 is $80 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $80, so this sits about where it always does. Vanilla, melon, a little orange, a whisper of wood. Around $3.62 a pour at home, under a pint at the pub. The full read is in this week's piece.
Like Dewar's 15? Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 gives a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what it does, for 85% of the price. The price: $68. Soft smoke, banana, a little apple. More in this week's piece.
Like Dewar's 15? Pour a Dimple 12 — toffee, warm caramel, a slip of citrus. It gives a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what the Dewar's 15 does, for 67% of the price, at $54. More on Dewar's 15 in this week's piece.
A price guide for Label 5 Premium Reserve 12, set beside the two blended Scotch whiskies that sit closest to it: Dewar's 12 and Dimple 12. For each one, what it usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a standard drink costs this week. Three bottles that look much of a muchness on paper — the guide is where you check whether they are.
Love Dewar's 15? Dimple 12 gives a Dewar's 15 drinker about 97% of what the Dewar's 15 does, for 67% of its price. Same table, most of the way there, for two-thirds of the spend.
Here is a pairing the engine almost couldn't split. Dimple 12 and Dewar's 12: both Scottish blends, both twelve years old, both 700mL, and this week both are sitting at their own cheapest. Dimple is $54, Dewar's is $63.
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 Label 5 Premium Reserve 12 is already your pour, the question is simple: is $68 this week a fair ask? Here's the short answer. At $68 it sits above what the drinkers of the bottles nearest it would pay. It's priced for its fans. It fits them, and it pinches everyone else.
Here is the short version, and it stays true all the way down: the bottle nearest to Dewar's 15 for less money is its own younger sibling. Dewar's 12 is $69, and to a Dewar's 15 drinker it does about 97% of what the 15 does. Same house, same double ageing, a few dollars saved. If you came for a headline, that is it.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dewar's 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | $64.99 | $53.88 | +11.11 |
| 2 | The Deveron 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $90.99 | $53.88 | +37.11 |
| 3 | Tomatin 12YO Single Malt Whisky 700mL | $97.99 | $53.67 | +44.32 |
| 4 | Aberfeldy 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $103.99 | $53.52 | +50.47 |
| 5 | Dalwhinnie 15 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $94.95 | $53.11 | +41.84 |
| 6 | Clynelish 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $109.00 | $52.70 | +56.30 |
| 7 | Glengoyne 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $98.99 | $51.45 | +47.54 |
| 8 | Glengoyne 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $93.00 | $51.29 | +41.71 |
| 9 | Glencadam 10 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $106.99 | $51.23 | +55.76 |
| 10 | Deanston 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $111.99 | $51.02 | +60.97 |