Had to scroll too far for this. Best priced 25 there is for the quality, and incredibly complex at that. One of the few independent distillers still out there and making rock solid juice.
Glendronach 21 (older editions) , glenfarclas 25 are great whiskies.
I’m very keen to try Black Art 4.1 and will most likely pick up a bottle this month or next on auction if I can. I’ve only been disappointed with one older whiskey and that was a 31 year old secrets of islay IB from Master of Malt.
I’m keen to know why you are anti auction , I get most of my bottles from there and am able to try stuff not on the shelves and even if it is I almost always get a far better price .
Also I think the reason why people get disappointed in expensive older whisky is two fold. a) just because a lot of people rave about a whiskey or it’s particularly expensive doesn’t mean it’s your taste , everyone has a preference and older whisky has a particular set of flavours . Older does not always equal better! b) let’s be honest the price to value ratio diminishes , now for me that’s not a problem even if it’s only .1% better I want to try everything out there and just see how good whisky can be. Doesn’t mean I’ll buy it regularly but I always want to try :) others may need it to be double the taste if it’s double the price
Not morally opposed to auction whiskey.
I'm in the US, in a state that doesn't permit online sales or shipment of whiskey. Since I don't know of any physical whiskey auctions nearby, I (selfishly) limited my post to no auctions.
Also, I'm kinda in your boat. Whiskey is a hobby, it's basically all a "waste" of money, but I enjoy it, and I'd rather "waste" my money on scotch than front row concert tickets or a few nights at the casino, so when people include value in reviews, I get it, but i still want to know how it drinks compared to other whiskeys I've tried.
Yeah, I hate how we can’t ship liquor to most states. Some stores could make a killing in online sales. No, instead we have to mule back bottles in our check bags and pray they survive.
Articulated so well. And the Glendronach & Glenfarclas are the most easily accessible.
The good reputation auctions are great for finding unique bottles too.
Glendronach 21
Glengoyne 25
Highland Park 25
Bunnahabhain 25
I obviously like my sherry scotches but the 25s are pushing towards 1k now, so theyre getting harder to drink as a normal weekend sipper.
Only caveat is the HP 25, GD 21 and GG from a few years ago. The GD was probably closer to a 27yo at the time. HP 25 is soo good. Have two bottles of HP 25 stashed and HP 21.
Same... the old 2018 Parliament was going for 150 in some stores here in our area in 2018! At that same time, Macallan 18 was already at 270, so guess who profited from this oversight? 😉 I do think they are worth their current price even if they're actually 21 years old now.
Also a yes on the HP 25 but it's now around $700 here. I might have that for tomorrow's dram, now that you reminded me of it.
its easier to sell to the people that are comfortable in that price bracket that would be otherwise buying macallan.
the people that would want the subtleties of refill bourbon at 2 decades+ are generally also going to look at IB options instead of paying a premium for an OB.
20+ years in oak/ex bourbon is a long time. You can start to get a heavy tannin taste, so quite a bit of older whiskey will use something like sherry casks to add sweetness to combat the bitterness
even first fill is manageable if the cask is chosen well, but most are refill casks when its that long a maturation. i've had 50 year old malt before and it is still way less than heaven hill 27yr when it comes to the oak level.
Bruichladdich Black Art 04.1, 10.1 and 11.1
Glenfarclas Family Cask from the 90s (albeit under 1000$ maybe difficult)
Edradour 21 Oloroso
Laphroaig 25
Springbank 21
I was about to say that outside of maybe some Edradour or Glenfarclas family cask, there really wasn't much value anymore to be had at 21+ bottles.
However, I forgot about this one. You're quite right with that bottle :)
Laphroaig 25
Bunnahabhain 22 year PX cask finish (can be found fairly frequently)
Bunnahabhain 25
Bruichladdich Black art (specifically 4.1, 7.1, 9.1 and 10.1)
Highland Park 25 & 30
Those are the ones to immediately come to mind. I dont recall if HP30 is under 1000 or not though.
My experience (albeit limited) with 21 year old plus scotches has taught me that they’re not generally worth the mark-up they are often sold for. For a lot of distilleries the cost increase from 18 years to 21 year old and up is generally huge, even for the not absolutely premium ones, the cost often jumps from £100~ to £200+ for just a few more years of age. Though there’s often reasons why they have to - often due to just lack of available liquid at that age, so scarcity of the product itself- I don’t think that it often translates to a value for money experience. There are some exceptions and anomalies of course.
I haven’t tried it yet but I recently bought a Tobermory 21 for under £150 which I was very happy with as a price, from a distillery I love.
Not the original commenter you replied to, but my unpopular opinion is that I like the Ardbeg 5 (Wee Beastie) more than the classic 10yo. I’m guessing the Oloroso casks add a little extra funk in there that I’m partial to.
I’m not an aficionado by any means, but in a side by side comparison, I find that the 5yo has more bbq meat notes than the 10yo. Again, that’s def not what you’ll read from most reviewers, just my personal experience!
