You put me in mind of a younger ralfy but with the 'organic' quality of present day ralfy. Hope that's a compliment. This is a watershed video for me who though I am as old as dirt, I've only recently taken up the pursuit of understanding and enjoying quality single malt whisky. I shall be archiving this video, watching and pausing it frequently and taking notes. Thank you so much. Just a side note: The cost of production of anything of true quality now is going off the charts. It's a good time to drink less and enjoy it more. As ralfy would concur I'm sure. One more: God bless Glen Scotia.
This is my first time accessing and listening to your commentary. Very impressed how you articulate, compress and clarify some tricky, deeply involved issues around most of the so called big boys of the whisky industry. Wonderful insights delivered too by your good self. I was both informed and entertained with your remarks and gave me food for thought. Thank you for that and much appreciated. I will check out your site again and send my best wishes for continuing success.
Great video. Pretty much sums 2022 up so far from a whisky perspective. In previous years, I’ve bought 40-50 bottles a year. This year, I’ve bought 4! Kilkerran 8 port, Kilkerran 8 Sherry, Ardbeg 19 #4 & a Glen Scotia single cask. There’s just very little value left across the industry. I think rising prices, falling real world wages and inflation, higher borrowing costs and let’s face it, most enthusiasts sitting on large collections is a recipe for a significant downturn for the whisky industry.
Thanks! I agree, I think a lot of people are going to be in that situation of can't or don't want to be buying as much as they were. It does seem like things are slowing down a little already. Hopefully it won't be too catastrophic for the industry...
I still buy what i really like even if the price is a little high, but i don't take risks anymore so i don't buy "just to try". Less bottles, but more expensive i guess. I work in retail that seems to be the general mood. People buy less but when they do they seek value.
I pretty much agree with almost everything you say in this video. There are plenty of great distilleries deserving of our patronage, eg Arran, Bunna, English Whisky Co, Tobermory, Deanston, Glen Scotia, Kilchoman, Bruichladdich, Glencadam, Balblair (massively underrated), and I also intend to purchase bottles from most of the 'new' distilleries once the whisky is old enough. I think Wolfburn will be ten years old very soon and Archnamuchan is around eight now. Bladnoch used to be one of my favourite distilleries when Raymond Armstrong was the owner and it was such a shame when he was forced to sell. Incidentally, his son, Martin, has his own small independent bottling company called Whiskybroker. Very reasonably priced and I've had some fantastic bottles from him over the years, including a stunning 8yo Aultmore from a sherry cask and a 29yo (I think) Glen Spey. Looks like his website isn't showing the bottles for sale at the moment so I might ring soon to see what he has available.
Thanks David. IMHO Wolfburn and Ardnamurchan are ready now (reviews coming soon) although I have no problem appreciating a younger whisky for what it is. It really was a shame what happened to Bladnoch. And it could've been much worse. I didn't honestly expect it to reopen... glad it did, even if its not exactly what it used to be.
you done great take on the whisky market at the moment have to agree with you i wont be buying many in 2023 unless a whisky blogger like yourself recommended it and is value for money great vlog thanks
Second time I'm saying this in a week, but as a South African it always makes me happy to hear such praise for Distell. Great vid that dives into the kind of detail and thoughts I enjoy from whisky reviewers. Subbed and liked
I acquired the taste for Edradour a few years back and it earns a significant portion of my whisky dollars now. Agree wholeheartedly that Arran is a whiskytube darling for a reason. Solid, if depressing, video. Enjoying the content. Glad I found your channel.
Thanks, glad to have you here. Edradour can be a fantastic and very rewarding distillery. I've been thinking about buying another bottle of Caledonia lately 👍
I wish I had waited to see this before my exorbitant Clynelish 12 purchase. I knew it was not value for money… Both my head and gut screamed NO but my heart said yes. I hope some mystical magic happens like it promises on the back of the tube. 🤔😳 Spot on with your assessment of current market conditions. Great content as always! Cheers 🥃
Ha... it's like what I was talking about at the start. Sometimes their promises and flowery words make us relax our better judgement. I wouldn't be surprised if that Clynelish improves a bunch though. Its youngish and high strength and was probably only bottled very recently. So a bit of air will likely help. I would be tempted to aerate it and leave the cork out for a few hours. Providing you're not intending it keep it for a long time. And if that doesn't help, I'll give you a tenner for it 😉 Thanks for the kind words and cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock SOLD! 😅 I hope it opens up but so far very muted nose( almost non existent) even my wife who hates whisky but has a great nose( she usually makes all kinds of faces) this was first time even she couldn’t smell anything or make a face…a non-event on the nose. The palette gives a quick wallop of condensed flavors then medium short finish. Spirity/ 🥵 hot. So far in my journey probably the most disappointing…meaning not meeting even my lowest expectations for the $$$ Time will tell but it’s well below shoulder. Ouch!
@@justwhisky ah the wife/girlfriend who claims to not like or not know about whisky and then effortlessly produces a perfect set of nosing notes. Does every whisky enthusiast have one of those? 🤔
Absolutely bang on observations and analysis. A common theme here is consumers are waking up or need to wake up to the reality of gouging and move over to newer, better quality and affordable offerings. Money spent to quality and value received is the question one needs to ask to themselves. I couldn't agree more WL...thanks for sharing much needed thoughts. 👍
Thanks Rohit. I am genuinely concerned about what's going on in Scotch at the moment. Not just because of what companies like Diageo are doing but because if people like us boycott the high end stuff from them that's just going to encourage them to aim even lower 😕 and potentially increase prices and lower availability from many good distilleries. Crappy situation. I think we all need to just concentrate on spending our money with the responsible distilleries and make sure that those guys survive whatever is coming. Cheers 🥃
In fact we are grown up marble collectors. And there's a market for it. I have over 60 bottles different spirits and ages.all for tasting . Common sense tells me it's enough for 8 years at least. But when a new release or something new to me appears, I'm eager to buy a bottle to try. But always for tasting, every bottle I have is opened. No ridiculous collectors items. But yes still a bit of a collector if I look at it with common sense.
Very poetic and very true. Everyone loves a shiny new marble! I'm guilty too of buying the next interesting bottle before I'm remotely done with the previous one. I also have more bottles than you (not bragging, it's not a good thing!) but probably 2/3 of mine aren't open for fear of oxidation. I've done the calculation too for how long my stash will last me and it's... it's a long time! I dream of one day getting down to zero and just buying whisky to open and drink in the moment. No more marble hoarding! But it's going to be a long process. Thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one 😉
@@Soldano999 Same here. I'm a little upset at myself for having become so enamored with this new, rather expensive, collecting hobby. But the heart desires what it desires!
I have to say I didn't expect to listen to your whole video when I saw how long it was but you totally captured my attention and you are spot on with my thinking seeing how whisky has skyrocketed over the last few years. Part of the problem is the value of money has drastically lost its buying power for various reasons and all commodities and costs for the distilleries has also increased in every area. The future looks a bit dismal for the whisky industry worldwide as I myself cannot afford these increasing prices along with cost of living increasing daily as well.
Hi! I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't heard from you in a while. Glad you're still watching. And it's praise indeed that you sat through such a long video 🙂 The immediate future does look grim. Lots of people are still sticking to the 'whatever the market will bear is the correct price' stance but I can't help but think that this situation where more and more people are being 'priced out' of many whiskies isn't good for anyone...
Someone who is relatively still new to Whisky, I have only seen the slightly fed up attitude towards Ardbeg mainly due to the high price committee bottles that seems to be every week. Really starting to see the price gap between drinks for drinkers and high costs for collectors. Great video, really summing up the attitude in the Whisky World. Cheers!
I suppose there are a lot of people who are fairly new to whisky for whom current prices are all they've ever known. Hadn't really thought about it to be honest. But when you haven't fully recovered from 18yo Scotch going from £60 to £100, seeing a NAS Mortlach for £250 is enough to give you palpitations 😉 I agree that there are too many Ardbeg Committee Releases. If they just picked their best idea every year and made enough to go around they'd probably be better received. Cheers 🥃
Amen to the fact that the new distilleries show the industry what's what. It would be a shame to lose distilleries to premiumization, but we can take comfort in the fact that much better stuff lies ahead when those new distilleries mature.
Yes, when the current new distilleries are able to routinely offer 10yo products we'll have some amazing choices. It will take a while but will be great 👍
Fantastic and very eloquent summary of where we're at. Many thanks. Things that go up must come down and with whisky I suspect we're in for a very hard landing, especially when the secondary market collapses. In the meantime, more of us are being more discerning about where we put our money. There are still many great quality, reasonably priced bottlings available. English whisky is worth a look! Cheers!
Thanks Jon. English whisky is definitely worth a look. Japanese whisky has let us down now, being far too expensive. Some world whisky has something to offer but I'd agree that English offers some of the most consistent value for money these days. I keep thinking that I see signs of the secondary market collapsing. Availability problems seem to be easing (very slightly) and auctions prices seem slightly lower than they have been. Here's hoping the crash won't be too catastrophic...
Really interesting , great overview of the current whisky market. Laga 16 , Talisker 18 and now these special releases. Just too much of a price hike. I have at least 9 unopened Diageo bottles and once they are finished I will think twice about buying any more Diageo whisky.
Awesome video man, this should be thought as a class. I agree with everything you've said. The newcomers have to present their stuff in a craft way and also be enviromentally friendly and have an eye catching design to compete with the big boys. In this effort they've managed to get us, the discerning drinkers on their side. Distilleries like Nc'Nean, Bimber, Cotswolds, Lindores and Wire Works are making great stuff for their ages and we love them for it. Cheers my man, I wish you and yours a happy new year 🥃
😂 thanks! It really shows you how little effort some of the established distilleries are putting in when you taste what some of the new guys can do at 3yo. Hopefully it'll spur the others into action! Cheers and Happy New Year 🥃
Great video. I’m starting to buy more and more bottles of ledaig 18 to put on the shelf, as for such a brilliant whisky for the price point, im sure prices will soon head up like all the others.
Ledaig 18 is fantastic in terms of quality and value. Distell do seem committed to offering better value than most. It's only Bunna 18 that's gone over £100 so far. Hopefully it'll stay that way 👍
Haha🤣 F*ck, you cracked me up with the LVMH description! Great video. For some reason I have never considered mentally grouping distilleries by ownership as a quality measurement, that was very interesting. Obviously - like you predicted - I like my wine finishes😉 And I like Glenmo (a lot) and Ardbeg (some)🙂
🤣 it's a miracle any of their stuff is affordable at all really. Their whole empire is founded on massive markups! Useless shiny rock we found in the dirt? That'll be £5000 please 😉 You start to see some interesting patterns in presentations and quality when you consider which distilleries are in the same groups. Quality is not evenly distributed throughout the industry! Cheers 🥃
Really interesting video. You are right about the new distilleries. If you look at the ones opening in say the last ten years and include the English ones there is some great whisky, Ardnamurchan being my favourite along with the Cotswolds. I still like many of the Diageo brands like Talisker and Mortlach but the prices keep creeping up and at the end of the day, you are not paying for a craft presentation. Some of the other whiskies I tend to go for are new distilleries ( just to try them ), all the Distell group, Benriach , Benromach, Arran and anything and everything by Bruichladdich ! Like you and everyone else, I just wish the Springbank and Glengyle whiskies were more available. Nothing worse than getting an email from Master of Malt saying “Springbank 10 is back in stock” only to find it has all sold out immediately !!
I've practically stopped looking whenever I get an email like that. I don't have push notifications switched on for emails on my phone so it's guaranteed to be out of stock! Benromach is a distillery that I really should have mentioned. I've always been very impressed with their value for money. The problem with Diageo is such a shame because some of their distilleries are great but we're unlikely to get 46%+ and NCF from many of them. We're not able to fully enjoy so many great distilleries and it's purely because of Diageo's greed. I have a series of reviews coming soon on new distilleries. I think over 10 different new distilleries now. I've really, really enjoyed Ardnamurchan. Wolfburn, Spirit of Yorkshire and Lakes too. Many new distilleries really deserve our support 👍
The new distilleries will get my support. Should also mention Lochlea cos John Campbell is doing a great job. Look forward to the forthcoming reviews 👍
Excellent video WL. Glad someone did a video like this 👍. Benromach for me are doing things right. Although the core range (10,15,21) are at 43% its still good whisky. The loser has got to be Diageo and Laga 16. All I’ve got from Diageo at home are laga 16 that bought around two years ago as and an IB from Allt -a-bhannie. Diageo are getting no more of my hard earned money, we won’t mention the bloop, it happens. Slàinte.
Thanks David. Benromach are a great distillery indeed. About as close to independent as you can get and excellent value for money. The main Diageo distillery that's present on my shelves is Caol Ila. I also have a full set of Flora and Fauna bottles 😬 but to be fair both Caol Ila and F&F offer better value than many of the others. Was the bloop Glenallachie/Craigellachie? Intentional error to check you're all paying attention 😉 cheers 🥃
A wonderful, thorough, and detailed summary of the state of the Scottish whisky industry. For the last decade, I have primarily bought from IBs and joint distillers/store single cask bottlings largely from independent distilleries. I occasionly go to bars and try the familiar standard bottlings from larger distilleries like talisker 10 and Highland Park 12 (for instance) and have noted the quality of these bottlings have dropped dramatically in the last 10 years, I beiever that many others have already or will soon join a purchasing path similar to mine, while also reducing purchases in general
The one thing I sort of disagree you with is the price zone between the lower end, NAS whiskies and the premiumized whiskies that Diageo (and others) are creating. You say that craft distilleries are getting squeezed by that strategy. I think it's an opportunity for the craft distilleries to exploit that price zone that's being opened up. That's the same price zone that many IBs occupy, and based on my purchasing, that's a pretty nice sweet spot in quality price ratio (bang for buck). Alas, that's not true for all buyers, with many squeezed at the bottom end and that's who gets screwed over by Diageo's strategy, but given start up costs, I think craft distillers cannot serve that market anyways.
Thanks Steve. Yes, I think most people will probably be buying less in the coming months/years and there'll be a growing need to shop smarter. Independent Bottlers for example, as you say. I agree in particular that HP12 has gone downhill in a bad way over the last few years. Talisker has slipped a little too. A side effect of struggling to meet demand perhaps. The squeezing effect I had in mind is on distilleries who are trying to compete with those commodity whiskies coming out of Diageo. For example, people (and I know a few) who think 'why should I buy Bunnahabhain 12 for £44 when I can get Talisker 10 for £30 in Tesco?'. Or worse, why should I buy a 3yo Glen Wyvis when I can buy a 12yo Johnnie Walker 🙄 There's a long list of reasons but many don't realise and the output of Diageo allows them to beat everyone on price despite using minimal effort and offering minimal quality. Then you end up with distilleries like Aber Falls (recent example) wasting their stocks on 40% offerings to try to sell in the same price bracket and before you know it Diageo have dragged the bar lower and everyone loses out. Except them. I might not be explaining myself in the best way but I feel like they're doing a pretty good job of poisoning every part of the whisky market. I agree with you that there is a middle ground where Independent Bottlers and craft distilleries can capitalise. But it really relies on consumers being informed.
