ralfy review 1043 Extras - Time for a RANT in the Bothy.
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 15 сен 2024
- / ralfy . This is my Patreon channel, for videos released 24 hours early and with an extra weekly 'Update' video. Every month there is also a 'BothyLive' 90 minute live-stream from the bothy with a Q&A.
My Books 'Search For A Whisky Bothy', 'Stories From A Whisky Bar' and 'Life, Death & Whisky' are all on sale at Amazon and proper book shops.
www.oswa.co.uk - An online democratic award programme identifying the best spirits worth buying for each year.
For more whisky info & stuff, SUBSCRIBE to 'ralfydotcom'
Subscribe to my other RUclips Channel 'Fitter Philosophy'
This video represents a personal opinion and perspective only.
To comply with Google Adsense policy this video is an independent non-profit review and is not knowingly selling or linking to a site that sells the product being reviewed.
'Ralfydotcom' is brought to you by The Irish Sea Trading Co: Ltd:
A British TV licence is NOT required to view my videos or almost every other video on RUclips.
ALL items reviewed have been bought from a retailer at market prices within the U.K. unless specified by the presenter. No 'samples', 'free stuff', or gifts are accepted, so please do not try to send them, thank you.
NOTE - This Channel is not empowered and delivered by A.I. technology yet.
I WILL NEVER CONTACT YOU DIRECTLY THROUGH THIS CHANNEL except to reply to comments. Anyone who contacts you pretending to be me is a FAKE , and probably looking to SCAM and DEFRAUD you. Beware of imposters.
Finally Ralfy is naming the worst offending distilleries!
The usual suspects, as always
Almost half an hour of a Ralfy rant?…. Yep, I’m pouring a dram and sitting tight for this. Great viewing guaranteed 😎
Awesome Rant that needed to be said! Thank you Ralfy!! Because if sites like yours the public is so much better informed! Every time I go to the shop those brands are loaded to the gills. People are not buying them! Change or die!
Now, Now, Ralfy, no holding back.
Always remember, everyone, you don't NEED alcohol, alcohol needs YOU.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero. " Voltaire.
The intrinsic value of paper "money" is the value of the actual paper.
Aussie here. Earlier this year I traveled to Scotland and stopped by Glen Ord (singleton) distillery on my way back to Glasgow from the highlands. Immediately I felt that fakeness of branding that comes with every newly renovated Diageo distillery (they all look the same). The whisky was very sanitised and dull. Back in Glasgow I stopped by the Bon accord and by coincidence they had Ralfy’s Indi bottling of single cask, cask strength glen ord behind the bar. I cannot stress how profoundly different the whisky experience was. It was insanely good, and I just couldn’t fathom how a distillery could make such exceptionally high quality whisky but decide to castrate and sanitise their official representations of the brand.
Thank you for your honest and straightforward appraisal.
I applaude you for speaking out so frankly. It was high time sb mentioned all these grievances and enlightened people about it and i think you're totally right with everything you said. Steady as you go mate!
Just had an email today in Ireland with a bottle of the week special offer. Talisker 18..... only €210. And btw, that was more than a rant. It was a cutting critique in fact.
It's still around 150 euros at most online retailers, 130ish in sale (but not avabilable at that price all the time, unlike the 10 for 30 euros). Any store asking more is just ripping you off.
I have a feeling this rant might actually be noticed by some of the "old boys" in the industry. I hope they peruse the comments, too. The reality is, though: the single malt market is bifurcated - there are the geeks/aficionados (Malt Mates), and then there are the status-flashers who buy bottles for conspicuous consumption. The truly (filthy) rich aren't buying overpriced core range malts, they are snapping up the truly rare dusty bottles, no matter the price - these bottles are out of reach of any of us mere mortals. It's the people with slightly more wealth than median (aka upper middle class) who want to feel rich, they buy the luxury labels to project and flaunt their wealth. "Good luck to them". And some brands realized that it's lucrative to cater to them. Oh, well. I don't miss Macallan, Dalmore or Glendronach. I do miss Lagavulin and Bowmore, but not enough to buy them. There are more independently bottled and even officially bottled malts out there than most of us can ever taste, and many of them are like this Deanston 18.
