If Glenfiddich 18 is your pour and you fancy spending a little less, the nearest answer wears the same name. Glenfiddich 15, at $140, gives a Glenfiddich 18 drinker about 96% of what their own bottle does. Same distillery, three fewer years, and very little left behind.
Start with the 18 itself. The nose is oak and fresh apple, with barley and cereal underneath and a sweetness of dried fruit and toffee. The palate carries that cereal note into fruit cake and Christmas pudding, with a warming cinnamon spice and a mild heat. The word most people reach for is smooth. If apple, fruit cake and cinnamon sound like your evening, this is a Speyside single malt at 18 years.
What to pay. Glenfiddich 18 is $175 at Dan Murphy's this week. It usually sells around $175, and we've seen it from $170 to $180. So this week's price lands right where you'd expect it.
1/Cool summer night, steaks just going on the BBQ, and old mate wanders over with his glass. "Loads of oak and fresh apple in this, bit of barley underneath, smooth as anything," he says. "What've you poured me?" Glenfiddich 18, mate. Eighteen years old. $175 at Dan's.
2/"You on the same?" he asks, nodding at my glass. Nah, this one's the Glengoyne 21. Creamy malt all the way down, honey and a touch of cookie dough, soft citrus and apple over the top. "Keeping the good stuff for yerself, are ya?" He's not entirely wrong.
3/So to the price. The Glengoyne 21 is $361 this week, and the Glenfiddich 18 in his hand is $175. Stand them side by side and that Glenfiddich 18 gives a Glengoyne 21 drinker about 92% of what the 21 does, for 48% of what the 21 costs.
4/What a Glengoyne 21 drinker gives up with the Glenfiddich 18 is mostly three years of age and some of the sherry and dried fruit. For his fans, the Glengoyne 21 is still the one to reach for. For every other night of the week, the Glenfiddich 18 is a yes.
| slot | 08-13 | 08-20 | 08-27 | 09-03 | 09-10 | 09-17 | 09-24 | 10-01 | 10-08 | 10-15 | 10-22 | 10-29 | 11-05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list / member | 179.90 m 174.00 observed | 179.90 observed | 169.90 observed | 169.90 observed | 169.90 observed | 179.90 observed | 179.90 observed | 174.90 observed | 174.90 observed | 174.90 observed | 179.80 observed | 179.80 observed | 174.90 observed |
| basis | mean | median | sd | min | max | range | cv | se mean | latest | own-range pctl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 176.04 | 174.90 | 4.14 | 169.90 | 179.90 | 10.00 | 2.4% | 1.15 | 174.90 | 54 |
| member | 175.58 | 174.90 | 4.01 | 169.90 | 179.90 | 10.00 | 2.3% | 1.11 | 174.90 | 62 |
| moments | m1 mean | m2 var | m3 skew | m4 ex-kurt | 95% band of the mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| list | 176.04 | 17.18 | -0.5 | -1.33 | 173.8 – 178.3 |
Friday night, two bottles out on the bench and no one able to pick a favourite. The Glendronach 12, $110: a sherried Highland malt that's at its best when the sherry doesn't crowd it out, and this one lets the spirit through. Glenfiddich 18, $175: oak and fresh apple, barley and cereal, dried fruit and a touch of toffee, Christmas-pudding sweetness and a warm cinnamon finish, about $7.92 a pour at home. Two malts cut from close cloth. This week at Dan Murphy's the pair comes to $285; usually they're $294, and the same two are $328 at Liquorland this week. Which would you reach for first?
Fond of Glenfiddich 18? A Glenfiddich 18 drinker gets about 95% of what that bottle gives from Glengoyne 15, at 74% of the price, and it's $130 for members this week. Sherry, vanilla, a little ginger. Pour one and see. More in this week's piece on Glenfiddich 18.
Glenfiddich 18 opens on oak and fresh apple, then a smooth palate of fruit cake and cinnamon. Hand it to an Edradour 10 drinker and they'd pay 71% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down for the extra years. More on Glenfiddich 18 in this week's piece.
I noticed the apple and toffee on the Glenfiddich 18 first, then oak, barley and a warm cinnamon spice through the finish. At $175 it works out to $7.92 a pour at home, a touch over a $13 pint at the pub. More on it in this week's piece.
The Glenfiddich 18 is $175 at Dan Murphy's this week, which is right where it usually sells, so I'd call it a steady price rather than a moment to pounce. I've pulled the whole picture together in this week's piece, if you want the neighbours and the pours set out beside it.
Glengoyne 15 leans sherry: vanilla, ginger and toffee on the nose, a note of worn leather. The palate turns oily, raisins and hazelnuts over oak, then a spicy finish dusted with cocoa. $130 for members at Dan Murphy's this week. Pour one and see. More in this week's piece.
Where does Glengoyne 15 land with its neighbours? An Edradour 10 drinker would pay 85% of what their own bottle costs for it, docking it for the extra years. One for the sherried-malt drinker. Pour the two side by side — more in this week's piece.
Glengoyne 15 is $130 this week at Dan Murphy's, about 24 standard drinks in the bottle, so a pour at home runs $5.47 a drink, 215th of 310 that way. A pint at the pub sits near $6.28 a standard drink. Pour one and see where it lands for you. More in this week's piece.
Two 21-year-olds, side by side. Glen Moray 21 costs $12 more a bottle than Glenfiddich Gran Reserva 21, but at 46.3% against 40% it's the cheaper drink: $13.41 a standard drink against $14.98. They rhyme more than they differ: one on Tawny Port, summer berries and honey, the other on toffee, dried fruit and a Cuban rum cask. Across the group the pour runs from $8.14 for the Glenfiddich 18 to $27.37 for the Balvenie Stories 21. Want the Port and the strength? Glen Moray 21, $343. Want the sweeter, creamier 40%? Gran Reserva, $331.
I keep noticing Glenfiddich 18 turning up in good company. Some whiskies have fans. This one has friends: other bottles that sit close to it, and drinkers who keep it within reach.
Same distillery, three years apart: Glenfiddich's 15 against its 18. Both are sitting at the bottom of their own recent tickets this Thursday. $125 for the 15, $170 for the 18, plain shelf at Dan Murphy's, no member deal on either.
If Glengoyne 15 is your bottle, the first thing I'd want to know is whether there's something close to it for less. There is, and it comes from the same still. Glengoyne 12, at $109, gives a Glengoyne 15 drinker about 93% of what their own bottle does. Same house, a little less across the counter — that's the whole point of this piece, so let me show my working.
| # | candidate | price | CEARP | price − CEARP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glengoyne 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $161.99 | $168.55 | -6.56 |
| 2 | Glengoyne 21 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $360.99 | $163.46 | +197.53 |
| 3 | Glengoyne 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $275.99 | $159.91 | +116.08 |
| 4 | Glencadam 15YO Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $150.00 | $153.95 | -3.95 |
| 5 | Glengoyne 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $93.00 | $150.16 | -57.16 |
| 6 | Glenmorangie The Quinta Ruban 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | $146.99 | $145.15 | +1.84 |
| 7 | Fettercairn 18YO Single Malt 700ml | $357.99 | $144.24 | +213.75 |
| 8 | Oban 14 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $135.00 | $142.88 | -7.88 |
| 9 | Glengoyne 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $98.99 | $139.30 | -40.31 |
| 10 | Edradour 10 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky 700mL | $111.99 | $137.59 | -25.60 |