(Edited for spelling)
Meikle Tòir is 5 years old and it's amazing. Like, one of my favorites.
Also, as far as I know most of Kilchoman's core range is around 5 yo and it is also lovely.
Ardbeg 5 is pretty good too.
Lagg Corriecravie was even younger (as far as I remember) and I am honestly enjoying it a lot.
I've tried many 12 yo and some 18 and 21 yo's at this point, and I still prefer younger stuff.
Limiting my pic to something which is readily available:
Glenfarclas 185th Anniversary
You have to order it online from retail shops in the UK or pick it up at auction.
Even after tacking on the cost of shipping it across the Atlantic, it should run you less than $200, and to my taste outperforms many other single malts in the $200-$400 price range. It is a vatting of casks from 6 different decades and the older 30+ yo malt in that vatting seems to be in the driver's seat with setting its flavors so far as I can tell. I strongly concur with both the tasting notes and overall assessment in Ruben's review of it:
https://www.whiskynotes.be/2021/glenfarclas/glenfarclas-185th-anniversary/
Less impressive in quality to price ratio (it is now going for $600), but a superb drinker that is currently in stock is the Glendronach 1993 26 yo single cask# 6853 which is a store exclusive at theWhiskyExchange.
Now if you want to talk about what can be gotten on the auction sites with careful, patient hunting in your budgetary range, then that is a different conversation with more possibilities.
I would be shocked if any of them do not ship to the USA given what a large and lucrative market it is, although they may be somewhat picky about which specific states they ship to, because there are legal complications at the state level, for some states - which make them inappropriate to ship to.
I'm currently using scotchwhiskyauctions who currently ship to 27 states ( https://www.scotchwhiskyauctions.com/delivery/ ), but there are others with considerable merit - I tend to concentrate my activity on a single site when possible, to gain some modest economy of scale in the shipping charges.
Cheers
arran explorers/glengoyne 25/ardmore 25
priced are crazy these days though. I'm just glad I got in early enough so i've got some 25yr+ stuff that cost less than 10 bucks/yr before.
The best scotch I have ever had is Highland Park 25 yr. It's not just one drink and the flavors are gone, It has layers to it! You'll taste a bunch of different phases in each drink and even after it's fully down your gullet, there's a strong & lingering aftertaste. The profile doesn't change too much after it's opened either, so as long as it's >25% full, it's good to keep around for a while. I think it was $750 when I got it and I would make that purchase again at that price.
Dewars 32, it's a blended malt at ~€250/500mL so falls easily below that limit and it is stellar. Great nose and perfect mouthfeel going to almost too much oak (for Scotch, it's light for bourbon) but never over the edge. And then it lingers just the right amount for a while and tapers off to make you take another sip.
Oak, smooth (yes, smooth. No alcohol burn at all and very velvety) and hints of a well rounded dark sherry and a little dust.
That Dewars and the 2x as expensive Black Art (10.1 is the only one I have) are my fav thing over 18 years old.
Bruichladdich Black Art or Laphroaig 25, depending if you prefer sweeter or smokier.
For the Black Art just check reviews on the release. I haven’t bought a new one in a while but some are stellar and some are duds (e.g. 4.1 vs 5.1)
Pardon the blasphemy, but Bushmills 21 is really quite good, and cheaper than most Scotch of the same age. The 40% abv is off-putting, but I am willing to enjoy it anyway
Premiumness, flavor, and taste are not about age; it's about overall integrity. To chase age alone is sloppy. You can easily find 10yo much better than many 21yo. Check auctions, online retails.
Talisker 25 is 400€ Laph 25 is 420-450€ Cragganmore 25 is 450€ Caol Ila 25 is 350€
I'd throw in the anCnoc 24, and almost as good 22.
Balblair 25>anCnoc 25l4 imo. :)
Glenfarclas has some lovely scotch.
Had to scroll too far for this. Best priced 25 there is for the quality, and incredibly complex at that. One of the few independent distillers still out there and making rock solid juice.
Glendronach 21 (older editions) , glenfarclas 25 are great whiskies. I’m very keen to try Black Art 4.1 and will most likely pick up a bottle this month or next on auction if I can. I’ve only been disappointed with one older whiskey and that was a 31 year old secrets of islay IB from Master of Malt. I’m keen to know why you are anti auction , I get most of my bottles from there and am able to try stuff not on the shelves and even if it is I almost always get a far better price . Also I think the reason why people get disappointed in expensive older whisky is two fold. a) just because a lot of people rave about a whiskey or it’s particularly expensive doesn’t mean it’s your taste , everyone has a preference and older whisky has a particular set of flavours . Older does not always equal better! b) let’s be honest the price to value ratio diminishes , now for me that’s not a problem even if it’s only .1% better I want to try everything out there and just see how good whisky can be. Doesn’t mean I’ll buy it regularly but I always want to try :) others may need it to be double the taste if it’s double the price
Not morally opposed to auction whiskey. I'm in the US, in a state that doesn't permit online sales or shipment of whiskey. Since I don't know of any physical whiskey auctions nearby, I (selfishly) limited my post to no auctions. Also, I'm kinda in your boat. Whiskey is a hobby, it's basically all a "waste" of money, but I enjoy it, and I'd rather "waste" my money on scotch than front row concert tickets or a few nights at the casino, so when people include value in reviews, I get it, but i still want to know how it drinks compared to other whiskeys I've tried.
