Four New South Wales whiskies on the shelf this week, and the cheapest of them still asks about a fifth more than its neighbours. Local craft spirit does not come cheap, and the model can see why you pay.
New South Wales is one of the youngest corners of this whole shelf. Archie Rose distils in inner Sydney, Manly Spirits works out on the northern beaches, and both have been making whisky for barely a decade, in small batches, at a scale a century-old Scottish operation would call a rounding error. Four of their bottles are here this week, a middle price near $142, running from $69 up to $206. Every one the model can rank cleanly sits above the crowd of whiskies nearest it in flavour. The good news is that the smallest gap belongs to the cheapest bottle.
Start there. Manly's Coastal Stone Xplore is a blended Australian whisky at $69, about 21% over the roughly $57 that its ten nearest run, and it is the gentlest premium on the shelf. It drinks well above its tag too: peach and apricot and crisp apple, a floral top note, a thread of chocolate underneath to give it some weight. For a bottle under seventy dollars from a young distillery it is a genuinely likeable everyday pour, and the one I would hand someone curious about what New South Wales is making without asking them to spend big.
The odd part first: the bottle that costs more is the cheaper drink. Manly Spirits Coastal Stone Sherry Cask is $5 more a bottle than Overeem's Port Cask, yet at 46% against 43% it pours cheaper — $7.99 a standard drink against $8.34. Per standard drink this week, side by side: Limeburners Infinity Solera (8yo) — $7.45 Manly Coastal Stone Sherry — $7.99 Overeem Sherry — $8.21 Overeem Port — $8.34 Strength quietly moves the cost of a pour at home, not just the price on the bottle. Where would you reach?
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.
Buy a whisky made in New South Wales this week and you will pay over the odds for it. All three of the state's bottles do the same thing.
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Rose Distilling Co. Rye Malt Australian Whisky | New South Wales | $98.99 | observed | $80.00 | $59.94 | 25.1% | #3 of 5 | $3.11 | #3 of 5 | 2 |
| Coastal Stone Discover Blended Whisky | New South Wales | $58.99 | observed | $58.99 | $45.03 | 23.7% | #2 of 5 | $2.85 | #1 of 5 | 1 |
| Manly Spirits Coastal Stone Sherry Cask Whisky | New South Wales | $202.99 | observed | $202.99 | $129.85 | 36.0% | #4 of 5 | $7.99 | #5 of 5 | 3 |
| Manly Spirits Coastal Stone Xplore Blended Australian Whisky | New South Wales | $68.99 | observed | $68.99 | $54.46 | 21.1% | #1 of 5 | $2.94 | #2 of 5 | 2 |
| Starward Whiskey Vitalis 52% | New South Wales | $205.99 | observed | $205.99 | $101.77 | 50.6% | #5 of 5 | $7.17 | #4 of 5 | 2 |