Pour The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 on a slow evening and you get the Speyside house style in full. Floral first, then honey, oak and almonds on the nose. The palate is silky: spicy sherry, nutmeg, dried fruit. The finish runs quite long, a hint of orange under drying spices. Twelve years in ex-bourbon casks, nine months finished in Spanish oak oloroso sherry. Elegant, and robust with it.
What to pay. It's $105 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $100, so this week lands just above the usual mark.
Here's the part worth knowing. The bottle most like the DoubleWood 12 at a lower price comes from the same distillery. The Balvenie 12 American Oak is $99, and to a DoubleWood 12 drinker it gives about 91% of what their own bottle does. Same hand, same house, a few dollars less.
1/Friday night, the heavy glass comes off the bench. The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 is $105 at Dan Murphy's. Twelve years, floral and honey on the nose, silky with nutmeg and dried fruit. For a Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker it gives about 87% of that bottle, for 66% of the price.
2/Side by side, the Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is $160 this week; it usually sells around $170. What a Macallan drinker gives up with the Balvenie is mostly the name on the label and some of the sherry and dried fruit. Against that usual $170, the Balvenie is about 59% of the price.
3/Here's the yes for each. The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, $160: sherry, Christmas cake, old leather, still the one for its fans. The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, usually around $100 and $105 this week: the one for every other night. We've seen it between $98 and $105.
| 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 | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 m 98.00 observed | 98.90 observed | 98.90 observed | 99.95 observed | 99.95 observed | 99.95 observed | 104.95 observed | 104.85 observed | 104.85 observed | 104.95 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 100.99 | 99.95 | 2.75 | 98.90 | 104.95 | 6.05 | 2.7% | 0.76 | 104.95 | 100 |
| member | 100.71 | 99.95 | 3.00 | 98.00 | 104.95 | 6.95 | 3.0% | 0.83 | 104.95 | 100 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 100.99 | 7.55 | 0.86 | -1.38 | 99.5 – 102.5 |
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 usually sells around $170. This week it's $160 at Dan Murphy's. In the glass: Christmas cake, jaffa oranges, old leather. Full and smooth, a long finish, a last hint of smoke. Want to know who else it suits? That's in this week's piece.
The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, poured after a long Tuesday: sherry, Christmas cake, old leather, a wisp of smoke. Want that without the full $160? The Macallan 12 Double Cask, $137, gives a Sherry Oak drinker 98% of it for 86% of the price. Fair swap? More in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfiddich 15 drinker The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 and they'd pay 68% of what their own bottle costs, a generous nod from a neighbour and reason enough to pour one yourself. The rest of the story waits in this week's piece on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12.
Christmas cake and Jaffa oranges, a little old leather, then a last hint of smoke: The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is one to pour slowly of an evening. This week it is $160 at Dan Murphy's; it usually sells around $170. More on where that price sits in this week's piece.
The odd part: The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, at $105, hands a The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 87% of what their own bottle gives, for 66% of its price. Honey, almonds, a touch of nutmeg. The rest of the story on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 is in this week's piece.
Like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12? Glenfiddich 15 gives you about 74% of what it does, for 87% of the price, at $140. Cooked plums and stewed rhubarb on the nose, then hedgerow fruit and a little grip on the palate. More on The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 in this week's piece.
Handed The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, a Tamdhu 12 drinker would pay 73% of what their own bottle costs for it — close enough that the two sit as near neighbours rather than strangers. A fair hearing, then. Where would you land on it? The full read is in this week's piece.
The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 is $105 at Dan Murphy's this week, and from what I've seen it usually sells around $100. Honeyed, with sherry spice and a long orange finish. So this week sits a touch above the usual, a fair guide for where it lands. More on it in this week's piece.
Baked apricots and ginger open Mortlach The Wee Witchie 12, $154 this week for members, with black pepper, milk chocolate and chocolate ginger in the finish. Beside it, The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 at $105: honey, oak and almonds on the nose, then spicy sherry, nutmeg and dried fruit on a silky palate, long with a hint of orange. Side by side the two come to $259 at Dan Murphy's for members this week, $270 at their usual prices, and $304 for the same pair at Liquorland. The Mortlach is around $6.00 a standard drink, under a pint at the pub. One for the sherry lover, one for the easy pour.
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.
I kept going back to the nose on the Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish: orange marmalade, green apples, a little dark chocolate. The palate turns to dark cherry chocolate and peaches and cream, a sweet finish. $137 at Dan Murphy's. More in this week's piece.
