1/Glengoyne's ladder, three rungs this week. The 10 at $99, the 12 at $89, the 15 at $162 — three steps up the one house style. What does each step up actually get you? And what does the younger bottle give the drinker of the older one? Let's climb.

2/Up to the 12: two more years, and $-10 more — meaning the 12 sits under the 10 this week, not over it. Cask strength and unchill-filtered; that clean Glengoyne malt, and with a drop of water it opens fragrant and fruity, cherry pits and apples. Going up, the 12 gives a 10 drinker about 96% of what the 10 does; what's different is mostly strength and two years of age. Coming back down, the 10 gives a 12 drinker about 97% of what the 12 does, for 111% of its price.

3/Up to the 15: three more years, and $73 more. All sherry-cask here — a nose of vanilla, ginger and toffee with a touch of old leather, the palate oily and spiced, raisins and hazelnuts, cocoa on the finish. Going up, the 15 gives a 12 drinker about 93% of what the 12 does. It isn't just more of the same: what's different is mostly the extra sherry and dried fruit and three years of age. Coming back down, the 12 gives a 15 drinker about 91% of what the 15 does, for 55% of its price.

4/A yes for each. The 10 for most nights, long and buttery, about $4.48 a standard pour at home and under a pint at the pub. The 12 when those two years and the cask strength are the point. The 15 if it's the sherry and dried fruit you're after. More is not always better — pick the rung that suits the night.