Friday night, a mate's kitchen. Someone reaches past the everyday bottles and pulls down the Tamdhu 15. We pour. It's good. Then comes the question that always comes: what else does this, for less?
Here's the short answer, and it's close to home. The bottle most like Tamdhu 15 comes from the same distillery. Tamdhu 12, $98 for members, gives a Tamdhu 15 drinker about 91% of what their own bottle does. Same house. Lower price.
1/If you like Tamdhu 15, the bottle that tastes most like it is The GlenDronach 15 Revival. It gives a Tamdhu 15 drinker about 100% of what the Tamdhu does, and it does so for 87% of the price.
2/The Tamdhu 15 runs molasses, orange peel and prickly oak spices into sweet sherry, cinnamon and dark chocolate. The GlenDronach 15 Revival leans on ripe cherries, walnuts and marzipan. Both reviews share spices, sherry, cinnamon and chocolate.
3/Tamdhu 15 is $202 at Dan Murphy's this week; The GlenDronach 15 Revival is $176. That's about $7.95 a pour at home against $6.93. Stay with the Tamdhu if it's your bottle; reach for the GlenDronach 15 Revival 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 | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 m 165.00 observed | 201.99 m 165.00 observed | 201.99 m 165.00 observed | 201.99 m 165.00 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed | 201.99 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 201.99 | 201.99 | 0.00 | 201.99 | 201.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 201.99 | 100 |
| member | 190.61 | 201.99 | 17.77 | 165.00 | 201.99 | 36.99 | 9.3% | 4.93 | 201.99 | 100 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 201.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 202.0 – 202.0 |
Glenfarclas 25 opens with honey and mellowed zesty fruit, then sherry spice, stewed fruit and a wisp of tobacco, the age showing through quietly the way old things do. $370 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. One for the unhurried sipper; more in this week's piece.
Tamdhu 15 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker 73% of what the Glenfarclas 25 does, for 55% of the price, at $202. Molasses, orange peel on the nose, sherry and Turkish Delight on the palate, cloves and dark chocolate on a long finish. More on Glenfarclas 25 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfarclas 15 drinker a dram of Glenfarclas 25 and they'd put down 54% of what their own bottle costs them. The nearest drinkers all land higher. I lay it out in this week's piece. Where would you sit?
Glenfarclas 25 is $370. About 24 pours in the bottle, so $15.58 a standard drink at home. That puts it 294th of 310 at Dan Murphy's by the pour. An old, sherried, honeyed thing. More on it in this week's piece.
Like Glenfarclas 25? A Glenfarclas 15 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker about 74% of what the 25 does, for 50% of the price, at $185. Dried fruits and toffee on the nose, then dark fruit, Christmas cake and roast oak. Pour one and see — more in this week's piece.
Both lean on honey and a bit of age. Glengoyne 21 gives a Glenfarclas 25 drinker about 93% of what the Glenfarclas 25 does, for 98% of its price. Its own price this week: $361. More on Glenfarclas 25 in this week's piece.
Glenfarclas 15: Christmas cake in a glass. Dried fruit, toffee, a hint of leather, warming spice. Full-bodied and smooth, non-chill filtered. This week it's $185 at Dan Murphy's. The whole story's in this week's piece.
If you love Glenfarclas 15, I'd happily pour you a Tamdhu 12. At $126 it's about 68% of the Glenfarclas price, and for a Glenfarclas 15 drinker it gives you about 88% of what you already enjoy, with citrus, hazelnut and dry sherry. More on Glenfarclas 15 in this week's piece.
Hand a Tamdhu 12 drinker a Glenfarclas 15 and they'd pay about $87 for it, 69% of what their own bottle costs them. The sherry and dried fruit sit close enough to home. Who it suits: a sherried-malt drinker. More in this week's piece on the Glenfarclas 15.
Glenfarclas 15, all dried fruit and Christmas cake, is $7.28 a standard drink poured at home — the kind of pour you sit with rather than rush. This week's piece has the rest.
Like Glenfarclas 15? Aberlour 14 pours jammy peaches, marzipan and vanilla, then slips into milk chocolate and a whisper of coffee. For a Glenfarclas 15 drinker it gives about 88% of the ride at 76% of the price, $140 for members. More in this week's piece.
I kept returning to the nose on the Tamdhu 12: dry citrus, hazelnut, a whiff of dry sherry. The palate turns sweeter, with cinnamon and banoffee pie, before jaffa oranges and hot chocolate settle into a lightly tannic finish. It's $126 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
Orange peel, banana and red apple opening up with a little chocolate — that's the Aberlour 12 Double Cask, and if you love Tamdhu 12 it gives you about 93% of what you're after for 90% of the price, around $113. More on Tamdhu 12 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfarclas 15 drinker a dram of Tamdhu 12 and I reckon they'd pay 64% of what their own bottle sets them back. Coming off all that deep sherry and dried fruit, Tamdhu's drier, more citrus-led sherry reads a touch lighter to them. More on it in this week's piece.
