1/Fond of the Tomintoul 21? It's $340 for members at Dan Murphy's this week: floral, refined, properly grown-up. Here's the cheeky bit. The Tomintoul 16 gives a 21 drinker about 89% of what the 21 does, for 39% of the price.
2/The Tomintoul 16: $132 for members, sixteen years old, bottled at 40%. The label calls it a 'Gentle Dram' and it means it. Nose: fragrant. Palate: a firm malty base, fruit gum drops and caramel, with almond and anise to keep you curious. Finish: soft, subtle wood spice.
3/So what does a 21 drinker give up? Mostly five years of age, and some of the sherry and dried fruit. The 21 usually sells around $369, so the 16 is about 36% of that. The 21 stays the one for its fans; the 16 is the one for every other night.
| 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 | 180.99 observed | 180.99 m 132.00 observed | 180.99 m 132.00 observed | 180.99 m 132.00 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 observed | 180.99 m 132.00 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 180.99 | 180.99 | 0.00 | 180.99 | 180.99 | 0.00 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 180.99 | 100 |
| member | 165.92 | 180.99 | 23.53 | 132.00 | 180.99 | 48.99 | 14.2% | 6.53 | 132.00 | 31 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 180.99 | 0.00 | null | null | 181.0 – 181.0 |
Poured a Tomintoul 21 late. Sweet floral fruit first, then a quiet spice. Barley, boiled sweeties, a whisper of aniseed. Smooth, long finish of almond and vanilla. $340 for members at Dan Murphy's this week; it usually sells around $369. More in this week's piece.
Like Tomintoul 21? Tomintoul 16 gives a Tomintoul 21 drinker about 89% of the pour, for 39% of the price. Fragrant, firm, gum drops and a soft spice finish you'd happily sit with. $132 for members. More on Tomintoul 21 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 drinker the Tomintoul 21 and they'd pay 83% of what their own bottle costs. Sweet barley, aniseed, a long almondy finish. Worth pouring one yourself — the rest is in this week's piece.
At the bench after dinner, I did the sums on the Tomintoul 21: $15.39 a standard drink, about 22 in the bottle. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a drink, so a pour at home sits well above it. 293rd of 310 at Dan Murphy's per standard drink. More in this week's piece.
What draws me to the Tomintoul 21 is how gently it carries its age, right down to that long, almondy vanilla close. This week it's $340 for members at Dan Murphy's, and it usually sells around $369, so take that as a guide, not an alarm. The full read is in this week's piece.
Ever had a dram that turns from floral to spice mid-sip? Tomintoul 21 opens on sweet barley and old-fashioned boiled sweeties, with a thread of aniseed, then runs long on almond and vanilla. At $369, it's the bottle behind this week's piece. Smooth the whole way down.
Like Tomintoul 21? For a Tomintoul 21 drinker, Tomintoul 16 at $181 gives you about 89% of the same gentle, gum-drop charm for 49% of the price, all fragrant malt and soft anise. Might that be the pour for your Tuesday? More on Tomintoul 21 in this week's piece.
Give a Tomintoul 16 drinker the Tomintoul 21 and they'd pay around 89% of what their own bottle runs them — near enough the same. That's the nearest neighbour's read on it. If a gentle Speyside is your thing, it's one to pour. Full story on the Tomintoul 21 in this week's piece.
Friday night, nothing on, and you pour one for yourself: a Tomintoul 21 works out to about $16.70 a standard drink poured at home, across roughly 22 in the bottle, which suits the drinker who likes to sit with one for a while. More on it in this week's piece.
Tomintoul 21 is $369 at Dan Murphy's this week, right about where it usually sells, around $369, with the lowest we've seen at $340. Pour one and it opens sweet and floral before the spice settles in, finishing long and almondy. The full read is in this week's piece.
Tomintoul 25 is the oldest of the Gentle Dram line, and it drinks that way: unhurried. Peaches and honey on the nose, then ripe apples, cocoa and milky coffee, before a drying finish of plain chocolate. It's $733, and there's more on it in this week's piece.