Thanks John. I have a bottle of the 2012 CS (9yo and bottled at 59.5%) and I like it. Quite a similar theme to Ardnamurchan with some good oak, nice light peat, some fruitiness and great intensity. Very good. Perhaps a little pricey for 9yo but I think it's the Benromach to buy out of the core range. Cheers
Certainly! Ardnamurchan, Glen Wyvis, Lochlea, Isle of Arran, Kilchoman, Wolfburn. Yes... Kilchoman and Arran are not technically that new anymore! But I feel that they fit in nicely with that group of newcomers who are creating great whisky, with a great presentation at a fair price.
@@WhiskyLock am familiar with the arran and kilchoman! thanks for the insight! am intruiged to buy 12 cs kilchoman feis isle, but after tax price is... again thanks for the insight. edrington/macallan ruined the market when they aggressively started to promote pretty/well-marketed NAS bottles...
@@underwave19 The others are VERY new 🙂 Glen Wyvis and Lochlea in particular only released their first whisky a few months ago. Reviews coming in the new year. You could say that Macallan pioneered the 'whisky as a luxury status symbol' thing. Now many are trying to follow suit. They would be wise to consider how many whisky drinkers still care about Macallan though. Most of us don't buy or talk about it anymore because it's well known as bad value whisky.
Thanks! Many of the industry giants won't listen. Or plain don't want to. But some will. Especially independents and new distilleries and we should reward them for that to make the others take notice and to secure the futures of those who do things properly 👍
Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. ----------- I noticed price upswing starting 2004-2005, sherry casks started to get pricey, and by 2008 (financial crisis) prices refused to go down, even went up ! ----- 2008-2020 (for 12 y) i abstained from purchasing bots from Diarrheo, Balveneer , Icebag and MacAlbert and look for alternatives and occasionally go rum ! - - - nowadays, i support Farclas, Lomond lines, Last Great Malts (AUltmore, Craigellachie, Deveron...) and Arran (occasionally Jura). A most civilized rant - love it !
Thanks! Can't beat a good civilised rant. It's what the British do best 😉 It is interesting when you've been following Scotch for a long enough time that you get to see patterns, not only in what is popular but in what is expensive. Rum is something I need to invest some more time in. Tequila and Mezcal are probably the non whisky categories that I've found the most rewarding so far. But for sure, there's a whole other world of quality spirits out there. Cheers 🥃
That's the thing and it's why I've bought a few bottles (Ardbeg Committee Releases in particular) that even I myself admit are bad value. If it's a one off purchase that you intend to drink and it's special to you in some way then I think that's justified. Nothing wrong with the occasional overpriced splurge if it brings you a bit of joy 👍
Hey, really like the complete overview. I actually have a shop near me that sells Springbank at a normal price but they have a system which allows you to buy them online only if you bought already like 10 bottles from them, and so the Springbank i get is at a very good price compared to other shops (ofc includes Longrow, Hazelburn and KK). Now that i know them i'm gonna make sure whatever they get from Springbank i can buy and open because the whisky is amazing.
@@WhiskyLock Yes it is great, when i asked them about it (i always go in person, seeing the bottles and the people is better for me) they told me they do it to prevent flippers and i couldn't say anything other than "That's a damn good system !"
I only started drinking whisky around June last year. I got into it at the worst possible time. I wish I'd have discovered my love for it 20 years ago. Bourbon drinkers have got it even worse than us Scotch fans with regards to availability and out of control prices. Although the prices are usually grossly inflated by the retailers due to them being allocated in low numbers that come nowhere near close to meeting the demand.
I got into it at around 2020 and was able to capitalize on the pandemic's low demand, but now I've decided to identify a few good quality/price bottles and distilleries, stick to them, and instead explore rum, that has more reasonable prices for high quality liquid.
Ehhh.. now is probably a fairly good time to get into Scotch whisky if you're insanely rich. For the rest of us, not so much 😉 I think the best thing we can all do is remember, and spread the word, that good whisky doesn't have to cost a fortune. There is value out there 🥃
I would say that in America the chances of finding a dusty gem of a bottle is getting worse. Especially within 100 miles of me. Your welcome. I started with whisky (ey) right before Mezcal became a popular thing. I know this because I was drinking mucho reposado back then. So only 4-5 years. I've allowed my OCD to thrive and have collected more single malt then my liver can handle. And I have no whisky friends to share with. But the journey has led me to have strict principles that I can freely avoid with the swipe of the CC. Age statement. Cask Strength Full maturations. Occasionally, I have to pour some drams that are only 46%, diluted down with fine Scottish spring water. And I sometimes condone the practice of recasking. Everyone needs a job. Even if it's you job to wake up the sleeping spirit and pour it into a different cask for a few months. Not a big fan of lipstick on pigs. But worst of all, and especially with domestic malts, I have conspired to allow labels to be printed without a number. The identifying mark that tells us so much in terms of quality and oak influence. I have reached out to distilleries via email to gather more information than is readily available. I realize that the North American climate is different from Scotland but c'mon man, I need to know. And finally I am proud to say that there is very little e150 running thru my veins. Some , but not to much.
Wonderful insightful stuff, totally agree with your views. Potentially worrying times ahead for the industry as buyers are starting to step back from the many highly priced and poorly presented products.
Thank you. Yes worrying. I think the most worrying thing is if people stop buying these overpriced Diageo offerings then we might see Diageo focus more on young NAS and mediocre blends again. It'll be a terrible shame if their greed makes it even harder to access the good distilleries in their portfolio.
@@WhiskyLock Yes, agreed. I really don’t get the Diageo pricing strategy for their special releases, many can be purchased 2 or 3 years after their release for their original retail price or even a bit less so many are not exactly flying off the shelf! However, I almost thought that the ludicrous pricing of some of this year’s releases almost made the Lagavulin 12 look like a good buy by comparison 😂 Sorry I haven’t dropped by in a while, at least in terms of commenting on your excellent output, you know how it is, things to do, people to see 😊
@@langtoun8235 yes, they do tend to hang around for a while. Which is probably proof that they're neither limited editions nor good value to most people! No problem! I do indeed understand. It is nice to hear from you again 👍 Cheers 🥃
As I'm watching this about a year later, it's sad that just about everything has doubled in price..I recently came across a Hyper Hell No Va for like 250.00 USD and an Octomore 14.1 for 220.00 guess which one I went home with? After hearing this presentation I really am not liking Diageo much but I do like the Talisker 10, I still think the Ardbeg core range is a good value and still a great whiskey, but my 3 most recent purhases Buna 12, Kilchoman Sinaig, and Ledaig 10 are making me very satisfied.
Thank you for commenting from the future! Diageo do make some good whisky. They own a lot of amazing distilleries after all and Talisker 10 and Lagavulin 8 are prime examples of their potential. When it comes to those rare good offerings it makes sense to me to still buy them if you want them despite who is in charge. They're making it very hard to justify the majority of their products though with the constant price hikes and reluctance to improve presentation. Good thing we have quality alternatives like your Bunna, Kilchoman and Ledaig 👍
Great video and interesting discussion. The Diego special release range has become pure marketing collector hype cash cow unfortunately. The lag 12 sounds average from what I’ve heard and the Clynelish sounds ok but def not worth the money so it Will be a pass for me this year. All we can hope is the flippers start losing money and some normality is returned with many brands, but not sure it’s going to happen! Meanwhile there is still some value to be found, benromach’s 46% offerings are very good quality to value ratio here in Aus. 👍
Thanks Sid. John at JustWhisky has reviewed the Clynelish 12CS. It sounds good but not amazing. About par for what you'd expect from any regular 12yo Cask Strength whisky. Ie. Not worth £175... I really should have mentioned Benromach. They are producing great quality and value whisky as you say. I occasionally see evidence of what looks like the flipper bubble starting to burst. I picked up a bottle of Campbeltown Loch at auction for around £5 less than RRP and I've noticed online retailers with things like Ardbeg Committee Releases sitting in stock for much longer than is now normal. So maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel.
@@WhiskyLock yeah I saw johns review he was quick if the mark! I have noticed some of the lesser light Springbank releases not being flipped too well like longrow gold going for less than retail on auctions sites here in Australia so hopefully 🙏
Spot on, personally I won’t be buying any Diageo products even though in the past I have enjoyed and visited several of their distilleries. There are just so many better options out there for a better price.
I recently bought a Lagavulin 16 and it was atrocious. I mean really bad it tasted like sulfur and the flavours were watery and sour. Caol Ila however seems to be holding their own.
A great episode and one I've been wanting to hear from a Whisky Tuber for a long time. Ralfy touches on value, of course, but I like the way you articulated this. Not wishing to blow my own trumpet but it's fair to say, is it not, that old WT has been expressing this for some time. I really don't wish to be a curmudgeon because I love whisky but these distilleries and their corporate bosses (I spoke of Ivan Menezes recently) are laughing all the way to the bank at our expense. They are taking the piss and laughing at us. Laughing in our faces. You forgot to add InterBev to the list (Balblair, Old Pulteney, ancNoc and Speyburn). That list is decent but very much sleepy compared to a few years ago and prices have gone up. I can't allow Irish whisky to get off the hook either. 95% of all Irish malt whiskey must be 40%, coloured and chill-filtered. Of all of that ocean of whisky I'm only interested in a handful of overpriced expressions. I agree that we are seeing the dilution of quality, affordable products as the good age statements pull away and we are left with NAS and a price war in the low age statement bracket. The routine reduction of price of Diageo's Talisker 10 (£30), which I'm pleased about because I would never pay RRP, is clearly designed to dent all competition. I'm really hoping that this latest tranche of Diageo bullshit is one step too far. The Special Releases are completely uninspiring and the price increases of other stuff like Oban 14 and Talisker 18 (coloured, chill-filtered) are a gamble which I think might fail. We've been expecting the ever expanding bubble to burst for a while but it has shown remarkable elasticity. However, with what is going on in the world today I really think folk are going to remove the blinkers and see things for what they are. Springbank is nice but, to quote John, "it's just whisky". Talisker 18 has just dropped out of my basket
Thanks WT. Yes, you are the little devil on my left shoulder shouting 'Too much! Don't buy! Thieving b*stards' 😉 and who is the angel on my right shoulder defending and promoting Diageo & co? Well... nobody wants that job it seems. I had to leave several distilleries and smaller groups (and Irish, bourbon, World whisky) out or else I would've been going for an hour or more! I'm sure you guys have lives to live 😉 I skipped ThaiBev because I think they're doing... OK... just OK. I think Pulteney and Balblair are OK but probably both slipped a bit since rebranding. Ancnoc just needs to be more visible. I especially want more peated releases from them. It seems like a few years ago there were lots of very good peated options from them but it's dried up lately. Shame. Diageo Special Releases rarely sell out quickly but I feel like we're going to see a lot of releases from this year hanging around for a long, long time. Very negative reaction to them in my comment section and in general. A lot of people have had enough!
I believe the new generation of distilleries (Arran Raasay Tobermory Ardnamurchan etc) are setting the standards. Very soon diageao will be forced to adapt. The suality of Lagavulin has become dreadful .
Yes they are a LVMH company. Apart from the independents, almost all Scotch whisky companies are in turn owned by huge multinational parent companies. When talking about Scotch whisky producing groups Diageo is by far the largest though. What a lot of people don't realise is that Diageo actually owns a large share of the LVMH drinks division. So when you buy Ardbeg, Glenmo, Hennessy, etc you're STILL giving money to Diageo. It's all the illusion of choice and the world is much smaller than many people realise. I feel like less people care now than 10yrs ago though because Ardbeg with their weekly NAS committee releases for £120+ are no longer the 'quality whisky for the masses' underdog that they were 😕 Ardbeg 10 is still fantastic but they've cashed in on that reputation in a lot of people's eyes.
I would totally agree with your analysis. I haven't bought a bottle of scotch for some time and have moved to rum which offers better value. I can buy a 12 year old tropical aged rum at 46 abv for about £45.
Hi - I think they're doing OK. I think I like the recent Balblair rebrand more than most. While I miss the vintages I've enjoyed what I've tried from the new range too. I probably like the recent Pulteney rebrand a little less than most. The 12 is still ok but I don't think the new 15 or 18 are anywhere near as good as the old 17 which was my favourite. What do you think?
@@WhiskyLock Hey, thanks for the quick answer! =) I'm still early in my whisky experience (a little over a year) but I bought (on Ralfys advice) some Balblair 18 recently. For me, it is a great malt and experience. I cherish the integrity (NCF, natural color, ...) and the healthy ABV. Unfortunately, I cannot judge in comparison to the vintages and earlier releases, but with around 50+ malts tasted so far (I know thats not a lot haha), I allow myself to say that it is a fine malt. With Pulteney, I dont have so much experience so far, I tasted the 15 in a shop and bought a bottle which remains sealed so far. I think the integrity points about Balblair count here as well. Let's see what it will offer. Shotout to you for mentioning Wolfburn and Arran. I think they are both amazing distillers and especially from Wolfburn there should be a lot more to come (I can highly recommend their special releases. A little pricy but integrity, unique and delicious malt.)
The price of Lagavulin 16 hasn’t changed in my area of Canada since I started buying it in 2014…it was $140 cad then and its $140 cad now…makes no sense
Sounds like maybe the distributors were making a massive profit in 2014 and now Diageo are? You're right, doesn't make a lot of sense. It's pretty much doubled in price here over that time.
Very relevant vid. Well done for tackling a distastefull subject head on. You reckon u got it bad price wise in the UK you want to try it down here in New Zealand. Alot of brands for me now are non purchase items full stop. I am very quickly learning who to support from here on in...Diageo, Ardbeg, Macallan, Springbank (you cant buy it anywhere anyway) are gone burger for my support....Edradour, Arran, Ledaig, Glenfarclas, Glenallachie, Ardnamurchan, Glencadam get my support because they still have a reasonably priced good quality craft presentation bottle somewhere in their ranges. Vote with your feet & thanks for having a go at a touchy subject. Cheers Pete
Thanks Pete. Our trusted distilleries are pretty much aligned. We need to vote with our feet as you say. Not just to discourage the piss takers but to support the ones who support us. Cheers 🥃
Great overview, difficult to argue with your summary - the big brands are now mostly luxury items now. I thought you might have mentioned the Inver House group of distilleries and given an opinion on their performance regarding value for money...or not?