The nearest stand-in for Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish costs almost a third less. Glengoyne 12, $89 for members, gives that drinker about 98% of what it does, for 65% of its price. Fragrant, cherry and apple. More in this week's piece.
Give a Glengoyne 10 drinker the Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish and they'd pay 86% of what their own bottle costs. Marked down mostly for not being a Highlander. More on it in this week's piece.
Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish is $137 at Dan Murphy's this week; it usually sells around $137, and we've seen it between $125 and $137. Pour one slow of an evening and let the sherry and dark chocolate come through. More on it in this week's piece.
Like the Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish? The Balvenie 12 American Oak gives its drinker about 95% of what that one does, for 72% of the price, at $99. Think honey, navel oranges, a whisper of oak. More on the Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish in this week's piece.
Fond of the Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish? The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 gives you about 94% of what it does, for 77% of the price. That's $105. Honey and almonds, then a bit of spicy sherry and nutmeg. More on the Glenfiddich 12 Sherry Cask Finish in this week's piece.
Glenfiddich 15, $140 at Dan Murphy's. Cooked plums, blueberry and stewed rhubarb on the nose, then sultana and sweet dried fruit. Fruity on the palate, with a little acidity for grip. One for the fruit drinker. More in this week's piece. What should a pour do for you?
Honey and almonds, then nutmeg and dried fruit on something silky: that's The Balvenie DoubleWood 12. For a Glenfiddich 15 drinker it gives about 96% of the mark at 75% of the price, or $105. The rest on Glenfiddich 15 is in this week's piece.
Hand an Edradour 10 drinker a Glenfiddich 15 and they'd happily part with 79% of what their own bottle costs them, which is a tidy bit of respect to hand a neighbour's dram. More on the Glenfiddich 15 in this week's piece.
Pour a Glenfiddich 15 at the end of the week, cooked plums and a little rhubarb settling in the glass, and you're drinking at $6.34 a standard pour from a bottle of about 22, a touch over a $13 pint's two at the pub. More on it in this week's piece.
Glenfiddich 15 is $140 this week. It usually sells around $140, and we've seen it from $125 to $140. Right where it tends to sit, so nothing to puzzle over. A safe one to reach for. More on it in this week's piece.
A price guide for the Tomintoul Seiridh Oloroso Sherry Cask Finish and the three single malts that sit closest to it. For each one: what it usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a standard drink costs at this week's price. All sherry-finished or sherry-matured, all from the same stretch of the cabinet.
This is a price guide. We set The Macallan Double Cask 15 next to the three single malts closest to it, and show what each usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a pour costs this week. Have a read, then draw your own line.
A price guide for The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 and the three single malts closest to it. For each one: what it usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what it costs this week. Four bottles set side by side, so you can read this week against the usual and see where The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 sits among its nearest company.
A price guide for The Balvenie DoubleWood 12 and the three single malts closest to it. For each one it shows what it usually sells around, the range we've seen, and where it sits this week. The table is below; the read follows it.
Here is the short answer before the long one: the bottle most like The Macallan Sherry Oak 12, for less money, comes from the same still house. The Macallan 12 Double Cask, at $137, gives a Sherry Oak 12 drinker about 98% of what their own bottle does. Same family, same warmth, a little less at the counter.
If Tamdhu 12 is your bottle, the fair question is whether anything standing near it is worth reaching for, and what you would give up to do it. The short answer is The Balvenie DoubleWood 12, which gives a Tamdhu 12 drinker about 92% of what their own bottle does, for 83% of its price — honey, almonds and a spicy sherry that land close to home without asking as much of you.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glenfiddich 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $139.99 | $96.97 | +43.02 |
| 2 | The Macallan 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $136.99 | $96.80 | +40.19 |
| 3 | GLENFIDDICH 12YO SHERRY CASK FINISH 700ML | $136.99 | $96.71 | +40.28 |
| 4 | The Macallan Sherry Oak 12 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $169.99 | $95.73 | +74.26 |
| 5 | Mortlach The Wee Witchie 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 750mL | $158.66 | $94.79 | +63.87 |
| 6 | The Macallan Double Cask 15 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $377.99 | $94.71 | +283.28 |
| 7 | Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $105.00 | $94.28 | +10.72 |
| 8 | Aberlour 14 Year Old Scotch Whisky 700mL | $159.99 | $93.37 | +66.62 |
| 9 | Tamdhu 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $98.00 | $91.03 | +6.97 |
| 10 | The Balvenie 12 Year Old American Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $91.01 | +7.99 |