This rant was epic and on point. Love that you're not afraid to say what needs to be said about the industry!
Thank you for keeping it real. I appreciate you Ralfy. Voices like yours are so important. I hope you are heard.
I am sticking to independent bottlings, GlenAllachie, Arran, Glencadam, Kilkerran, Deanston and Bruichladdich. I am not buying from these corporate sausages again.
All top TOP stuff brother
@@drpapa26👍. Unfortunately with each passing year it seems the scotch whisky industry is becoming more & more consolidated amongst a few major players, and it's getting progressively harder to avoid Diageo & Pernod Ricard's tentacles. And unfortunately even by going the IB route, we're still often lining the megacorps' pockets (they're selling the spirit to IB's in the first place) - but we can at least take some comfort in the fact that they're getting a considerably smaller chunk of our money in buying IB's vs. OB's.
(Edit: typo)
What a coincidence, lm exactly the same.
Condescending flatulence!!! 😂 Tell 'em Ralfy
I absolutely love this video! I know none of the distilleries mentioned here will wake up but at least someone shared his honest feelings about their PRODUCTS. Good job Ralfy!
%100 Agree ralfy, thank you for your help in navigating the world of whisky.
Ledaig 18 still around 90 quid as well ( another Ralfy favourite) worth noting deanston and ledaig have the same parent company I believe so are still delivering great whisky across their range
We do love a Ralfy rant! and every word of this one is so TRUE!! Let's hope the days of distillery marketing BS come to an end soon but I doubt they will anytime soon
I hate the word 'rare', rare my arse, warehouses are full of these 'rare' casks
@@jasonmossman3680they are rare indeed because they are so far out of quality 😅
Completely agree with you, Ralfy. Recently got my hands on an independent bottling of a Dalmore from the SMWS. I enjoyed it immensely, being reminded that there's often good whisky in there that never sees the light of day prior to being chill filtered and watered down in the standard releases.
Preach it, Ralfy! Wonderful rant, thanks for all you do for us whsky fans. Cheers, mate!
I was watching this on another device and i logged in on purpose to say i support the "rant" 100%!
Love Deanston holds a very special place in my heart and whisky journey..have some land that a river flows through Balquhidder that the water in Deanston whisky has in it…it’s a great distillery tae visit as well as it was originally a cotton mill designed by Richard arkwright who designed and built a lot of mills in Derbyshire England they also built the houses next tae the mill which is worth the visit alone tae see it’s also the only distillery in Scotland to be self-sufficient in electricity, with power generated by an on-site hydro-energy facility.
Macallan 18 at 4 times the price of the Deanston 18!
That's daylight robbery, and it needs calling out!
Thank you, Ralfy.
IF ONLY THE DISTILLERIES WOULD LISTEN. they would sell so much more and we would be happy with our purchases
Well said sir! The wonderful thing and also our advantage is choice. I choose to buy Deanston, Arran, Port Charlotte, Springbank, Kilkerran and not Macallan or Dalmore. Thanks to your channel we consumers are much better educated. 😃🙌🏾
Well said Ralfy. At Amazon in UK £64 or £58 with subscription, just remember to cancel after first order.
Oh, this is so true. I am more then 20 years on my whisky-journey. And since I like to drink my whisky, I am not paying 100ts of Euro. But the last 5-7 years the prices of 12-15 yo Whiskeys are going up like crazy. And then the big distillers came up with the Idea of making brand-names without any info about year or cask. I am really fed up with this and so I am more and more turning away from scotch, especially the big brands. Because you can get high quality Irish whiskeys and there are really good Bourbons if you search the web. Japanese whiskeys are also fine, but way to expansive.