I did miss Inver House. Or rather I left them out because I didn't want to be banging on for more than half an hour 😉 I appreciate all of you guys watching my videos but I know you have limits! Inver House are doing well IMHO and not particularly gougy. I used to love Pulteney. A little disappointed with them since the rebrand but still doing OK. I've always loved Balblair and still really like what they're doing after the rebrand. I have several of their new whiskies and I'm really looking forward to reviewing them. It's only really their very old expressions that get pricey. Balmenach are very underrated. Not easy to find but often very good. I have a couple of bottles of 20 something Signatory Cask Strength Balmenachs. Beautiful 👍
@@WhiskyLock I find myself reaching past Pulteney and Balblair since the rebranding / repricing. Maybe I should go back a give them another chance, as I use to always have one or the other available to choose from. Hoping they don't rebrand AnCnoc anytime soon. Balmenach is not really a distillery that has been on my radar, so I will probably try some samples first and see how I get on...Thanks
@@alanmcneill3478 I'm still a little annoyed that Pulteney got rid of the wonderful 17. It was my favourite and I preferred it over any of their new releases. But that's just how it goes I guess... The new Balblairs are different to the old vintage releases but still very good IMHO. Samples are ALWAYS a wise move 👍
This was great! I come for the reviews, but I stay for the rants! Couldn't agree with you more on most of the topics you touched on. NONE of the Diageo special releases look appealing AT ALL this year...the pricing!!!....those ridiculous labels were the final nail in the coffin. And I don't think I'll ever forgive Ardbeg for the NFT "whisky".. I wonder if the big mega-corporations will even notice a drop in sales if the whisky-enthusiast stops buying though? One can only hope...
Oh you're annoyed at Ardbeg? Have you heard the rumours that the next Committee Release (Hypernova) will sell for £190? 🤑 no thanks I think it will take a large percentage of us to turn our backs on this kind of thing before it makes a difference. But we have to hope. Cheers 🥃
There are so many I cut out to keep things brief(er) 😉 a lot of them are the ones I didn't have hugely strong opinions of. I think the newly independent Glenallachie is doing well. I like the new expressions that I've tried although they are very cask heavy for me. I do prefer to see more of the spirit. But still fine whisky. In particular I think the 10CS is great fun and good value if you can get it for the original £55-60. I like it more than say the 15yo. Review coming soon-ish. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock I’m also not a big fan of the 15 (prefer the 12). About prices, everything is getting so expensive really. The Bunna 12 CS was released for a price around 75-80 lbs/euros. Do you think is a fair price?
@@ADSCP Yes everything is getting very expensive. It seems like whisky *drinkers* are no longer the target market for many distilleries. No, I think £75-80 is too high for Bunna12CS. I reviewed last year's batch and said so then. A cask strength version of an existing whisky used to add around £15 to the price tag years ago which I think is fair. It more than covers the extra tax they have to pay and gives them a little extra profit for their troubles. IMHO a lot of distilleries who used to offer higher age statements as their high profit margin premium offerings are struggling to do that now and have taken to charging a premium for high ABV or whacky cask experiments or craft presentation. Which is a shame because it's pricing those out who appreciate whisky as a drink. I've reluctantly started to do what many, including Ralfy, have been saying for years and started looking more seriously into malternatives to retain some value for money. I'll never fall out of love with Scotch but expect to see some rum reviews next year. Cheers 🥃
Yes, the recent price hikes tell us exactly what Diageo think of their customers. Not a good look. I do feel sorry for the distilleries they own and the honest hard workers making the whisky though. When the bubble bursts it will be them that suffer.
Did I miss a mention of J&G Grant (Glenfarclas)? It's frustrating that they don't release more stuff with natural presentation, but I still think that bang-for-you-buck wise, they're near the top. I feel like Inver House was missing from the discussion, too, and it seems to me they're doing a solid job producing some very decent whisky at mostly reasonable prices. When it comes to Diageo, I kind of half agree with you? I bought my first ever bottle of Talisker 10 a little more than 20 years ago for $50, and for a long, long time, it seemed like it went up only marginally from there. The last couple of years, it has been retailing consistently for about $95. At that price, I'm almost better off just buying a bottle directly from the UK and paying the exorbitant shipping fees to have it sent to me via courier. On the other hand, the special releases are, after all special, so it's not amazing that they command kind of steep prices, and Diageo does a pretty nice job making stuff from almost every distillery they own at least somewhat available. Even in the States, it's not that hard to get stuff from the Flora and Fauna range shipped over. To me, Pernod Ricard is hands down the worst big player in the industry. The handful of their distilleries that they even bother making available tend to be bottled at low abv and without natural presentation. And most of their stuff, you can't even get (arguably, no one wants Allt-a-bhainne anyway, but it's the principle of it).
Hi Michael. Yes I skipped a couple so I didn't end up exhausting you guy's patience of which I'm very grateful for on these longer videos 😉 Yes Glenfarclas are doing pretty well. Some improvements needed here and there on presentation as you say but their mid to upper age statement releases are now some of the more affordable after everyone else has hiked their prices. Cheers 🥃
I applied a simple rule in the last year since the whisky business got ahead of itself . Any thing over €100 has to meet the big 4 prerequisites with no exceptions. Age declared, Natural, no chill, and MINIMUM 46%. I'll no longer risk a bad buy at that level. I can't afford it at any level in fact.. But heres the thing.... there are vastly more expressions now. We all have choices and true whisky nerds will always find the gold among the pish.
Well put, thoughtful and honest content! The whiskies I've been ignoring and will most probably continue to ignore due to poor price/quality ratio are: Macallan, Dalmore, Balvenie, Bowmore, almost everything OB from Diageo. Laphroaig is also blatantly overpriced in Bulgaria which have been keeping me from buying any except for a bottle of Lore, alternative import on special sale. Highland Park is also very poor value except for the Cask Strength "Robust and Intense" releases. Octomore is a brand I won't touch either. Glengoyne and Tamdhu have earned their (dis)honorable mentions too. The one brand I'm really sorry I've been ignoring is Glencadam. From all I hear and read their whisky is very well done and reasonably priced, yet in Bulgaria it is outrageously overpriced. A bottle of the 10 yo will have me part with almost the same money I have to pay for a bottle of Glenallachie 15 or 10 CS. There is also a bunch of poorly presented brands, bottled at 40% and colored with E150a which I ignore whatever their price is. On the other side, the big producers that still have decent product at reasonable price are Tomatin, Ardbeg and Glenmorangie with their core ranges, core ranges of Distell Group distilleries. In the middle there are all those brands that are not so affordable in our market, but still have decent or even superb products worth buying like Speyburn, Edradour, Craigellachie, Aultmore, Benriach, Benromach, Glendronach, Aberlour, Bruichladdich/Port Charlotte, Glen Scotia. Springbank, Hazelburn, Longrow, Kilkerran are not available at all. There can be found some bottles of Hazelburn 10, Longrow Peated NAS or Springnank 10 that have been collecting dust on the shelves of some stores here and there but usually the price is ridiculous and there is no guarantee that those bottles have been kept well. The best value, at least on Bulgarian market, comes from Arran, Glenallachie, Loch Lomond, AnCnoc. Out of the celebrated new distilleries nothing is available except for Waterford and it is very reasonably priced. A bottle of say Oragnic Gaia can be had for 50-ish euros and they have been in stock for more than 2 years now. Occasional expressions of Bimber, Daftmill or some others have also made it to Bulgaria in the last year or two, but the prices have been "optimistic" to put it mildly. No Torabhaig, no Ardnamurchan, Rassay, Lindores Abbey, etc. As for the indies, Signatory Vintage is what I usually buy as their stock is relatively available and affordable here. Followed by Douglas Laing. G&M use to be well better presented in our market but not any more. Finally, my guilty pleasure of a whisky which comes at a bit salty price, but I still buy it, is Kilchoman. Loch Gorm in particular, for which I have to pay roughly 60-65 euros per bottle. So, that's about it when it comes to Bulgarian market. The main point is we are trailing quite a bit behind what's going on in Western and Central Europe, therefore some whiskies are oddly cheap and some are overpriced or not presented at all. Cheers!
Interesting situation over there that you're lagging behind and experiencing yesteryear prices. There used to be a few non whisky shops near me that would have very dusty bottles that would be pretty good value for the same reason but I think there are too many malt enthusiasts seeking them out now. Good call on Tamdhu. I had one of their whiskies in the advent calendar last year. I think the 15yo. I liked it quite a lot but was out off when I saw the price for a bottle. I haven't tried Waterford yet. Thanks for the recommendation 👍
@@WhiskyLock Mind you Waterford prices in UK, at least at big online retailers I check for reference every now and then, are plain absurd. I saw "The Cuvee" for 71.45 GBP which I would never pay. In Bulgaria I can buy it for 42.5 GBP which again is pretty much for young NAS whisky, but still bearable.
@@Nikolay_Nikolov I've been trying a lot of whiskies from new distilleries lately and I'd say the normal price in England for new distillery stuff is around £45. Which is fine considering they're mostly 46%, NCF and very good. I'll keep an eye out for a deal on Waterford. Cheers!
NB. Tormore is now independently owned by the owners of The Whisky Exchange. They plan to build a visitor centre and I hope and expect them to release some good integrity bottlings following the example set by Billy walker at Glendronach and Glenallachie. Hopefully it won't be too long.
I’ve been of a similar opinion for a while now. Scotch has jumped the shark. The good stuff knows it’s good and are charging what they can get away with. Diageo have been made to look good by how bad the others like Pernod Ricard and Whyte and Mackay are presenting their malts. I still think Talisker 10 and Lagavulin 8 are worth buying to drink provided they stay south of £50-£55 max. Caol Ila I’m only looking at IBs from now on (and I’m expecting a price surge for those to follow any day now). I love Distell (long may they run). Arran please keep doing what you are doing same goes to Ardnamurchan and Edradour. Bruichladdich could do more in my opinion especially with the Laddie. I’m waiting on Hedley Wrights passing becoming an opportunity for the corporate vultures to fly into Kintyre with suitcases of cash to buy springbank and Glengyle, pay off 3/4 of the staff, turn the malting floors into some high end visitor experience and ruin it forever. Rum anyone? 😂
I don't know if I'm more annoyed at companies like Pernod Ricard with their poor presentations or companies like Diageo. Oh wait, yes I do. It's Diageo because most of their presentations are awful too 😉 You may be right that there will be more Diageo prices surges. If they get away with it with Oban and Lagavulin then there will certainly be more to come. Also agree about Classic Laddie. I love all the other Bruichladdichs but Classic Laddie is just lacking and nowhere near as good as the previous Laddie 10 single vintage release. I miss that one.
I know it’s 2024 so I’m late to the video. I agree that Scotch is getting expensive. If your someone who only drinks non chill filtered Scotch, you miss on good Scotch. Champagne is chill filtered to remove the yeast in the bottle and the wines can be fantastic.
It really is. The thing that saddens me most is that there are now flavour profiles which are just not accessible to the average drinker anymore. You're right, there are great whiskies out there that can only be experienced chill filtered. Probably the entire Flora and Fauna range for example. It would of course be even better if made available natural though 😉 Cheers 🥃
Glenallachie are making better whisky than Macallan and their whisky is cheaper than anything else similar, including Glenfarclas. I am buying Glenallachie. Kilchoman is a bit more expensive, but it is worth the money. AnCnoc, too. Then there are the IBs. There are some very cheap Irish whiskies and bourbons, that are very good, so I buy a lot of those, too, like Whistler, Bushmills 10 (although I dislike the 16), Maker's, etc. And of course, I drinking more brandy, like Armagnac. If you want something old and special, Armagnac is the answer.
Agree with all your Scotch recommendations. I've had a bottle of Glenallachie 10CS for a while and I've really enjoyed it. The price did shoot up just after I got mine. Which may have just been retailers cashing in but if you can get it at RRP yeah it's great. I love Kilchoman and AnCnoc too. I've got a range of peated Ancnoc on my shelf. Agree about Bushmills 10 as well 👍
Oban 14 is on whisky I used to always have on hand, but its gone up so much that it's really not worth buying. I could get bottles for $55 4-5 years ago, but now its $75 to even $105. Which is just crazy for decent, but not great whisky
Considering Springbank group: Here in Austria I can find Springbank 10 and Hazelburn for 55 €. Also Kilkerran 12 for 60€. Are those whiskies overpriced, or not? I drink them and enjoy them, but do you find them overpriced? Also the local supermarket offers Bladnoch 10&11 for 52€
Hi Charis. No I don't find those prices excessive and I would buy them at that price if I could. And I used to. The problem is that for me, the only way to buy most Springbank whiskies at all is auction. Or occasionally you find a specialist retailer that has some stock at an extremely marked up price. Not worth it. The only Springbank whiskies that I think are overpriced are things like Springbank 18, Longrow 21, things like that. The prices of those releases are cashing in on the current hype around the brand IMHO. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock many thanks for the fast feedback. Here in Austria, as far as I can see, we can still enjoy such whiskies with a reasonable price. Also Products from Blackadder (peat reek, smoking Islay, red snake, etc). They are cask strength and cost around 60-70€
There very few people here in Austria, who really know about value for money (considering whisky). We have many rich Austrians, who are buying whiskies over 200-300 euros without any problems and at the same time many many sticking to Lagavullin, Bowmore, Glenlivet etc. There are very few, going a little bit further to the direction of Springbank, Arran, Glenallachie, etc.
Any Single Malt over $80 USD (don't care how old it is) is an expensive Pee. There are many good bottles around or less than $60 USD (Bunna 12, Arran 10, Deanston 12, Bruch Classic). People need to come to their senses.
Expensive pee indeed! And I agree with you. It doesn't matter how good some whisky is (or may be) there is a price limit where it's automatically just not worth it.