Half the price, and a Tomintoul 25 drinker still gets about 92% of what they love: that's a Tomintoul 21 at $369, 50% of the 25's. Sweet floral fruits giving way to spice, then a long almond-and-vanilla finish. More on the 25 in this week's piece.
Hand a Glen Moray 21 drinker the Tomintoul 25 and they'd put about $224 on it, roughly 65% of what their own bottle costs them. That's the nearest neighbour, starting from what they pay. Who's it for? Anyone after a gentle, honeyed Speyside. More in this week's piece.
Tomintoul 25 lands at $733, and with about 24 standard drinks in the bottle that works out to $30.86 a pour at home, which suits the drinker who likes a slow one after dinner. The sums, and who else it sits near, are in this week's piece.
I keep coming back to the Tomintoul 25 for its peaches-and-honey nose and that milky-coffee warmth. It's $733 at Dan Murphy's this week, right where it usually sells, around $733. A quiet after-dinner pour if you fancy one. More on it in this week's piece.
Like Tomintoul 25? A Glenfiddich Grand Cru 23 at $559 gives a Tomintoul 25 drinker about 73% of what Tomintoul 25 does, for 76% of the price, all apricots in syrup and toasted marshmallows. The full story's in this week's piece.
At 25% of the Tomintoul 25 price, Tomintoul 16 — $181 — still gives a Tomintoul 25 drinker about 72% of what the 25 does: fragrant and firm, with fruit gum drops, caramel and a soft wood-spice finish. More on the Tomintoul 25 in this week's piece.
Most of a Tomintoul 21 for 49% of the price? Say hello to Tomintoul 16. For a Tomintoul 21 drinker it gives about 89% of what the 21 gives, at 49% of its price.
What should we expect to pay for a Tomintoul 25, and how do its nearest bottles sit beside it? That's what this guide is for. We've put Tomintoul's oldest Gentle Dram alongside the three single malts closest to it, and set out what each usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a standard drink costs this week.
Aged Speyside rarely turns up this cheap. Tomintoul 16 is $132 for My Dan Murphy's members this week, against a shelf price of $181. It's the lower figure that's the news: a members' offer, not a repricing.
If Tomintoul 21 is your bottle, there's really only one question worth asking: is there anything this much like it for less? The closest answer comes from the same distillery. Tomintoul 16, $132 for members, gives a Tomintoul 21 drinker about 89% of what their own bottle does. Same house, same gentle manner, much less to pay.
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.
A mate reaches up to the top of his cabinet, past the everyday bottles, for the Tomintoul 21 he saves, and pours two short measures while the kettle's going. It's floral at first, then a slow spread of spice, and the finish just keeps going — almond and vanilla, long after the glass is empty. Lovely stuff. And then the question that always follows a good pour: is there a way to drink this without saving it for best?
A mate reaches past the everyday bottles and pulls down the Tomintoul 25. It's the oldest of the distillery's Gentle Drams, the one he keeps for a slow hour. He pours two, and while the glass opens up he asks the question everyone asks sooner or later: is there anything that does this for less?
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craigellachie CRAIGELLACHIE® 13 YO Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $110.99 | $164.95 | -53.96 |
| 2 | Glenfiddich 14YO Bourbon Res 700ml | $129.99 | $164.41 | -34.42 |
| 3 | Craigellachie 19YO Single Malt Whisky 700ml | $375.99 | $164.35 | +211.64 |
| 4 | Tomintoul 21 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $368.99 | $164.33 | +204.66 |
| 5 | The Balvenie 12 Year Old American Oak Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $99.00 | $163.45 | -64.45 |
| 6 | Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 1L | $77.69 | $161.97 | -84.28 |
| 7 | Glenfiddich 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $75.95 | $161.97 | -86.02 |
| 8 | The Balvenie 14 Year Old Caribbean Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $160.99 | $157.94 | +3.05 |
| 9 | The Balvenie The Balvenie 21 Year Old Portwood Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $452.99 | $154.67 | +298.32 |
| 10 | The Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $635.99 | $154.17 | +481.82 |