Thanks to ralfy I know, there are some scotch whisky brands, that can be trusted (like the Craigellachie 13 yo armagnac, i bought in june). But they are hard to get here on the continent. And since Brexit the prices are even higher in the EU, then in the UK.
Your feelings were well vented. Ralfy, you certainly let fly and thanks for highlighting the offenders. Thanks to you I’m no longer buying whisky at 40% ABV, but buying nothing less than 46.3% ABV and for the reasons you are always mentioning in your reviews. Thanks again for your advice, which is so honest. And now to my bottle of Deanston 12y/o.
Phenomenal rant Ralfy. 👍
Ralfy, don't ever stop ranting (occasionally)! There's no way to measure how much your ranting contributed to more and more distilleries releasing "integrity" bottlings, even exclusively. But I'm certain that it's not a trivial measure. This particular soap box now has an audience in the hundreds of thousands (not all who watch are subscribers). This thing has legs now. It's been fascinating to watch!
The ‘original’ Glenlivet ‘Nadurra’ 16 yr old whisky @ 48% abv, is a stunning dram…
Yes, that 48% expression was the 1 Litre Travel retail exclusive. Very tasty stuff but not as good as the 70cl versions that were bottled at Cask Strength. I'm going to make you jealous now. A few years ago I came across a sweets, nuts and gift shop at the Bar Ilan junction in Jerusalem, selling bottles of the Nadurra 16 for a ridiculously cheap price. They had 6 bottles there. I bought them all and still have 3 left.😁😁😁😁😁
@@RebMordechaiReviews 😂 You are right, I am extremely envious! I have a similar story about the old Scapa 16 yr old, of which me and a friend found 6 bottles on an obscure website, for way under the rrp and between us snaffled them up! It’s still the best tasting 40%abv whisky I’ve tasted and not just because of the price!! 😀
@@jimster24 Ha Ha. We seem to have similar tastes in quality whisky. I also have a few bottles of Scapa 16 and 14 in my "stash".
What a sad situation that Scapa is prevented (I'm using my words carefully), from producing the excellent spirit we know they can produce.
If Pernod Ricard don't want to invest in Scapa and allow it to grow then they should sell it to someone else. It's simply abuse by neglect, IMO.
in the US they were batch-strength, so closer to 60% (varied by batch). Stunning, indeed! I don't think I ever bought a Glenlivet since.
@@dram_kruzhok Are you by any chance referring to one of the first and arguably one of the best Cask Strength Nàdurra16 batches, from 2006, which was 59.2% abv? I think it was Batch 1206B. The Nàdurra 16, which began in 2003 as a Duty Free Exclusive ,1 Litre bottled at 48%, unlike all other Glenlivets, was bottled at high abv, Non Chill Filtered and natural colour, hence the name 'Nàdurra" which means "natural" in Scots Gaelic! They then introduced the cask Strength batches (700/750ml) into local markets.
Ironically, as cask quality gradually went down over the years, they started added E150a colouring to later editions of natural "Nàdurra" until the 16 was discontinued around 2014.
Watch out for the very first batches of the "New" Nàdurra First-Fill No-Age Statements from 2015 which went back to being Non-Chill-Filtered and natural Colour and bottled at a whopping 63.1% abv !!!! They were amazing. Sadly, recent batches have been disappointingly thin on flavour.
The best Dalmore whisky I ever had was a Gordon & Macphail independant 57.4% bottling, it was an amazing experience and just shows what Dalmore is capable off ! Its a massive shame they ( Dalmore) seem to put profit first over quality !!
@@burkeredh Costs between $150-200 USD in America
@@burkeredh their Vintage 18 yo is up to $300 USD, but is at good strength and non chillfiltered
I loves me a good RaRa (Ralfy Rant)! Thanks, true, informative and entertaining.
Ardbeg turned me off a good while ago with the 'Play School' branding. Their marketing and design department must be twice the size of the production department. Fair dues though they still have integrity bottles - just ridiculous prices.