I did indeed. Or rather I left them out because I didn't want to be banging on for more than half an hour 😉 I appreciate all of you guys watching my videos but I know you have limits! ThaiBav / Inver House are doing well IMHO and not particularly gougy. I used to love Pulteney. A little disappointed with them since the rebrand but still doing OK. I've always loved Balblair and still really like what they're doing after the rebrand. I have several of their new whiskies and I'm really looking forward to reviewing them. It's only really they're very old expressions that get pricey. Balmenach are very underrated. Not easy to find but often very good. I have a couple of bottles of 20 something Signatory Cask Strength Balmenachs. Beautiful 👍
Very nicely presented video and thoughts. As usual, these would not be "troubling times ahead" for the industry as a whole, if "multinational conglomerates" (nod to Ralfy), who acquire distilleries at the drop of a hat, and, with a little lip service to the consumers to virtue-signal that they "care", go about immediately trying to grab as much profit as they can, jacking-up prices like a scone dealer after a hunger strike, thus sending loyal customers packing. The very customers that made the distilleries' reputations famous. Marketing teams do not make whisky. Distilleries make whisky. One of these days (maybe), investment firms will learn that the basic business model of making a good product, selling it at an affordable price, and gaining market share over time with loyal repeat customers, is more valuable than trying to rob the public for quick profits and driving away their loyal base. When we see this happening, we know what is going on, and have the right to steer-clear of those companies. Thieves should NOT be subsidized! Nobody is forcing us to buy anything (yet). Of course, government tax agencies are not a small part of the blame. When the average amount of tax (including VAT), is nearly $30 per bottle, how the hell can anyone expect whisky to be sold at a reasonable price to the consumers? Well, of course, that can be explained by the tax-man by using the old excuse that whisky is a luxury, not a necessity, and thus can be taxed at any rate that they damn-well choose🤬.. It's the hidden tax that the non-drinking public never sees, so it keeps the "average" voter from rioting in the streets. Sorry for the long rant. Keep up the good work, and keep the hope alive. Maybe we'll see a few new distilleries who want to make a name for themselves, and build a reputation that will grow and grow!
Hi! Agree with all of your points, especially in hoping that some of the new distilleries will offer a better mix of quality and value. I think they will and I think that will make a difference to the single malt market in the end. I think a large part of our current problem is that decisions are being made by these multinationals with solely based on profit margins and targets. Probably by people who have never been to the distilleries or tasted the product. So they'll do whatever grows the numbers and (as demonstrated in the past) they have no issue with selling or closing a distillery that ceases to be useful 😡 In fact, closing some distilleries has been their most lucrative move (Port Ellen etc).
They are making pretty great stuff. I have a review of one of their standard batches coming out in a few weeks and I also have an unopened bottle of Cask Strength that I'm really looking forward to!
@@WhiskyLock Opened a bottle of the 02/22 cask strength, palatable meat but two teaspoons of water hits the bliss point! Best value for money out there, Kilkkeran being a close second? Cheers
@@ryanmercer600 That's good to hear. Nothing surprising about such a young cask strength whisky benefitting from a small amount of water. Kilkerran is great. Never had a bad one. Hard to get hold of but better than Springbank IMHO 👍
@@WhiskyLock Agreed, I have been fortunate living in Kentucky aka Bourbon country? I was able to get two bottles of Springbank local barley, two Springbank 15 and all the Kilkkeran line in 750 ml formats this year. They don’t fly off the shelves like in the UK?
The craziness is widespread already! They're both massively overpriced IMHO. Nothing at 43% should be over £100 or anywhere close. I can't remember how much Mortlach 16 used to sell for as part of the Flora and Fauna range but I'm sure it was far less. Sad...
As I'm more to sipping and tasting whiskies, rather than drinking, I'm buying what ever is on sale at the current time. If Glenlivet 12 - is ~23 euro now... so, my next whisky is this one.
@@WhiskyLock it is not my favourite 12ye SM, but this is the only one I can find for lowest price :) Some other whiskies, I've never tried before (Old Pulteney 12, Bushmills 10, Sexton, Deanston VO, etc) are only 4-5 euro more.
@@log0log no probably not anyone's favourite 🙂 but it's a classic and very enjoyable style. MUCH better than that Founders Reserve NAS rubbish they tried to replace it with. I like Bushmills 10 (I've reviewed it already). I like OP12 but the low ABV is frustrating. Good prices too. I haven't tried Sexton but I do have an unopened bottle of Deanston Virgin Oak that I'm looking forward to trying 👍
I was pretty surprised to see this year’s Lagavulin release is almost exactly the same as their Féis Ile release (12 years, cask strength, virgin oak finish), which itself was incredibly disappointing. Maybe they’ve given up trying to sell that for £165 a bottle, and they’re now trying £135 with a different label instead‽ I’ll certainly be giving it a miss.
That's a good point that I hadn't thought of. I was looking forward to the Lag and Caol Ila Feis bottles but noped out when I saw the £165 price tag. I should've mentioned those! Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Of the two of them, the Caol Ila was miles better. The two years in virgin oak was way better integrated, and didn’t overpower the rest of the experience. Plus it was three years older, and more “exclusive”, with about half the total number of bottles. I don’t know what Diageo were thinking with that Lagavulin, but even the staff at the distillery were criticising it, and one well-known member of staff said the cask finish had “ruined it”!
I guess all of us are split between rationality and fear of missing out. If everyone would just buy as much as he drinks within 12 months, he very probably might have to pay higher prices in the next year, but I am sure that the approximately 150 bottles that gathered in my stash (and thousands of others in theirs) had their part in raising prices. I tried to take it more slowly, but I‘m still buying more than I drink.
the Talisker 8 2021 was not worth the money at all, very poor maturation, very crisp very young but the Oban 12 2021 was amazing also I dont mind to buy any Special Release in the future
I have a sample of one of the 8yo Talisker Special Releases somewhere. Never bought a bottle because I've never thought Talisker is that great at a young age. Whenever I see it as the cheap option in the Special Releases range it always seems like a trick... 😒
I started boycotting Diageo whiskies over eight years ago following their outrageous pricing of their annual 'special releases'. I haven't bought a bottle since. My cash gets spent elsewhere.
That's fair. If you read Diageo press releases then you'll see that they're not even trying to hide their mission to drive whisky prices up. While I'm glad Diageo are currently keeping dozens and dozens of distilleries open... they're definitely not the most deserving of our money.
Diageo does a lot of bad things but they do some good. Also before I go any further I have boycotted some of their releases based on price. Now the good things I think are that the Lagavulin 16, Clynelish 14, Singleton 18 have stayed at the same price level in my area. No huge bumps because of tariffs. For me Beam Suntory owned distilleries can go to hell. Another thing I think Diageo does well is they let Independent bottlers get barrels from their distilleries and most of those are at a fair price for now.
Yes agreed. As bad as Diageo can be they are keeping a hell of a lot of the Scotch industry going and they do make a lot of whisky from their workhorse distilleries available through IB and Flora and Fauna which is more than can be said for many others. It's their practice of pricing whisky drinkers out that annoys me most at the moment. But I still wouldn't wish for their demise. That would be awful for everyone. A gentle wake up call would be nice though. Interesting that Lagavulin 16 has stayed the same price where you are. Fingers crossed they don't spot that for a while 😉
Glen Garioch are really overlooked imo. Fantastic value for money on the 12 yr old. Good whisky at a fair price. And that’s all we ask for, really. Plus it’s 48% and seemingly craft presented. Massive exception from the rest of the BS owned distilleries
I'm hearing a lot of people saying the same. Maybe even enough for Diageo to take notice 😉 And while I'm not against a boycott I don't really feel like I have to because between their high prices and poor presentations they don't have that much that interests me at this point! They're not doing themselves any favours...
Old whisky RUclips reviews are like: I picked up this bottle of Oban for £30, but don't worry, if you can't afford that, just pick up the fantastic White Horse blend from your local newsagents
Exactly that! I wonder what people will think looking back 10 years from now? I can quite believe that they'll be shocked at us having affordable 12-15yo whisky. Perhaps we're heading into a time where higher ABVs replace age statements. Like Lagavulin 16 (43%) -> Lagavulin 8 (48%).
If i really like something and it's hard to find i have no problem paying extra. But it's not like there's going to be a shortage anytime soon. FOMO is a very poor financial advisor.
@@WhiskyLock true and i will be the first to Admit i sometimes fall for it. I like what Ardbeg is doing. They have limited editions for every budget and a solid core range that keeps the price fair.
I’m obviously in the minority here, as I assume you’ve got a following of like minded individuals. Your’e certainly right to your opinion and I don’t necessarily disagree but it doesn’t take into account that everything has increased in price dramatically this year. It’s not a whisky thing. I’m not sure where you live but in the US everything from food to gas has gone crazy. We all make choices as to whether or not something has value to spend on. My wife and I used to eat out many nights a week and we’ve just stopped because the cost of a meal out just isn’t worth it to us. I’d rather spend a $150 on a nice whisky that will last years than a marginal meal that we’ll forget in a day. It’s expected that whisky prices will increase. That’s kind of life. Expecting prices to remain what they were in the past is weirdly naive. Distilleries are businesses, they’re there to make a profit not to give whisky enthusiasts cheap product. I also don’t really have a huge issue with Diagio trying to raise the status of whisky either. Their prices are a bit inflated but no one makes anyone buy their product. There are plenty of other options. We visited Scotland this summer and tried most of the special release, some of them were excellent including the Laga 12 which may be a bit overpriced but was fantastic and so good we not only bought one but had it shipped to us. Personally a gorgeous bottle is a selling point to me. I’m not a fan of bland poor marketing. I don’t buy ugly books, or ugly clothes and there’s no reason I need to buy ugly bottles. It’s shallow for sure but looks matter. Lastly I Disagree on the finishing, new unique whiskies are vital to keeping things interesting. I’d much rather things travel that direction than getting hundreds of bottles of the same old shit. SMWS pricing is far more onerous than Diagio and yet I still find wonderful value and interesting tastes in their releases. In the end you just basically complained about almost every distillery which begs to say that your just seriously out of touch and in denial about the current cost of the hobby. And weirdly you highlighted as a positive Bunnahabhain and Tobermory who were insanely overpriced when we visited. Far higher than most of the other distilleries and we visited over thirty. Like a number of other well known RUclipsrs who I stopped watching because of all the get of my lawn old man ranting, this just sounds the same. After watching a number of your videos for a while now the new constant thread is the endless complaints about prices. It’s just tiring. But all the loud social media naysayers are just wrong. Just went to our local SMWS tasting the last two months and they were overbooked with too many people, many of them new hobbyists. The industry grows every week. I’ll happily keep buying scotch as long as I can and when I can’t then it will stop being a hobby for me. That won’t be the fault of the hobby.
Hi Forrest. Everyone is welcome to their opinion and they're all equally valid. Thanks for taking the time to reach out. I expected more people to disagree with me to be honest but so far it seems like a lot of folk are getting sick of not being able to afford the whisky that they used to buy. I wouldn't say I complained about all or even most distilleries though. Not on price. It's really just Diageo and a few others like Macallan, Dalmore, etc who are hiking prices. And I'm not talking about just the last year. The prices of certain whiskies has been going up well above inflation for more than a decade. Example: I stopped buying Highland Park 18 in 2015 when the price went from around £60 to over £100 in one big jump. If they had increased the ABV and dropped the chill filtration at the same time that might have been OK but like Diageo, they won't. I mentioned Distell because of their core range. Example; Deanston 18 £75. Ledaig 18 is only a little more. For that money at Oban you're looking at 43% and significantly younger. And you have to add £100 to get an 18yo Talisker. I wouldn't say that changing the price of Talisker 18 from £75 to £175 is elevating Scotch. It's pretty much the opposite and that's what I have a problem with. 'Premiumisation' is the word that Diageo use. Ie, moving the good stuff out of reach of normal people. They're keeping the same poor presentations that they've been offering for decades and pricing things so that people have to buy DOWN a level or two. It's the distilleries offering craft presentation and TRANSPARENCY that are elevating Scotch. And that's almost never Diageo. You are right that it's not all doom and gloom though. There is still good Scotch to be had for a fair price, it just takes a bit more searching. And I do know what you mean about Tobermory being expensive at the distillery. When I was there they had a bunch of 18-21yo Ledaig and Tobermorys with various cask finishes for three figures a pop and none were as interesting as the standard Ledaig 10 at a third of the price. Distell core range is where it's at. Just my $0.02
Shop round is the key I got Bruicladdich 50% £34, Aberfeldy 15yr off Amazon £29, Wolfburn Latitude £33 Dalwhinnie Gold Waitrose £28, inchmoan £32 seek n you find try Threshers online MoM flash etc ect
Good point. I think I got my Classic Laddie for even slightly less than that which makes it good value IMHO. Luckily you don't have to resort to Amazon or supermarkets to get some good discounts these days 👍
You put me in mind of a younger ralfy but with the 'organic' quality of present day ralfy. Hope that's a compliment. This is a watershed video for me who though I am as old as dirt, I've only recently taken up the pursuit of understanding and enjoying quality single malt whisky. I shall be archiving this video, watching and pausing it frequently and taking notes. Thank you so much. Just a side note: The cost of production of anything of true quality now is going off the charts. It's a good time to drink less and enjoy it more. As ralfy would concur I'm sure. One more: God bless Glen Scotia.
Huge compliment 🙂 thank you very much 🥃
Same. Really good information, thanks
GlenAllachie = Craigellachie I assume. Appreciate the blunt honesty! Extremely thorough breakdown, you covered a lot of ground there! Great vid!
Ah I knew there'd be at least one cock up in there 🙂 I did indeed mean Craigellachie. Intentional error to see who is paying attention 😬 Cheers 🥃
This is my first time accessing and listening to your commentary.
Very impressed how you articulate, compress and clarify some tricky, deeply involved issues around most of the so called big boys of the whisky industry.
Wonderful insights delivered too by your good self.
I was both informed and entertained with your remarks and gave me food for thought. Thank you for that and much appreciated. I will check out your site again and send my best wishes for continuing success.
Welcome to the channel Paul and thanks for the kind words 🙂
Great video. Pretty much sums 2022 up so far from a whisky perspective. In previous years, I’ve bought 40-50 bottles a year. This year, I’ve bought 4! Kilkerran 8 port, Kilkerran 8 Sherry, Ardbeg 19 #4 & a Glen Scotia single cask. There’s just very little value left across the industry. I think rising prices, falling real world wages and inflation, higher borrowing costs and let’s face it, most enthusiasts sitting on large collections is a recipe for a significant downturn for the whisky industry.
Thanks! I agree, I think a lot of people are going to be in that situation of can't or don't want to be buying as much as they were. It does seem like things are slowing down a little already. Hopefully it won't be too catastrophic for the industry...
I still buy what i really like even if the price is a little high, but i don't take risks anymore so i don't buy "just to try". Less bottles, but more expensive i guess.
I work in retail that seems to be the general mood. People buy less but when they do they seek value.