I keep coming back to sherried malts, and Tamdhu 12 sits among them at $5.31 a pour at home, about 24 to the bottle. A pint at the pub runs around $6.28 a standard drink. More on Tamdhu 12 in this week's piece.
Back on sale after three years away, The GlenDronach 15 Revival is a full sherry dram: ripe cherries and marzipan on the nose, then spicy damsons and dark chocolate into a long finish of cloves and blackcurrants. $176 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
If you like The GlenDronach 15 Revival, The Glendronach 12 gives you about 96% of what it does for 68% of the price, landing at $119, and that sherried thread runs through both, which is really what I get into in this week's piece on the Revival.
Here's the one that stuck with me: an Edradour 10 drinker, handed The GlenDronach 15 Revival, would pay 77% of what their own bottle costs them. Not the whole way, but close. What would you give for a neighbour's dram? More in this week's piece.
The GlenDronach 15 Revival, back after three years away: ripe cherries, dark chocolate, a long clove finish. $176 over about 25 standard drinks is $6.93 a pour at home, just over the $6.28 a standard drink of a $13 pint. More in this week's piece.
The GlenDronach 15 Revival is $176 at Dan Murphy's this week, and it usually sells around $176. Nose of sherry, cherries and marzipan; a palate of spicy damsons and dark chocolate; a long finish of cloves and blackcurrants. More in this week's piece. Your kind of dram?
Love The GlenDronach 15 Revival? The Glenfarclas 15 gives its drinkers about 94% of what the Revival does, and at $130 that is 74% of its price, with dried fruit, toffee and a touch of leather over a full, smooth palate. The full tasting sits in this week's piece. Fancy a pour?
Glenfarclas 15, $130. The nose is deep and aromatic: dried fruits, toffee, a whisper of leather. Full and smooth across the palate, all Christmas cake, raisins and roast oak, with the warming spices lingering. My favourite sort of sherry dram. More in this week's piece.
Like Glenfarclas 15? The Glendronach 12, $119, gives a Glenfarclas 15 drinker about 97% of what it does, for 92% of the price. Sherry, without being ruled by it. More on Glenfarclas 15 in this week's piece. Worth a swap?
I handed a Glengoyne 21 drinker a Glenfarclas 15 this week — dried fruit, toffee, a little leather. Starting from what they pay for their own, they'd put it at 77% of that. Still a clear yes for them. Where would you sit on it? More in this week's piece on Glenfarclas 15.
Weighing up a bottle? Glenfarclas 15 comes to $5.12 a standard drink poured at home, next to about $6.28 a standard drink for a pint at the pub, and that's roughly 25 pours in the bottle. More on Glenfarclas 15 in this week's piece.
The Glenfarclas 15 sits at $130 at Dan Murphy's this week, which is right where it usually sells, around $130. A steady, dried-fruit-and-toffee sherry dram holding its familiar line. Where it lands against its neighbours, and who each pour suits, is all in this week's piece.
The GlenDronach 15 Revival, $176. Pour one tonight and you're drinking what a Tamdhu 15 drinker reaches for: ripe cherries, walnuts, dark chocolate. It gives that drinker all of what the Tamdhu 15 does, 100%, for 87% of the price. More on the Tamdhu 15 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glengoyne 21 drinker the Tamdhu 15, all molasses and dark chocolate, and they'd pay 77% of what their own bottle costs, marked down mostly for the younger age. Which way would you lean? This week's piece has the rest.
At home a pour of Tamdhu 15 runs $7.95 a standard drink, a touch over a $13 pint at the pub at about $6.28 a drink; for the sherry drinker after molasses and dark chocolate across roughly 25 drinks in the bottle, that's where it lands. More in this week's piece on Tamdhu 15.
Like what Tamdhu 15 does? Glenfarclas 15 gives a Tamdhu 15 drinker 100% of it, for 64% of the price, at $130. Dried fruits, toffee, a little leather. More on Tamdhu 15 in this week's piece.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glenfarclas 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $129.99 | $201.54 | -71.55 |
| 2 | Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $98.00 | $186.61 | -88.61 |
| 3 | Aberlour 14 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.99 | $185.89 | -25.90 |
| 4 | Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $139.99 | $178.71 | -38.72 |
| 5 | Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $105.00 | $175.34 | -70.34 |
| 6 | The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.95 | $159.50 | -59.55 |
| 7 | The GlenDronach 15 Year Old Revival Whisky 700mL | $175.99 | $157.72 | +18.27 |
| 8 | Glenfarclas 25 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $389.99 | $155.54 | +234.45 |
| 9 | The Glendronach 12YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $118.99 | $153.09 | -34.10 |
| 10 | GLENFIDDICH 12YO SHERRY CASK FINISH 700ML | $136.99 | $152.34 | -15.35 |