@@jamesw6403 Not sure if you've seen the latest, but details of two upcoming Ardbeg bottlings have been released - even by their recent Ardbeg Day / Committee limited release standards, they were shockingly bad. First up was the return of Ardbeg 17yr after a 20'ish year hiatus. An older age statement from Ardbeg, tough to go wrong with that, right? Well... they've decided to bottle it at 40% ABV. And secondly, they've just announced details of the next iteration of Ardbeg Anthology, which will be a 15yr called The Beithir's Tale... The labelling contains a real howler, or as Ralfy would say, absolute flannel - "special designer charred casks". Special designer casks? What utter bollocks. Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy advertising strikes again. I just hope to hell they don't touch the core range.
What do all these malts have in common? Parent company owenrship. Dalmore is owned by Whyte & Mackay. Macallan is owned by Edrington. Glenlivet is owned by William Grant's. Glengoyne is owned by Ian Macleod. The only language that talks to a multi-national corporation is pure and simple profit at the absolute expense of product quality.
Grab the Steampunker. that card read 87.
Thanks for the rant. Learning more every day from you. I will be joining your Patreon for even more information.
We need a rally top 50 for value and availability list asap
vote for the OSWAs and we may get that list!
I love a good ralfy rant
Thank you for covering important points like "age statement is just a guideline" and "quality of oak casks". Just as so many new whisky destillerys arrive in the market with partly incredible finishings in good quality casks an 8 or 10 year old spirit can outperform a 16 year old 40% chill filtered whisky, double the price. It's just as simple as Ralphy says, read the internet statements, watch tastings, decide for yourself and use your nose and tongue to decide good brands from show off brands. Thanks you for your opinion Ralphy, it's appreciated.
Thank you Ralfy, time well spent, some things needed to be said.
one other problem though is...we dont want other distilleries to end up like springbank where they cant make it quick enough and prices have spiralled, you are lucky to see a 10 let alone a 15 or an 18 these days, which is a crying shame and its basically vanished from shops
Good rant Ralfy. I’ve never had a Dalmore or a Macallan, and unless something happens on their side, I’m going to keep it that way. The Glenlivet Nadurra is quite good (at least my version), but I’m done with the official bottles (even though it was my “gateway” to single malt). Wish you a great week 😊
Amazing rant as always, and I couldn't agree more. We have to leave the brands that take the piss behind.
Cheers 🥃
Luckily there are huge amounts (more than we will ever need) of great whisky available at sensible prices. No need at all to deal with brands that take the mick.
I love a good Ralfy Rant, this did not disappoint!
I would like to see this kind of clairvoyance be more general instead of all the manipulaation and hypocricy we usually are surrounded with. Thanks Ralfy, and mates, please remember to click "like".
Hello Ralfy, I agree and I thank you for your video. Many people would save their money if they had listened to your advice. 👍🏻🥃
Glenlivet Illicit edition is the only bottle from them I’ve ever thought to be even close to excellent. And it’s both fair priced and fair quality at a high ABV. More of this please!
The 16 year Nadurra is a classic Ralfy review. But to wash out a Laphroaig cask with Glenlivet NAS and ask $100 is shit.
The illicit is very good and I'm tempted by some single casks but I thank my lucky stars everyday that I never spent a penny on any 40% corporate whisky.
Actually it was all Ralfy and 46% just seemed like a better value.
Whisky world needs more such rants! Things have to be said, brands have to be named. By independent aficionados and informed and experienced experts like Ralfy. Thank you!
Malty Mendacious, Melancholy Macaws.
It's very good to see a few groups like CVH, Adelphi, Angus Dundee, Isle of Arran and J&A Mitchel that are still charging fairly for their whiskies. It's our role, as consumers, to stop buying those that aren't treating us fairly....