I pretty much agree with almost everything you say in this video. There are plenty of great distilleries deserving of our patronage, eg Arran, Bunna, English Whisky Co, Tobermory, Deanston, Glen Scotia, Kilchoman, Bruichladdich, Glencadam, Balblair (massively underrated), and I also intend to purchase bottles from most of the 'new' distilleries once the whisky is old enough. I think Wolfburn will be ten years old very soon and Archnamuchan is around eight now. Bladnoch used to be one of my favourite distilleries when Raymond Armstrong was the owner and it was such a shame when he was forced to sell. Incidentally, his son, Martin, has his own small independent bottling company called Whiskybroker. Very reasonably priced and I've had some fantastic bottles from him over the years, including a stunning 8yo Aultmore from a sherry cask and a 29yo (I think) Glen Spey. Looks like his website isn't showing the bottles for sale at the moment so I might ring soon to see what he has available.
Thanks David. IMHO Wolfburn and Ardnamurchan are ready now (reviews coming soon) although I have no problem appreciating a younger whisky for what it is.
It really was a shame what happened to Bladnoch. And it could've been much worse. I didn't honestly expect it to reopen... glad it did, even if its not exactly what it used to be.
you done great take on the whisky market at the moment have to agree with you i wont be buying many in 2023 unless a whisky blogger like yourself recommended it and is value for money great vlog thanks
Thanks Liam! 🥃
Second time I'm saying this in a week, but as a South African it always makes me happy to hear such praise for Distell. Great vid that dives into the kind of detail and thoughts I enjoy from whisky reviewers. Subbed and liked
If we had 4 more Distells I think us whisky geeks would be a lot happier 🙂 Cheers Marc
I acquired the taste for Edradour a few years back and it earns a significant portion of my whisky dollars now. Agree wholeheartedly that Arran is a whiskytube darling for a reason. Solid, if depressing, video. Enjoying the content. Glad I found your channel.
Thanks, glad to have you here. Edradour can be a fantastic and very rewarding distillery. I've been thinking about buying another bottle of Caledonia lately 👍
I wish I had waited to see this before my exorbitant Clynelish 12 purchase. I knew it was not value for money… Both my head and gut screamed NO but my heart said yes. I hope some mystical magic happens like it promises on the back of the tube. 🤔😳
Spot on with your assessment of current market conditions. Great content as always!
Cheers 🥃
Ha... it's like what I was talking about at the start. Sometimes their promises and flowery words make us relax our better judgement.
I wouldn't be surprised if that Clynelish improves a bunch though. Its youngish and high strength and was probably only bottled very recently. So a bit of air will likely help. I would be tempted to aerate it and leave the cork out for a few hours. Providing you're not intending it keep it for a long time.
And if that doesn't help, I'll give you a tenner for it 😉
Thanks for the kind words and cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock SOLD! 😅
I hope it opens up but so far very muted nose( almost non existent) even my wife who hates whisky but has a great nose( she usually makes all kinds of faces) this was first time even she couldn’t smell anything or make a face…a non-event on the nose. The palette gives a quick wallop of condensed flavors then medium short finish. Spirity/ 🥵 hot. So far in my journey probably the most disappointing…meaning not meeting even my lowest expectations for the $$$
Time will tell but it’s well below shoulder. Ouch!
@@justwhisky ah the wife/girlfriend who claims to not like or not know about whisky and then effortlessly produces a perfect set of nosing notes. Does every whisky enthusiast have one of those? 🤔
@@WhiskyLock right on!
Absolutely bang on observations and analysis. A common theme here is consumers are waking up or need to wake up to the reality of gouging and move over to newer, better quality and affordable offerings. Money spent to quality and value received is the question one needs to ask to themselves. I couldn't agree more WL...thanks for sharing much needed thoughts. 👍
Thanks Rohit. I am genuinely concerned about what's going on in Scotch at the moment. Not just because of what companies like Diageo are doing but because if people like us boycott the high end stuff from them that's just going to encourage them to aim even lower 😕 and potentially increase prices and lower availability from many good distilleries. Crappy situation.
I think we all need to just concentrate on spending our money with the responsible distilleries and make sure that those guys survive whatever is coming. Cheers 🥃
In fact we are grown up marble collectors. And there's a market for it. I have over 60 bottles different spirits and ages.all for tasting .
Common sense tells me it's enough for 8 years at least.
But when a new release or something new to me appears, I'm eager to buy a bottle to try.
But always for tasting, every bottle I have is opened.
No ridiculous collectors items.
But yes still a bit of a collector if I look at it with common sense.
Very poetic and very true. Everyone loves a shiny new marble!
I'm guilty too of buying the next interesting bottle before I'm remotely done with the previous one. I also have more bottles than you (not bragging, it's not a good thing!) but probably 2/3 of mine aren't open for fear of oxidation.
I've done the calculation too for how long my stash will last me and it's... it's a long time! I dream of one day getting down to zero and just buying whisky to open and drink in the moment. No more marble hoarding! But it's going to be a long process. Thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one 😉
Certainly not the only one 👍
If i wasn't collecting whiskies i would be collecting something something else anyway. I always have and always will.
@@Soldano999 Same here. I'm a little upset at myself for having become so enamored with this new, rather expensive, collecting hobby. But the heart desires what it desires!
I have to say I didn't expect to listen to your whole video when I saw how long it was but you totally captured my attention and you are spot on with my thinking seeing how whisky has skyrocketed over the last few years. Part of the problem is the value of money has drastically lost its buying power for various reasons and all commodities and costs for the distilleries has also increased in every area. The future looks a bit dismal for the whisky industry worldwide as I myself cannot afford these increasing prices along with cost of living increasing daily as well.
Hi! I was just thinking the other day that I hadn't heard from you in a while. Glad you're still watching. And it's praise indeed that you sat through such a long video 🙂
The immediate future does look grim. Lots of people are still sticking to the 'whatever the market will bear is the correct price' stance but I can't help but think that this situation where more and more people are being 'priced out' of many whiskies isn't good for anyone...
Someone who is relatively still new to Whisky, I have only seen the slightly fed up attitude towards Ardbeg mainly due to the high price committee bottles that seems to be every week. Really starting to see the price gap between drinks for drinkers and high costs for collectors. Great video, really summing up the attitude in the Whisky World. Cheers!
I suppose there are a lot of people who are fairly new to whisky for whom current prices are all they've ever known. Hadn't really thought about it to be honest. But when you haven't fully recovered from 18yo Scotch going from £60 to £100, seeing a NAS Mortlach for £250 is enough to give you palpitations 😉
I agree that there are too many Ardbeg Committee Releases. If they just picked their best idea every year and made enough to go around they'd probably be better received. Cheers 🥃
You have nailed it! Excellent video, thank you
Thank you Alfie 🥃
Amen to the fact that the new distilleries show the industry what's what. It would be a shame to lose distilleries to premiumization, but we can take comfort in the fact that much better stuff lies ahead when those new distilleries mature.
Yes, when the current new distilleries are able to routinely offer 10yo products we'll have some amazing choices. It will take a while but will be great 👍
Fantastic and very eloquent summary of where we're at. Many thanks. Things that go up must come down and with whisky I suspect we're in for a very hard landing, especially when the secondary market collapses. In the meantime, more of us are being more discerning about where we put our money. There are still many great quality, reasonably priced bottlings available. English whisky is worth a look! Cheers!
Thanks Jon. English whisky is definitely worth a look. Japanese whisky has let us down now, being far too expensive. Some world whisky has something to offer but I'd agree that English offers some of the most consistent value for money these days.
I keep thinking that I see signs of the secondary market collapsing. Availability problems seem to be easing (very slightly) and auctions prices seem slightly lower than they have been. Here's hoping the crash won't be too catastrophic...
Really interesting , great overview of the current whisky market. Laga 16 , Talisker 18 and now these special releases. Just too much of a price hike. I have at least 9 unopened Diageo bottles and once they are finished I will think twice about buying any more Diageo whisky.
Thanks Fraser! I wonder if Diageo & co will pay attention to all of us saying the same things here? Maybe! But probably not... 😕
Awesome video man, this should be thought as a class. I agree with everything you've said. The newcomers have to present their stuff in a craft way and also be enviromentally friendly and have an eye catching design to compete with the big boys. In this effort they've managed to get us, the discerning drinkers on their side. Distilleries like Nc'Nean, Bimber, Cotswolds, Lindores and Wire Works are making great stuff for their ages and we love them for it.
Cheers my man, I wish you and yours a happy new year 🥃
😂 thanks! It really shows you how little effort some of the established distilleries are putting in when you taste what some of the new guys can do at 3yo. Hopefully it'll spur the others into action! Cheers and Happy New Year 🥃
Great show and some great points. To many distillers taking the piss.
Cheers 😎🥃
Or bottling it! 😂
Great video. I’m starting to buy more and more bottles of ledaig 18 to put on the shelf, as for such a brilliant whisky for the price point, im sure prices will soon head up like all the others.
Ledaig 18 is fantastic in terms of quality and value. Distell do seem committed to offering better value than most. It's only Bunna 18 that's gone over £100 so far. Hopefully it'll stay that way 👍
Haha🤣 F*ck, you cracked me up with the LVMH description!
Great video. For some reason I have never considered mentally grouping distilleries by ownership as a quality measurement, that was very interesting.
Obviously - like you predicted - I like my wine finishes😉 And I like Glenmo (a lot) and Ardbeg (some)🙂
🤣 it's a miracle any of their stuff is affordable at all really. Their whole empire is founded on massive markups! Useless shiny rock we found in the dirt? That'll be £5000 please 😉
You start to see some interesting patterns in presentations and quality when you consider which distilleries are in the same groups. Quality is not evenly distributed throughout the industry! Cheers 🥃
Really interesting video. You are right about the new distilleries. If you look at the ones opening in say the last ten years and include the English ones there is some great whisky, Ardnamurchan being my favourite along with the Cotswolds. I still like many of the Diageo brands like Talisker and Mortlach but the prices keep creeping up and at the end of the day, you are not paying for a craft presentation. Some of the other whiskies I tend to go for are new distilleries ( just to try them ), all the Distell group, Benriach , Benromach, Arran and anything and everything by Bruichladdich ! Like you and everyone else, I just wish the Springbank and Glengyle whiskies were more available. Nothing worse than getting an email from Master of Malt saying “Springbank 10 is back in stock” only to find it has all sold out immediately !!
I've practically stopped looking whenever I get an email like that. I don't have push notifications switched on for emails on my phone so it's guaranteed to be out of stock!
Benromach is a distillery that I really should have mentioned. I've always been very impressed with their value for money.
The problem with Diageo is such a shame because some of their distilleries are great but we're unlikely to get 46%+ and NCF from many of them. We're not able to fully enjoy so many great distilleries and it's purely because of Diageo's greed.
I have a series of reviews coming soon on new distilleries. I think over 10 different new distilleries now. I've really, really enjoyed Ardnamurchan. Wolfburn, Spirit of Yorkshire and Lakes too. Many new distilleries really deserve our support 👍
The new distilleries will get my support. Should also mention Lochlea cos John Campbell is doing a great job. Look forward to the forthcoming reviews 👍
Excellent video WL. Glad someone did a video like this 👍. Benromach for me are doing things right. Although the core range (10,15,21) are at 43% its still good whisky. The loser has got to be Diageo and Laga 16. All I’ve got from Diageo at home are laga 16 that bought around two years ago as and an IB from Allt -a-bhannie. Diageo are getting no more of my hard earned money, we won’t mention the bloop, it happens. Slàinte.
Thanks David. Benromach are a great distillery indeed. About as close to independent as you can get and excellent value for money.
The main Diageo distillery that's present on my shelves is Caol Ila. I also have a full set of Flora and Fauna bottles 😬 but to be fair both Caol Ila and F&F offer better value than many of the others.
Was the bloop Glenallachie/Craigellachie? Intentional error to check you're all paying attention 😉 cheers 🥃
A wonderful, thorough, and detailed summary of the state of the Scottish whisky industry. For the last decade, I have primarily bought from IBs and joint distillers/store single cask bottlings largely from independent distilleries. I occasionly go to bars and try the familiar standard bottlings from larger distilleries like talisker 10 and Highland Park 12 (for instance) and have noted the quality of these bottlings have dropped dramatically in the last 10 years, I beiever that many others have already or will soon join a purchasing path similar to mine, while also reducing purchases in general
The one thing I sort of disagree you with is the price zone between the lower end, NAS whiskies and the premiumized whiskies that Diageo (and others) are creating. You say that craft distilleries are getting squeezed by that strategy. I think it's an opportunity for the craft distilleries to exploit that price zone that's being opened up. That's the same price zone that many IBs occupy, and based on my purchasing, that's a pretty nice sweet spot in quality price ratio (bang for buck). Alas, that's not true for all buyers, with many squeezed at the bottom end and that's who gets screwed over by Diageo's strategy, but given start up costs, I think craft distillers cannot serve that market anyways.
Thanks Steve. Yes, I think most people will probably be buying less in the coming months/years and there'll be a growing need to shop smarter. Independent Bottlers for example, as you say.
I agree in particular that HP12 has gone downhill in a bad way over the last few years. Talisker has slipped a little too. A side effect of struggling to meet demand perhaps.
The squeezing effect I had in mind is on distilleries who are trying to compete with those commodity whiskies coming out of Diageo. For example, people (and I know a few) who think 'why should I buy Bunnahabhain 12 for £44 when I can get Talisker 10 for £30 in Tesco?'. Or worse, why should I buy a 3yo Glen Wyvis when I can buy a 12yo Johnnie Walker 🙄 There's a long list of reasons but many don't realise and the output of Diageo allows them to beat everyone on price despite using minimal effort and offering minimal quality. Then you end up with distilleries like Aber Falls (recent example) wasting their stocks on 40% offerings to try to sell in the same price bracket and before you know it Diageo have dragged the bar lower and everyone loses out. Except them.
I might not be explaining myself in the best way but I feel like they're doing a pretty good job of poisoning every part of the whisky market. I agree with you that there is a middle ground where Independent Bottlers and craft distilleries can capitalise. But it really relies on consumers being informed.
@@stevebloomer2920 Funny hearing those things from Nick Morgan as you say but great article! Thanks.
Great video. I tried the Inchwomble, amazing stuff 😁
Congrats, at least one person was clearly paying attention 😉🥃
Thoroughly enjoyed this very interesting video. What is your opinion of Benromach 2012 CS, if I may ask? Thank you!
Thanks John. I have a bottle of the 2012 CS (9yo and bottled at 59.5%) and I like it. Quite a similar theme to Ardnamurchan with some good oak, nice light peat, some fruitiness and great intensity. Very good. Perhaps a little pricey for 9yo but I think it's the Benromach to buy out of the core range. Cheers
may i ask the full name list of distilleries you mentioned on 25:47?
Certainly! Ardnamurchan, Glen Wyvis, Lochlea, Isle of Arran, Kilchoman, Wolfburn. Yes... Kilchoman and Arran are not technically that new anymore! But I feel that they fit in nicely with that group of newcomers who are creating great whisky, with a great presentation at a fair price.
@@WhiskyLock am familiar with the arran and kilchoman! thanks for the insight! am intruiged to buy 12 cs kilchoman feis isle, but after tax price is... again thanks for the insight. edrington/macallan ruined the market when they aggressively started to promote pretty/well-marketed NAS bottles...
@@underwave19 The others are VERY new 🙂 Glen Wyvis and Lochlea in particular only released their first whisky a few months ago. Reviews coming in the new year.
You could say that Macallan pioneered the 'whisky as a luxury status symbol' thing. Now many are trying to follow suit. They would be wise to consider how many whisky drinkers still care about Macallan though. Most of us don't buy or talk about it anymore because it's well known as bad value whisky.
Excellent video! Even if the whisky giants don't listen, we as a community should.
Thanks! Many of the industry giants won't listen. Or plain don't want to. But some will. Especially independents and new distilleries and we should reward them for that to make the others take notice and to secure the futures of those who do things properly 👍
Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. ----------- I noticed price upswing starting 2004-2005, sherry casks started to get pricey, and by 2008 (financial crisis) prices refused to go down, even went up ! ----- 2008-2020 (for 12 y) i abstained from purchasing bots from Diarrheo, Balveneer , Icebag and MacAlbert and look for alternatives and occasionally go rum ! - - - nowadays, i support Farclas, Lomond lines, Last Great Malts (AUltmore, Craigellachie, Deveron...) and Arran (occasionally Jura). A most civilized rant - love it !
Thanks! Can't beat a good civilised rant. It's what the British do best 😉
It is interesting when you've been following Scotch for a long enough time that you get to see patterns, not only in what is popular but in what is expensive.
Rum is something I need to invest some more time in. Tequila and Mezcal are probably the non whisky categories that I've found the most rewarding so far. But for sure, there's a whole other world of quality spirits out there. Cheers 🥃
Great video. I ended up buying a Old Rip Van Winkle 10. But not due to the hype but due to how hard it is to see a unicorn in the wild like that.
That's the thing and it's why I've bought a few bottles (Ardbeg Committee Releases in particular) that even I myself admit are bad value. If it's a one off purchase that you intend to drink and it's special to you in some way then I think that's justified. Nothing wrong with the occasional overpriced splurge if it brings you a bit of joy 👍
Hey, really like the complete overview. I actually have a shop near me that sells Springbank at a normal price but they have a system which allows you to buy them online only if you bought already like 10 bottles from them, and so the Springbank i get is at a very good price compared to other shops (ofc includes Longrow, Hazelburn and KK). Now that i know them i'm gonna make sure whatever they get from Springbank i can buy and open because the whisky is amazing.
Thanks Paolo. That's a really good system. I wish more places would do that 👍
@@WhiskyLock Yes it is great, when i asked them about it (i always go in person, seeing the bottles and the people is better for me) they told me they do it to prevent flippers and i couldn't say anything other than "That's a damn good system !"
I only started drinking whisky around June last year. I got into it at the worst possible time. I wish I'd have discovered my love for it 20 years ago.
Bourbon drinkers have got it even worse than us Scotch fans with regards to availability and out of control prices. Although the prices are usually grossly inflated by the retailers due to them being allocated in low numbers that come nowhere near close to meeting the demand.
I got into it at around 2020 and was able to capitalize on the pandemic's low demand, but now I've decided to identify a few good quality/price bottles and distilleries, stick to them, and instead explore rum, that has more reasonable prices for high quality liquid.
Ehhh.. now is probably a fairly good time to get into Scotch whisky if you're insanely rich. For the rest of us, not so much 😉
I think the best thing we can all do is remember, and spread the word, that good whisky doesn't have to cost a fortune. There is value out there 🥃
I would say that in America the chances of finding a dusty gem of a bottle is getting worse. Especially within 100 miles of me. Your welcome.
I started with whisky (ey) right before Mezcal became a popular thing. I know this because I was drinking mucho reposado back then. So only 4-5 years.
I've allowed my OCD to thrive and have collected more single malt then my liver can handle. And I have no whisky friends to share with.
But the journey has led me to have strict principles that I can freely avoid with the swipe of the CC.
Age statement.
Cask Strength
Full maturations.
Occasionally, I have to pour some drams that are only 46%, diluted down with fine Scottish spring water.
And I sometimes condone the practice of recasking. Everyone needs a job. Even if it's you job to wake up the sleeping spirit and pour it into a different cask for a few months. Not a big fan of lipstick on pigs.
But worst of all, and especially with domestic malts, I have conspired to allow labels to be printed without a number. The identifying mark that tells us so much in terms of quality and oak influence. I have reached out to distilleries via email to gather more information than is readily available. I realize that the North American climate is different from Scotland but c'mon man, I need to know.
And finally I am proud to say that there is very little e150 running thru my veins. Some , but not to much.
@@jackthepickledhound You are clearly a man of principles. I approve 😎
@@WhiskyLock I meant to say , principles and rules that can easily be avoided and broken.
Wonderful insightful stuff, totally agree with your views. Potentially worrying times ahead for the industry as buyers are starting to step back from the many highly priced and poorly presented products.
Thank you. Yes worrying. I think the most worrying thing is if people stop buying these overpriced Diageo offerings then we might see Diageo focus more on young NAS and mediocre blends again. It'll be a terrible shame if their greed makes it even harder to access the good distilleries in their portfolio.
@@WhiskyLock Yes, agreed. I really don’t get the Diageo pricing strategy for their special releases, many can be purchased 2 or 3 years after their release for their original retail price or even a bit less so many are not exactly flying off the shelf! However, I almost thought that the ludicrous pricing of some of this year’s releases almost made the Lagavulin 12 look like a good buy by comparison 😂
Sorry I haven’t dropped by in a while, at least in terms of commenting on your excellent output, you know how it is, things to do, people to see 😊
@@langtoun8235 yes, they do tend to hang around for a while. Which is probably proof that they're neither limited editions nor good value to most people!
No problem! I do indeed understand. It is nice to hear from you again 👍 Cheers 🥃
Good video. Wholeheartedly agree with most of what you say. Keep up the good work!
Cheers Wouter 🥃
As I'm watching this about a year later, it's sad that just about everything has doubled in price..I recently came across a Hyper Hell No Va for like 250.00 USD and an Octomore 14.1 for 220.00 guess which one I went home with? After hearing this presentation I really am not liking Diageo much but I do like the Talisker 10, I still think the Ardbeg core range is a good value and still a great whiskey, but my 3 most recent purhases Buna 12, Kilchoman Sinaig, and Ledaig 10 are making me very satisfied.
Thank you for commenting from the future! Diageo do make some good whisky. They own a lot of amazing distilleries after all and Talisker 10 and Lagavulin 8 are prime examples of their potential. When it comes to those rare good offerings it makes sense to me to still buy them if you want them despite who is in charge.
They're making it very hard to justify the majority of their products though with the constant price hikes and reluctance to improve presentation.
Good thing we have quality alternatives like your Bunna, Kilchoman and Ledaig 👍
Great video and interesting discussion. The Diego special release range has become pure marketing collector hype cash cow unfortunately. The lag 12 sounds average from what I’ve heard and the Clynelish sounds ok but def not worth the money so it Will be a pass for me this year. All we can hope is the flippers start losing money and some normality is returned with many brands, but not sure it’s going to happen! Meanwhile there is still some value to be found, benromach’s 46% offerings are very good quality to value ratio here in Aus. 👍
Thanks Sid. John at JustWhisky has reviewed the Clynelish 12CS. It sounds good but not amazing. About par for what you'd expect from any regular 12yo Cask Strength whisky. Ie. Not worth £175...
I really should have mentioned Benromach. They are producing great quality and value whisky as you say.
I occasionally see evidence of what looks like the flipper bubble starting to burst. I picked up a bottle of Campbeltown Loch at auction for around £5 less than RRP and I've noticed online retailers with things like Ardbeg Committee Releases sitting in stock for much longer than is now normal. So maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel.
@@WhiskyLock yeah I saw johns review he was quick if the mark! I have noticed some of the lesser light Springbank releases not being flipped too well like longrow gold going for less than retail on auctions sites here in Australia so hopefully 🙏
Spot on, personally I won’t be buying any Diageo products even though in the past I have enjoyed and visited several of their distilleries. There are just so many better options out there for a better price.
I recently bought a Lagavulin 16 and it was atrocious. I mean really bad it tasted like sulfur and the flavours were watery and sour. Caol Ila however seems to be holding their own.
A great episode and one I've been wanting to hear from a Whisky Tuber for a long time. Ralfy touches on value, of course, but I like the way you articulated this. Not wishing to blow my own trumpet but it's fair to say, is it not, that old WT has been expressing this for some time. I really don't wish to be a curmudgeon because I love whisky but these distilleries and their corporate bosses (I spoke of Ivan Menezes recently) are laughing all the way to the bank at our expense. They are taking the piss and laughing at us. Laughing in our faces.
You forgot to add InterBev to the list (Balblair, Old Pulteney, ancNoc and Speyburn). That list is decent but very much sleepy compared to a few years ago and prices have gone up. I can't allow Irish whisky to get off the hook either. 95% of all Irish malt whiskey must be 40%, coloured and chill-filtered. Of all of that ocean of whisky I'm only interested in a handful of overpriced expressions.
I agree that we are seeing the dilution of quality, affordable products as the good age statements pull away and we are left with NAS and a price war in the low age statement bracket. The routine reduction of price of Diageo's Talisker 10 (£30), which I'm pleased about because I would never pay RRP, is clearly designed to dent all competition. I'm really hoping that this latest tranche of Diageo bullshit is one step too far. The Special Releases are completely uninspiring and the price increases of other stuff like Oban 14 and Talisker 18 (coloured, chill-filtered) are a gamble which I think might fail. We've been expecting the ever expanding bubble to burst for a while but it has shown remarkable elasticity. However, with what is going on in the world today I really think folk are going to remove the blinkers and see things for what they are. Springbank is nice but, to quote John, "it's just whisky". Talisker 18 has just dropped out of my basket
Thanks WT. Yes, you are the little devil on my left shoulder shouting 'Too much! Don't buy! Thieving b*stards' 😉 and who is the angel on my right shoulder defending and promoting Diageo & co? Well... nobody wants that job it seems.
I had to leave several distilleries and smaller groups (and Irish, bourbon, World whisky) out or else I would've been going for an hour or more! I'm sure you guys have lives to live 😉 I skipped ThaiBev because I think they're doing... OK... just OK. I think Pulteney and Balblair are OK but probably both slipped a bit since rebranding. Ancnoc just needs to be more visible. I especially want more peated releases from them. It seems like a few years ago there were lots of very good peated options from them but it's dried up lately. Shame.
Diageo Special Releases rarely sell out quickly but I feel like we're going to see a lot of releases from this year hanging around for a long, long time. Very negative reaction to them in my comment section and in general. A lot of people have had enough!
I believe the new generation of distilleries (Arran Raasay Tobermory Ardnamurchan etc) are setting the standards. Very soon diageao will be forced to adapt. The suality of Lagavulin has become dreadful .
2:58 isn't Ardbeg owned by 'Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy'? I believe LVMH is multiple time larger compared to the already huge Diageo. @Whisky Lock
Yes they are a LVMH company. Apart from the independents, almost all Scotch whisky companies are in turn owned by huge multinational parent companies. When talking about Scotch whisky producing groups Diageo is by far the largest though.
What a lot of people don't realise is that Diageo actually owns a large share of the LVMH drinks division. So when you buy Ardbeg, Glenmo, Hennessy, etc you're STILL giving money to Diageo. It's all the illusion of choice and the world is much smaller than many people realise. I feel like less people care now than 10yrs ago though because Ardbeg with their weekly NAS committee releases for £120+ are no longer the 'quality whisky for the masses' underdog that they were 😕 Ardbeg 10 is still fantastic but they've cashed in on that reputation in a lot of people's eyes.
@@WhiskyLock oh wow, very interesting. Thanks a lot, I did not know that.
the Glenmorangie Tales series are a good investment, collectible bottles or it is actually core range?
I've not tried any of the Tales series yet. You think they'll go up in value?
Spot on!
I would totally agree with your analysis. I haven't bought a bottle of scotch for some time and have moved to rum which offers better value. I can buy a 12 year old tropical aged rum at 46 abv for about £45.
I've been saying this for a few years now... I really need to get into rum. It might be an economic necessity soon 😬
Great content & perspective , i agree with all your opinions
Cheers Brian 🥃
Superb content - thanks!
Cheers Doug 🥃
what do you feel about Balblair/Pulteney/Inver House Group?
Hi - I think they're doing OK. I think I like the recent Balblair rebrand more than most. While I miss the vintages I've enjoyed what I've tried from the new range too. I probably like the recent Pulteney rebrand a little less than most. The 12 is still ok but I don't think the new 15 or 18 are anywhere near as good as the old 17 which was my favourite. What do you think?
@@WhiskyLock Hey, thanks for the quick answer! =) I'm still early in my whisky experience (a little over a year) but I bought (on Ralfys advice) some Balblair 18 recently. For me, it is a great malt and experience. I cherish the integrity (NCF, natural color, ...) and the healthy ABV. Unfortunately, I cannot judge in comparison to the vintages and earlier releases, but with around 50+ malts tasted so far (I know thats not a lot haha), I allow myself to say that it is a fine malt. With Pulteney, I dont have so much experience so far, I tasted the 15 in a shop and bought a bottle which remains sealed so far. I think the integrity points about Balblair count here as well. Let's see what it will offer.
Shotout to you for mentioning Wolfburn and Arran. I think they are both amazing distillers and especially from Wolfburn there should be a lot more to come (I can highly recommend their special releases. A little pricy but integrity, unique and delicious malt.)
Good concept m8.
Thanks Henry 🥃
The price of Lagavulin 16 hasn’t changed in my area of Canada since I started buying it in 2014…it was $140 cad then and its $140 cad now…makes no sense
Sounds like maybe the distributors were making a massive profit in 2014 and now Diageo are? You're right, doesn't make a lot of sense. It's pretty much doubled in price here over that time.