Interesting comment about your freedom to express an opinion. A guy with a small off-road channel in Australia tested a brand of battery for his 4wd vehicle. He found the battery didn't perform to the advertised specs, said so, and swapped it out for another brand. The company is suing him. The case has attracted international attention. If the company didn't know about the Streisand effect already they certainly do now. Hopefully the unfavourable publicity will dissuade other companies from pursuing similar litigation.
Excellent stuff bit surprised you didn't mention "pish" once but better to provide a more measured and professional opinion i suppose 👍🇬🇧
I have seen another whisky blog today that intimates that the market is saturated and that some distilleries are slowing down and/or stopping production at some sites. Reselling / Flipping market starting to be affected, which is good news as some bargains to be gotten.
Very well told Ralfy. I love Deanston and Arran. I would love to tast Glengoyne and Balvenie unchillfiltered natural color 46%. I hope some day.
This is literally what I think by quite a long time. Hopefully Diageo's ears are ringing loudly.
Another interesting, good Ralfy Rant! I won't buy a 40-43% bottle at a price that I know I can get a 46% bottle for. As for releasing higher age statement bottlings at 40-43%, I don't understand why they do this. Why would you go to the effort and expense of maturing something for 15, 18 or 21 years or more, just to chill-filter it and strip out a big chunk of flavour? That doesn't make sense to me. I wonder if the owners of these companies who are making these decisions actually drink their whisky. But I really feel bad for the production people actually making the whisky at some of these "high-priced brand" distilleries. They are often producing good whisky, as can be attested to by the IBs who are purchasing their distillate and releasing good whiskies. But the owners make decisions that diminish their work and instead choose to pay mega bucks in marketing and advertising. I would hate to work for a company like that. And now to make things worse, some of the larger players are reducing what they make available to IBs which means the work and skill of these production people will be even further diminished. I think it is good that Ralfy and other whiskytubers are calling this out and raising our awareness. There are good people at these distilleries who are producing good whisky. But the owners need a wakeup call. Cheers!
I think all of us have been given an education the past couple of years in prices being grossly inflated by sheer corporate greed. Nothing is untouched, it seems.
Non chill filtered on the label doesn't always mean it hasn't been barrier filtered into oblivion. I put the Classic Laddie in my fridge with water and it was cloudy next morning. I tryed it with a Laphroaig non chill filtered and it wasn't very cloudy...a little.
Deanston, Ancnoc, Glen Scotia & Tomatin, all solid 18 year olds, all still available under 100 pounds (in Germany at least)
Ledaig 18 too (mostly). One of the finest core range 18yo too imo
In Hungary you cant get Deanston 18 right now, Ancnoc Tomatin are 100 pounds (125 euros), Glen Scotia is 115 pounds, Ledaig is 120 pounds.
@@NeilImmortal Loch Lomond & Speyburn are two more very solid, integrity bottled 18yr olds that are very good value at ~ £80-90.
Couldn't agree more with your rant about the general state of core-range Scotch whisky these days. Just watch the video uploaded a few minutes ago on The Whisky Baron RUclips Channel entitled:
Duty Free Whisky At Glasgow Airport 2024
The whole "Duty Free" airport shop is full up with the brands you just mentioned in your video, Ralfy. Despite rows and rows of glitzy looking bottles, it's a sad situation where there is almost nothing of interest for real whisky enthusiasts in the Travel Retail whisky stores nowadays. It's all targeted at the gullible and ignorant punters who are fooled into thinking they are buying something special. It's a total scam, IMO.
Found a litre of balblair 12 at Newcastle Airport last week ,45 quid ,no bad
@@pigeon8327 I love Balblair 12. Very well made whisky. 100% Ex-Bourbon barrel matured.
There comes a point where the integrity of the trust associated with a piece of paper is worth more than a bottle of dishonestly priced whiskey.
Thanks Ralfy.. Just bought a bottle of the Deanston 18 at £64.67 special offer on Amazon.. Value!
Thanks for the heads up on that Deanston 18 price - I just bought one. Bargain price. Slainte !