Very relevant vid. Well done for tackling a distastefull subject head on. You reckon u got it bad price wise in the UK you want to try it down here in New Zealand. Alot of brands for me now are non purchase items full stop. I am very quickly learning who to support from here on in...Diageo, Ardbeg, Macallan, Springbank (you cant buy it anywhere anyway) are gone burger for my support....Edradour, Arran, Ledaig, Glenfarclas, Glenallachie, Ardnamurchan, Glencadam get my support because they still have a reasonably priced good quality craft presentation bottle somewhere in their ranges. Vote with your feet & thanks for having a go at a touchy subject. Cheers Pete
Thanks Pete. Our trusted distilleries are pretty much aligned. We need to vote with our feet as you say. Not just to discourage the piss takers but to support the ones who support us. Cheers 🥃
Very interesting and in my opinion correct view 👍 on the whisky industry
Cheers Jonathan 🥃
Great overview, difficult to argue with your summary - the big brands are now mostly luxury items now. I thought you might have mentioned the Inver House group of distilleries and given an opinion on their performance regarding value for money...or not?
I did miss Inver House. Or rather I left them out because I didn't want to be banging on for more than half an hour 😉 I appreciate all of you guys watching my videos but I know you have limits!
Inver House are doing well IMHO and not particularly gougy. I used to love Pulteney. A little disappointed with them since the rebrand but still doing OK. I've always loved Balblair and still really like what they're doing after the rebrand. I have several of their new whiskies and I'm really looking forward to reviewing them. It's only really their very old expressions that get pricey. Balmenach are very underrated. Not easy to find but often very good. I have a couple of bottles of 20 something Signatory Cask Strength Balmenachs. Beautiful 👍
@@WhiskyLock I find myself reaching past Pulteney and Balblair since the rebranding / repricing. Maybe I should go back a give them another chance, as I use to always have one or the other available to choose from. Hoping they don't rebrand AnCnoc anytime soon. Balmenach is not really a distillery that has been on my radar, so I will probably try some samples first and see how I get on...Thanks
@@alanmcneill3478 I'm still a little annoyed that Pulteney got rid of the wonderful 17. It was my favourite and I preferred it over any of their new releases. But that's just how it goes I guess...
The new Balblairs are different to the old vintage releases but still very good IMHO.
Samples are ALWAYS a wise move 👍
This was great! I come for the reviews, but I stay for the rants!
Couldn't agree with you more on most of the topics you touched on. NONE of the Diageo special releases look appealing AT ALL this year...the pricing!!!....those ridiculous labels were the final nail in the coffin.
And I don't think I'll ever forgive Ardbeg for the NFT "whisky"..
I wonder if the big mega-corporations will even notice a drop in sales if the whisky-enthusiast stops buying though? One can only hope...
Oh you're annoyed at Ardbeg? Have you heard the rumours that the next Committee Release (Hypernova) will sell for £190? 🤑 no thanks
I think it will take a large percentage of us to turn our backs on this kind of thing before it makes a difference. But we have to hope. Cheers 🥃
What about Glenallachie?
There are so many I cut out to keep things brief(er) 😉 a lot of them are the ones I didn't have hugely strong opinions of. I think the newly independent Glenallachie is doing well. I like the new expressions that I've tried although they are very cask heavy for me. I do prefer to see more of the spirit. But still fine whisky. In particular I think the 10CS is great fun and good value if you can get it for the original £55-60. I like it more than say the 15yo. Review coming soon-ish. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock I’m also not a big fan of the 15 (prefer the 12). About prices, everything is getting so expensive really. The Bunna 12 CS was released for a price around 75-80 lbs/euros. Do you think is a fair price?
@@ADSCP Yes everything is getting very expensive. It seems like whisky *drinkers* are no longer the target market for many distilleries.
No, I think £75-80 is too high for Bunna12CS. I reviewed last year's batch and said so then. A cask strength version of an existing whisky used to add around £15 to the price tag years ago which I think is fair. It more than covers the extra tax they have to pay and gives them a little extra profit for their troubles. IMHO a lot of distilleries who used to offer higher age statements as their high profit margin premium offerings are struggling to do that now and have taken to charging a premium for high ABV or whacky cask experiments or craft presentation. Which is a shame because it's pricing those out who appreciate whisky as a drink.
I've reluctantly started to do what many, including Ralfy, have been saying for years and started looking more seriously into malternatives to retain some value for money. I'll never fall out of love with Scotch but expect to see some rum reviews next year. Cheers 🥃
I boycotted Diegeo a couple years ago when they raised prices 30-40% during the USA tariff. Haven’t missed them at all.
Yes, the recent price hikes tell us exactly what Diageo think of their customers. Not a good look.
I do feel sorry for the distilleries they own and the honest hard workers making the whisky though. When the bubble bursts it will be them that suffer.
Did I miss a mention of J&G Grant (Glenfarclas)? It's frustrating that they don't release more stuff with natural presentation, but I still think that bang-for-you-buck wise, they're near the top. I feel like Inver House was missing from the discussion, too, and it seems to me they're doing a solid job producing some very decent whisky at mostly reasonable prices.
When it comes to Diageo, I kind of half agree with you? I bought my first ever bottle of Talisker 10 a little more than 20 years ago for $50, and for a long, long time, it seemed like it went up only marginally from there. The last couple of years, it has been retailing consistently for about $95. At that price, I'm almost better off just buying a bottle directly from the UK and paying the exorbitant shipping fees to have it sent to me via courier. On the other hand, the special releases are, after all special, so it's not amazing that they command kind of steep prices, and Diageo does a pretty nice job making stuff from almost every distillery they own at least somewhat available. Even in the States, it's not that hard to get stuff from the Flora and Fauna range shipped over.
To me, Pernod Ricard is hands down the worst big player in the industry. The handful of their distilleries that they even bother making available tend to be bottled at low abv and without natural presentation. And most of their stuff, you can't even get (arguably, no one wants Allt-a-bhainne anyway, but it's the principle of it).
Hi Michael. Yes I skipped a couple so I didn't end up exhausting you guy's patience of which I'm very grateful for on these longer videos 😉
Yes Glenfarclas are doing pretty well. Some improvements needed here and there on presentation as you say but their mid to upper age statement releases are now some of the more affordable after everyone else has hiked their prices. Cheers 🥃
I applied a simple rule in the last year since the whisky business got ahead of itself . Any thing over €100 has to meet the big 4 prerequisites with no exceptions. Age declared, Natural, no chill, and MINIMUM 46%. I'll no longer risk a bad buy at that level. I can't afford it at any level in fact.. But heres the thing.... there are vastly more expressions now. We all have choices and true whisky nerds will always find the gold among the pish.
Yes, we should all adopt that approach. At that price point it's really not too much to ask even if it means putting a low age statement on the label.
Well put, thoughtful and honest content!
The whiskies I've been ignoring and will most probably continue to ignore due to poor price/quality ratio are:
Macallan, Dalmore, Balvenie, Bowmore, almost everything OB from Diageo. Laphroaig is also blatantly overpriced in Bulgaria which have been keeping me from buying any except for a bottle of Lore, alternative import on special sale. Highland Park is also very poor value except for the Cask Strength "Robust and Intense" releases. Octomore is a brand I won't touch either. Glengoyne and Tamdhu have earned their (dis)honorable mentions too. The one brand I'm really sorry I've been ignoring is Glencadam. From all I hear and read their whisky is very well done and reasonably priced, yet in Bulgaria it is outrageously overpriced. A bottle of the 10 yo will have me part with almost the same money I have to pay for a bottle of Glenallachie 15 or 10 CS.
There is also a bunch of poorly presented brands, bottled at 40% and colored with E150a which I ignore whatever their price is.
On the other side, the big producers that still have decent product at reasonable price are Tomatin, Ardbeg and Glenmorangie with their core ranges, core ranges of Distell Group distilleries.
In the middle there are all those brands that are not so affordable in our market, but still have decent or even superb products worth buying like Speyburn, Edradour, Craigellachie, Aultmore, Benriach, Benromach, Glendronach, Aberlour, Bruichladdich/Port Charlotte, Glen Scotia. Springbank, Hazelburn, Longrow, Kilkerran are not available at all. There can be found some bottles of Hazelburn 10, Longrow Peated NAS or Springnank 10 that have been collecting dust on the shelves of some stores here and there but usually the price is ridiculous and there is no guarantee that those bottles have been kept well.
The best value, at least on Bulgarian market, comes from Arran, Glenallachie, Loch Lomond, AnCnoc.
Out of the celebrated new distilleries nothing is available except for Waterford and it is very reasonably priced. A bottle of say Oragnic Gaia can be had for 50-ish euros and they have been in stock for more than 2 years now. Occasional expressions of Bimber, Daftmill or some others have also made it to Bulgaria in the last year or two, but the prices have been "optimistic" to put it mildly. No Torabhaig, no Ardnamurchan, Rassay, Lindores Abbey, etc.
As for the indies, Signatory Vintage is what I usually buy as their stock is relatively available and affordable here. Followed by Douglas Laing. G&M use to be well better presented in our market but not any more.
Finally, my guilty pleasure of a whisky which comes at a bit salty price, but I still buy it, is Kilchoman. Loch Gorm in particular, for which I have to pay roughly 60-65 euros per bottle.
So, that's about it when it comes to Bulgarian market. The main point is we are trailing quite a bit behind what's going on in Western and Central Europe, therefore some whiskies are oddly cheap and some are overpriced or not presented at all.
Cheers!
Interesting situation over there that you're lagging behind and experiencing yesteryear prices. There used to be a few non whisky shops near me that would have very dusty bottles that would be pretty good value for the same reason but I think there are too many malt enthusiasts seeking them out now.
Good call on Tamdhu. I had one of their whiskies in the advent calendar last year. I think the 15yo. I liked it quite a lot but was out off when I saw the price for a bottle.
I haven't tried Waterford yet. Thanks for the recommendation 👍
@@WhiskyLock Mind you Waterford prices in UK, at least at big online retailers I check for reference every now and then, are plain absurd. I saw "The Cuvee" for 71.45 GBP which I would never pay. In Bulgaria I can buy it for 42.5 GBP which again is pretty much for young NAS whisky, but still bearable.
@@Nikolay_Nikolov I've been trying a lot of whiskies from new distilleries lately and I'd say the normal price in England for new distillery stuff is around £45. Which is fine considering they're mostly 46%, NCF and very good. I'll keep an eye out for a deal on Waterford. Cheers!
NB. Tormore is now independently owned by the owners of The Whisky Exchange. They plan to build a visitor centre and I hope and expect them to release some good integrity bottlings following the example set by Billy walker at Glendronach and Glenallachie. Hopefully it won't be too long.
Yes! Vaguely remember reading that soon. I hope they do good things with it.
I’ve been of a similar opinion for a while now. Scotch has jumped the shark. The good stuff knows it’s good and are charging what they can get away with. Diageo have been made to look good by how bad the others like Pernod Ricard and Whyte and Mackay are presenting their malts. I still think Talisker 10 and Lagavulin 8 are worth buying to drink provided they stay south of £50-£55 max. Caol Ila I’m only looking at IBs from now on (and I’m expecting a price surge for those to follow any day now). I love Distell (long may they run). Arran please keep doing what you are doing same goes to Ardnamurchan and Edradour. Bruichladdich could do more in my opinion especially with the Laddie. I’m waiting on Hedley Wrights passing becoming an opportunity for the corporate vultures to fly into Kintyre with suitcases of cash to buy springbank and Glengyle, pay off 3/4 of the staff, turn the malting floors into some high end visitor experience and ruin it forever. Rum anyone? 😂
I don't know if I'm more annoyed at companies like Pernod Ricard with their poor presentations or companies like Diageo. Oh wait, yes I do. It's Diageo because most of their presentations are awful too 😉
You may be right that there will be more Diageo prices surges. If they get away with it with Oban and Lagavulin then there will certainly be more to come.
Also agree about Classic Laddie. I love all the other Bruichladdichs but Classic Laddie is just lacking and nowhere near as good as the previous Laddie 10 single vintage release. I miss that one.
I know it’s 2024 so I’m late to the video. I agree that Scotch is getting expensive. If your someone who only drinks non chill filtered Scotch, you miss on good Scotch. Champagne is chill filtered to remove the yeast in the bottle and the wines can be fantastic.
It really is. The thing that saddens me most is that there are now flavour profiles which are just not accessible to the average drinker anymore.
You're right, there are great whiskies out there that can only be experienced chill filtered. Probably the entire Flora and Fauna range for example. It would of course be even better if made available natural though 😉 Cheers 🥃
Glenallachie are making better whisky than Macallan and their whisky is cheaper than anything else similar, including Glenfarclas. I am buying Glenallachie. Kilchoman is a bit more expensive, but it is worth the money. AnCnoc, too. Then there are the IBs. There are some very cheap Irish whiskies and bourbons, that are very good, so I buy a lot of those, too, like Whistler, Bushmills 10 (although I dislike the 16), Maker's, etc. And of course, I drinking more brandy, like Armagnac. If you want something old and special, Armagnac is the answer.
Agree with all your Scotch recommendations. I've had a bottle of Glenallachie 10CS for a while and I've really enjoyed it. The price did shoot up just after I got mine. Which may have just been retailers cashing in but if you can get it at RRP yeah it's great. I love Kilchoman and AnCnoc too. I've got a range of peated Ancnoc on my shelf. Agree about Bushmills 10 as well 👍
👌 Quality content. Thanks!
Thanks for watching! 🥃
Oban 14 is on whisky I used to always have on hand, but its gone up so much that it's really not worth buying. I could get bottles for $55 4-5 years ago, but now its $75 to even $105. Which is just crazy for decent, but not great whisky
Yes Oban 14 used to be a dependable value dram but it's just not anymore. Such a shame.
Thanks for this.
Considering Springbank group:
Here in Austria I can find Springbank 10 and Hazelburn for 55 €. Also Kilkerran 12 for 60€. Are those whiskies overpriced, or not? I drink them and enjoy them, but do you find them overpriced? Also the local supermarket offers Bladnoch 10&11 for 52€
Hi Charis. No I don't find those prices excessive and I would buy them at that price if I could. And I used to. The problem is that for me, the only way to buy most Springbank whiskies at all is auction. Or occasionally you find a specialist retailer that has some stock at an extremely marked up price. Not worth it. The only Springbank whiskies that I think are overpriced are things like Springbank 18, Longrow 21, things like that. The prices of those releases are cashing in on the current hype around the brand IMHO. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock many thanks for the fast feedback. Here in Austria, as far as I can see, we can still enjoy such whiskies with a reasonable price. Also Products from Blackadder (peat reek, smoking Islay, red snake, etc). They are cask strength and cost around 60-70€
@@lxiaspb sounds like you are fortunate. Is it because Springbank whiskies are not that sought after in Austria?
There very few people here in Austria, who really know about value for money (considering whisky). We have many rich Austrians, who are buying whiskies over 200-300 euros without any problems and at the same time many many sticking to Lagavullin, Bowmore, Glenlivet etc. There are very few, going a little bit further to the direction of Springbank, Arran, Glenallachie, etc.
Yes!
Haha, thanks Jason 🥃
Any Single Malt over $80 USD (don't care how old it is) is an expensive Pee. There are many good bottles around or less than $60 USD (Bunna 12, Arran 10, Deanston 12, Bruch Classic). People need to come to their senses.
Expensive pee indeed! And I agree with you. It doesn't matter how good some whisky is (or may be) there is a price limit where it's automatically just not worth it.
Spot on!!
Cheers 🥃
I think you forgot Inver House Group, atleast i did not hear them. They do a decent job I would say, not too bad.
I did indeed. Or rather I left them out because I didn't want to be banging on for more than half an hour 😉 I appreciate all of you guys watching my videos but I know you have limits!
ThaiBav / Inver House are doing well IMHO and not particularly gougy. I used to love Pulteney. A little disappointed with them since the rebrand but still doing OK. I've always loved Balblair and still really like what they're doing after the rebrand. I have several of their new whiskies and I'm really looking forward to reviewing them. It's only really they're very old expressions that get pricey. Balmenach are very underrated. Not easy to find but often very good. I have a couple of bottles of 20 something Signatory Cask Strength Balmenachs. Beautiful 👍
Very nicely presented video and thoughts. As usual, these would not be "troubling times ahead" for the industry as a whole, if "multinational conglomerates" (nod to Ralfy), who acquire distilleries at the drop of a hat, and, with a little lip service to the consumers to virtue-signal that they "care", go about immediately trying to grab as much profit as they can, jacking-up prices like a scone dealer after a hunger strike, thus sending loyal customers packing. The very customers that made the distilleries' reputations famous. Marketing teams do not make whisky. Distilleries make whisky. One of these days (maybe), investment firms will learn that the basic business model of making a good product, selling it at an affordable price, and gaining market share over time with loyal repeat customers, is more valuable than trying to rob the public for quick profits and driving away their loyal base. When we see this happening, we know what is going on, and have the right to steer-clear of those companies. Thieves should NOT be subsidized! Nobody is forcing us to buy anything (yet). Of course, government tax agencies are not a small part of the blame. When the average amount of tax (including VAT), is nearly $30 per bottle, how the hell can anyone expect whisky to be sold at a reasonable price to the consumers? Well, of course, that can be explained by the tax-man by using the old excuse that whisky is a luxury, not a necessity, and thus can be taxed at any rate that they damn-well choose🤬.. It's the hidden tax that the non-drinking public never sees, so it keeps the "average" voter from rioting in the streets. Sorry for the long rant. Keep up the good work, and keep the hope alive. Maybe we'll see a few new distilleries who want to make a name for themselves, and build a reputation that will grow and grow!
Hi! Agree with all of your points, especially in hoping that some of the new distilleries will offer a better mix of quality and value. I think they will and I think that will make a difference to the single malt market in the end.
I think a large part of our current problem is that decisions are being made by these multinationals with solely based on profit margins and targets. Probably by people who have never been to the distilleries or tasted the product. So they'll do whatever grows the numbers and (as demonstrated in the past) they have no issue with selling or closing a distillery that ceases to be useful 😡 In fact, closing some distilleries has been their most lucrative move (Port Ellen etc).
@@WhiskyLock Closing Port Ellen... SACRILEGE!!
Bang on.
Cheers and great username/photo 👍
Thank God for Ardnamurchan!!
They are making pretty great stuff. I have a review of one of their standard batches coming out in a few weeks and I also have an unopened bottle of Cask Strength that I'm really looking forward to!
@@WhiskyLock Opened a bottle of the 02/22 cask strength, palatable meat but two teaspoons of water hits the bliss point! Best value for money out there, Kilkkeran being a close second? Cheers
@@ryanmercer600 That's good to hear. Nothing surprising about such a young cask strength whisky benefitting from a small amount of water.
Kilkerran is great. Never had a bad one. Hard to get hold of but better than Springbank IMHO 👍
@@WhiskyLock Agreed, I have been fortunate living in Kentucky aka Bourbon country? I was able to get two bottles of Springbank local barley, two Springbank 15 and all the Kilkkeran line in 750 ml formats this year. They don’t fly off the shelves like in the UK?
@@ryanmercer600 I don't think much of it even gets as far as the shelf here in UK 😉
Late to the game here, but: yeah, somebody had to say it :-). My Malt of the Year 2022 is Arran 18, currently my absolute favorite.
Arran is a distillery that does wonderfully with a bit of age and sherry. And usually pretty fair prices. What's not to like 🙂
Regular Mortlach 16 is over £100 so the special one has to beat that I guess
The craziness is widespread already! They're both massively overpriced IMHO. Nothing at 43% should be over £100 or anywhere close.
I can't remember how much Mortlach 16 used to sell for as part of the Flora and Fauna range but I'm sure it was far less. Sad...
🥃😁 love an honest opinion.
Always honest 🙂 no sponsors to please here 👍
As I'm more to sipping and tasting whiskies, rather than drinking, I'm buying what ever is on sale at the current time. If Glenlivet 12 - is ~23 euro now... so, my next whisky is this one.
Nothing wrong with Glenlivet 12 at that price 👍 we all have to seek out value in times like these 🥃
@@WhiskyLock it is not my favourite 12ye SM, but this is the only one I can find for lowest price :) Some other whiskies, I've never tried before (Old Pulteney 12, Bushmills 10, Sexton, Deanston VO, etc) are only 4-5 euro more.
@@log0log no probably not anyone's favourite 🙂 but it's a classic and very enjoyable style. MUCH better than that Founders Reserve NAS rubbish they tried to replace it with.
I like Bushmills 10 (I've reviewed it already). I like OP12 but the low ABV is frustrating. Good prices too. I haven't tried Sexton but I do have an unopened bottle of Deanston Virgin Oak that I'm looking forward to trying 👍
I was pretty surprised to see this year’s Lagavulin release is almost exactly the same as their Féis Ile release (12 years, cask strength, virgin oak finish), which itself was incredibly disappointing. Maybe they’ve given up trying to sell that for £165 a bottle, and they’re now trying £135 with a different label instead‽ I’ll certainly be giving it a miss.
That's a good point that I hadn't thought of. I was looking forward to the Lag and Caol Ila Feis bottles but noped out when I saw the £165 price tag. I should've mentioned those! Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Of the two of them, the Caol Ila was miles better. The two years in virgin oak was way better integrated, and didn’t overpower the rest of the experience. Plus it was three years older, and more “exclusive”, with about half the total number of bottles. I don’t know what Diageo were thinking with that Lagavulin, but even the staff at the distillery were criticising it, and one well-known member of staff said the cask finish had “ruined it”!
@@alexanderwatson4316 it's always sad when even the distillery staff don't agree with what they're being told to make 😕
I guess all of us are split between rationality and fear of missing out.
If everyone would just buy as much as he drinks within 12 months, he very probably might have to pay higher prices in the next year, but I am sure that the approximately 150 bottles that gathered in my stash (and thousands of others in theirs) had their part in raising prices.
I tried to take it more slowly, but I‘m still buying more than I drink.
the Talisker 8 2021 was not worth the money at all, very poor maturation, very crisp very young but the Oban 12 2021 was amazing also I dont mind to buy any Special Release in the future
I have a sample of one of the 8yo Talisker Special Releases somewhere. Never bought a bottle because I've never thought Talisker is that great at a young age. Whenever I see it as the cheap option in the Special Releases range it always seems like a trick... 😒
I started boycotting Diageo whiskies over eight years ago following their outrageous pricing of their annual 'special releases'. I haven't bought a bottle since. My cash gets spent elsewhere.
That's fair. If you read Diageo press releases then you'll see that they're not even trying to hide their mission to drive whisky prices up.
While I'm glad Diageo are currently keeping dozens and dozens of distilleries open... they're definitely not the most deserving of our money.
Diageo does a lot of bad things but they do some good. Also before I go any further I have boycotted some of their releases based on price. Now the good things I think are that the Lagavulin 16, Clynelish 14, Singleton 18 have stayed at the same price level in my area. No huge bumps because of tariffs. For me Beam Suntory owned distilleries can go to hell. Another thing I think Diageo does well is they let Independent bottlers get barrels from their distilleries and most of those are at a fair price for now.
Yes agreed. As bad as Diageo can be they are keeping a hell of a lot of the Scotch industry going and they do make a lot of whisky from their workhorse distilleries available through IB and Flora and Fauna which is more than can be said for many others.
It's their practice of pricing whisky drinkers out that annoys me most at the moment. But I still wouldn't wish for their demise. That would be awful for everyone. A gentle wake up call would be nice though.
Interesting that Lagavulin 16 has stayed the same price where you are. Fingers crossed they don't spot that for a while 😉
Glen Garioch are really overlooked imo. Fantastic value for money on the 12 yr old. Good whisky at a fair price. And that’s all we ask for, really. Plus it’s 48% and seemingly craft presented. Massive exception from the rest of the BS owned distilleries
Good shout. I've enjoyed Glen Garioch in the past but keep forgetting to review it. I shall put that right soon. Cheers! 🥃
True🥃🥃
👍🏻
You need to explore the bourbon market
I must admit that it's not something I look at regularly these days. How is it? Any recommendations?
I avoid Diageo like the plague now.
I'm hearing a lot of people saying the same. Maybe even enough for Diageo to take notice 😉 And while I'm not against a boycott I don't really feel like I have to because between their high prices and poor presentations they don't have that much that interests me at this point! They're not doing themselves any favours...
Old whisky RUclips reviews are like: I picked up this bottle of Oban for £30, but don't worry, if you can't afford that, just pick up the fantastic White Horse blend from your local newsagents
Exactly that! I wonder what people will think looking back 10 years from now? I can quite believe that they'll be shocked at us having affordable 12-15yo whisky. Perhaps we're heading into a time where higher ABVs replace age statements. Like Lagavulin 16 (43%) -> Lagavulin 8 (48%).
If i really like something and it's hard to find i have no problem paying extra.
But it's not like there's going to be a shortage anytime soon. FOMO is a very poor financial advisor.
It really is. But it can be a great salesman...
@@WhiskyLock true and i will be the first to Admit i sometimes fall for it.
I like what Ardbeg is doing. They have limited editions for every budget and a solid core range that keeps the price fair.
I’m obviously in the minority here, as I assume you’ve got a following of like minded individuals. Your’e certainly right to your opinion and I don’t necessarily disagree but it doesn’t take into account that everything has increased in price dramatically this year. It’s not a whisky thing. I’m not sure where you live but in the US everything from food to gas has gone crazy. We all make choices as to whether or not something has value to spend on. My wife and I used to eat out many nights a week and we’ve just stopped because the cost of a meal out just isn’t worth it to us. I’d rather spend a $150 on a nice whisky that will last years than a marginal meal that we’ll forget in a day. It’s expected that whisky prices will increase. That’s kind of life. Expecting prices to remain what they were in the past is weirdly naive. Distilleries are businesses, they’re there to make a profit not to give whisky enthusiasts cheap product.
I also don’t really have a huge issue with Diagio trying to raise the status of whisky either. Their prices are a bit inflated but no one makes anyone buy their product. There are plenty of other options. We visited Scotland this summer and tried most of the special release, some of them were excellent including the Laga 12 which may be a bit overpriced but was fantastic and so good we not only bought one but had it shipped to us. Personally a gorgeous bottle is a selling point to me. I’m not a fan of bland poor marketing. I don’t buy ugly books, or ugly clothes and there’s no reason I need to buy ugly bottles. It’s shallow for sure but looks matter.
Lastly I Disagree on the finishing, new unique whiskies are vital to keeping things interesting. I’d much rather things travel that direction than getting hundreds of bottles of the same old shit. SMWS pricing is far more onerous than Diagio and yet I still find wonderful value and interesting tastes in their releases.
In the end you just basically complained about almost every distillery which begs to say that your just seriously out of touch and in denial about the current cost of the hobby. And weirdly you highlighted as a positive Bunnahabhain and Tobermory who were insanely overpriced when we visited. Far higher than most of the other distilleries and we visited over thirty.
Like a number of other well known RUclipsrs who I stopped watching because of all the get of my lawn old man ranting, this just sounds the same. After watching a number of your videos for a while now the new constant thread is the endless complaints about prices. It’s just tiring.
But all the loud social media naysayers are just wrong. Just went to our local SMWS tasting the last two months and they were overbooked with too many people, many of them new hobbyists. The industry grows every week. I’ll happily keep buying scotch as long as I can and when I can’t then it will stop being a hobby for me. That won’t be the fault of the hobby.
Hi Forrest. Everyone is welcome to their opinion and they're all equally valid. Thanks for taking the time to reach out. I expected more people to disagree with me to be honest but so far it seems like a lot of folk are getting sick of not being able to afford the whisky that they used to buy.
I wouldn't say I complained about all or even most distilleries though. Not on price. It's really just Diageo and a few others like Macallan, Dalmore, etc who are hiking prices. And I'm not talking about just the last year. The prices of certain whiskies has been going up well above inflation for more than a decade. Example: I stopped buying Highland Park 18 in 2015 when the price went from around £60 to over £100 in one big jump. If they had increased the ABV and dropped the chill filtration at the same time that might have been OK but like Diageo, they won't.
I mentioned Distell because of their core range. Example; Deanston 18 £75. Ledaig 18 is only a little more. For that money at Oban you're looking at 43% and significantly younger. And you have to add £100 to get an 18yo Talisker.
I wouldn't say that changing the price of Talisker 18 from £75 to £175 is elevating Scotch. It's pretty much the opposite and that's what I have a problem with. 'Premiumisation' is the word that Diageo use. Ie, moving the good stuff out of reach of normal people. They're keeping the same poor presentations that they've been offering for decades and pricing things so that people have to buy DOWN a level or two. It's the distilleries offering craft presentation and TRANSPARENCY that are elevating Scotch. And that's almost never Diageo.
You are right that it's not all doom and gloom though. There is still good Scotch to be had for a fair price, it just takes a bit more searching. And I do know what you mean about Tobermory being expensive at the distillery. When I was there they had a bunch of 18-21yo Ledaig and Tobermorys with various cask finishes for three figures a pop and none were as interesting as the standard Ledaig 10 at a third of the price. Distell core range is where it's at. Just my $0.02
Shop round is the key I got Bruicladdich 50% £34, Aberfeldy 15yr off Amazon £29, Wolfburn Latitude £33 Dalwhinnie Gold Waitrose £28, inchmoan £32 seek n you find try Threshers online MoM flash etc ect
Good point. I think I got my Classic Laddie for even slightly less than that which makes it good value IMHO.
Luckily you don't have to resort to Amazon or supermarkets to get some good discounts these days 👍