Nice 1, better than £89 from whisky exchange!
Thanks,got one as well
Can drop it to £58.20 right now with the additional subscribe & save discount - free to do & you can immediately cancel after ordering. I think Deanston 18 is worth ~ £90-100, at under £60 it's virtually unbeatable value.
Thanks you dear Ralfy… I am enjoying a Tobermory 12 as I watch. Interesting it is also 46,3%. I am enjoying all your advice and guidance. Grazie 🙏 ciao, S.
Tobermory/Ledaig, Bunnahabhain, Deanston, all 46.3% minimum. Same parent company for all three distilleries
Very informative rant, Sir, thank you!
Thankyou Ralfy for being such a loud voice for us MultiMate’s against these insulting practices.
We Malt mates have power way beyond these companies advertising & hype.
Sound advice, as always. Thanks Ralfy. I'm of to buy a bottle of Craigellachie 13.
Time for a Speyburn 18 review Ralfy? Can be had for around £85 and it's 46% and non chil-filtered.
Agreed
Many thanks ! Collect the facts, speak the truth.
Ardbeg introduced the „New and Old like Back then“ 17yo Special Edition. It should bring back the Glory of the long Time missed Version.
So they put soooo much Work into the New Version to find a perfect Recipe for reproducing it.
And because of the old Days the changed their Production process and dilute it to 40% and extra Chill-filter it for the original Taste.
WHAT a Marketing BS !!!!
😂😂😂
I probably never buy anything from them again after reading this, because
they dont listen to their Customers and still trying to squeeze out every Penny they can get, instead of just doing it right.
Great Video as always Ralfy.
I hope i see more „Realtalk“ from you.
Well done Ralfy. I love it when you don’t pull your punches. I will forward this to our small whisky group in Ontario. By the way I picked up the Deanston 18 for a less than 90 pounds and will toast you when I get a chance to share it with my Canadian malt mates. Bravo.
Thanks for the honest, well-expressed comments, Ralfy. My favourite was "make the wheel rounder".😀 Delicious irony.
There are reasons Suntory spent billions to buy Beam. ONe of them is consistent and quality casks.
Absolutely great rant. Really appreciate the honesty and that you have remained true to yourself over the years.
Ralfy for Prime Minister. Just joking - you are too good for it. Thank you for everything you do.
Remember the Campaign for Real Ale? It got rid of the Watney's of this world and gave everyone a chance to drink the traditional-style cask bitters that require a hand-pump and bar staff that know how to keep their ales. It was a very successful campaign. Ralfy is a one-man campaign for real malt whisky. That's why we listen to him. That's why we need him.
If you want a ripoff Dalmore try the King Alexander at 40% No age statement and e150 added at £250 give or take
I saw Macallan are selling a 81year old bottling this week for £215.000.00 hahaha , get it right up ye Macallan
Dram of ardnamurchan sauternes poured bring on the 🔥🤬
What do you think of that AD? I've been a little underwhelmed so far, expected a bit more from an 8 year old. It's nice enough and the quality is there I just find it's a bit too light
@@simonsherratt1484please let me put in my tuppence worth.
AD makes excellent distillate and it is well put together in terms of cask quality and blending. There is a real skill there.
That it isn't extortionate in its pricing is refreshing and only adds to its appeal.
It matures early at 7-8 years so it will be interested where it is at after we start getting 12+ year.old bottlings. There could be something great in the offing.
Whilst it isn't my go to dram - it is probably not got that fustiness I really like - there is always a bottle about the house.
Cheers
Quite the rant. Nothiing better than some honesty from someone you trust.
Great video! Same thing is happening in cigars, at least in terms of flannel marketing and crazy prices!
Whyte & Mackay releases these premium price products yet treats their workforce terribly, if they are doing that their staff think about what type of materials they will be buying?
I must admit I have been a sucker many times over in my Scotch journey. I own many Dalmore and McCallan whiskeys that now just sit on my shelves. Not for some time now and never again thanks to paying attention to Ralfy and other like him on RUclips. Never believe price equals quality. I have learned to pay attention to integrity bottling and that has changed my tasting experiences for the better in every way imaginable. Thanks Ralfy for your time, efforts, and knowledge put into reviews.
I rate this rant a 10/10. Bravo!
Giving Glenlivet a half a pass with the recent Original Series bottlings being quite good @48% abv. and fairly priced just as the 18 in Germany. But they need to bring Nadurra back for sure. They mostly produce for the mass market but are not pretending to offer the latest limited exclusive stuff... ;-)
Have more of a problem with how Glengoyne has developed over the years, especially in regards to pricing older stuff and their Teapot Dram. They seem to consider themselves a craft distillery with exclusive gems but won't even up their core range to 46% abv. or assure superior cask quality except for special bottlings 😞
You’re a precious gem ralfy, rant on love, rant on
Well, massive markups in the luxury markets is old news. We all fall for it at least sometimes. For example I got a litre bottle of Walker Blue Label in the garage, cost me £165 in a tax free shop. Too much for the quality? Yes but I haven’t tasted it so since it was tax free ok I bought it. Will se if a proper occasion turn up so it can be opened…
This is the way the american bourbon market is going. Jack daniels 10 and 12 yaer olds, at over £300 -400, and made to seem mythical. Pappy van winkle, bufalo trace and their £2000 specials. I made my mind up long ago. Im not spending anymore than two hundred pounds for a bottle of whisky, and that bottle has to be "special". For a jack daniels twelve, i wouldnt pay any more than £60. You can get a ten year old eagle rare im tescos for £35. Now thats a bottle well worth the money.
that's just flippers dude
This is the information and guidance I’m looking for. Thanks!
The wallet tightening, I’m taking weeks and weeks before choosing my next bottle-thanks Ralfy
You only live once.
Ralphy - You would enjoy the series called "The Hidden Secrets of Money" by Mike Maloney. It covers the history of money, gold and how fiat money is printed into existence. Also includes inflation and the end game of fiat currencies. Well worth a watch!
Thank you Ralfy for your words. Its my point of vue since a while. Some distilleries think we are just sheeps. Explosion of NAS, prices... but quality not everytime at the rendez-vous. Take care and thank you again.
"Condescending Flatulance!" - My highlight. Great Rant Ralfy!
Im in pitlochry next week then going over to Oban after that...I fully intend to get a 21 year old Tobermory while its available , and it will be half the price of a dalmore 18 or a macallan 18, but I bet it will be twice the whisky. will swing by to aberfeldy on the way, probably for the aultmore 15 they have out at the moment ( baffles me why in their stable of whisky they dont chill filter aultmore or craigellachie, but do chill filter aberfeldy!? it could be so much more but it always tastes a bit dull!)
Very interesting Ralfy, thank you. Oh and l always love your honest rants.
Love it. Thanks Ralphy, I'm with you. It's a real shame too because Macallan truly makes wonderful whisky... but the actual good ones are way north of affordable, and the ones you can actually buy are too dumbed down (still good but definitely not for their price). I barely consider travesties such as the Quest, Enigma or A Night on Earth, they're terrible whiskies on top of being dumbed down... the Macallan 12 at least is good.
This was so refreshing to listen to. I'm surprised you didn't include a certain Huntley-based distillery in your rant. 👍
There is another category: price offenders. Those which offer 46% abv. but have significantly upped prices of older bottlings not justified by economic demands. To name 2 that come to mind: Glencadam and Glen Scotia.
I rate that rant 98/100
This was so good, I love a Ralfy rant but I'm so happy that all this was said. 100% agree with you. The damn cheek that some distilleries have with their prices and invented prestige.
Great rant as always. I’ve got a malt mention to add: Hello all you monolithically mercurial marauding malties! Cheers from Mississippi!