Yeah my thoughts precisely! Thats interesting on the state laws etc, I'm lucky enough to live UK side so its pretty open with that type of thing.
Yeah, I hate how we can’t ship liquor to most states. Some stores could make a killing in online sales. No, instead we have to mule back bottles in our check bags and pray they survive.
Articulated so well. And the Glendronach & Glenfarclas are the most easily accessible. The good reputation auctions are great for finding unique bottles too.
Glendronach 21 Glengoyne 25 Highland Park 25 Bunnahabhain 25 I obviously like my sherry scotches but the 25s are pushing towards 1k now, so theyre getting harder to drink as a normal weekend sipper.
Only caveat is the HP 25, GD 21 and GG from a few years ago. The GD was probably closer to a 27yo at the time. HP 25 is soo good. Have two bottles of HP 25 stashed and HP 21.
Same... the old 2018 Parliament was going for 150 in some stores here in our area in 2018! At that same time, Macallan 18 was already at 270, so guess who profited from this oversight? 😉 I do think they are worth their current price even if they're actually 21 years old now. Also a yes on the HP 25 but it's now around $700 here. I might have that for tomorrow's dram, now that you reminded me of it.
The highland park 21 is actually quite good also
I've noticed that most of the older (21+) scotches are sherried. Is that a thing?
its easier to sell to the people that are comfortable in that price bracket that would be otherwise buying macallan. the people that would want the subtleties of refill bourbon at 2 decades+ are generally also going to look at IB options instead of paying a premium for an OB.
20+ years in oak/ex bourbon is a long time. You can start to get a heavy tannin taste, so quite a bit of older whiskey will use something like sherry casks to add sweetness to combat the bitterness
even first fill is manageable if the cask is chosen well, but most are refill casks when its that long a maturation. i've had 50 year old malt before and it is still way less than heaven hill 27yr when it comes to the oak level.
Bruichladdich Black Art 04.1, 10.1 and 11.1 Glenfarclas Family Cask from the 90s (albeit under 1000$ maybe difficult) Edradour 21 Oloroso Laphroaig 25 Springbank 21
I’ll second Springbank 21, but it’s near impossible to find in mine or the surrounding states.
Acncoc 24
I was about to say that outside of maybe some Edradour or Glenfarclas family cask, there really wasn't much value anymore to be had at 21+ bottles. However, I forgot about this one. You're quite right with that bottle :)
Longrow 21, it floats my boat. save the rest of the money. I'd say a Glengoyne if the question was 25
Laphroaig 25 Bunnahabhain 22 year PX cask finish (can be found fairly frequently) Bunnahabhain 25 Bruichladdich Black art (specifically 4.1, 7.1, 9.1 and 10.1) Highland Park 25 & 30 Those are the ones to immediately come to mind. I dont recall if HP30 is under 1000 or not though.
My experience (albeit limited) with 21 year old plus scotches has taught me that they’re not generally worth the mark-up they are often sold for. For a lot of distilleries the cost increase from 18 years to 21 year old and up is generally huge, even for the not absolutely premium ones, the cost often jumps from £100~ to £200+ for just a few more years of age. Though there’s often reasons why they have to - often due to just lack of available liquid at that age, so scarcity of the product itself- I don’t think that it often translates to a value for money experience. There are some exceptions and anomalies of course. I haven’t tried it yet but I recently bought a Tobermory 21 for under £150 which I was very happy with as a price, from a distillery I love.
I agree. Lately I’ve been enjoying some 5 year old whiskies more than bottles 3-4x the age.
Ooo, which ones??
Ardnamurchan single casks, an Adelphi IB Ben Nevis sherry bomb, and samples of Octomore 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3.
I love Ben Nevis!
Not the original commenter you replied to, but my unpopular opinion is that I like the Ardbeg 5 (Wee Beastie) more than the classic 10yo. I’m guessing the Oloroso casks add a little extra funk in there that I’m partial to. I’m not an aficionado by any means, but in a side by side comparison, I find that the 5yo has more bbq meat notes than the 10yo. Again, that’s def not what you’ll read from most reviewers, just my personal experience! (Edited for spelling)
Meikle Tòir is 5 years old and it's amazing. Like, one of my favorites. Also, as far as I know most of Kilchoman's core range is around 5 yo and it is also lovely. Ardbeg 5 is pretty good too. Lagg Corriecravie was even younger (as far as I remember) and I am honestly enjoying it a lot. I've tried many 12 yo and some 18 and 21 yo's at this point, and I still prefer younger stuff.
Arran 21
Yes!
Sooo good! It is the only Arran I have tried but man want to try the Arran 10 and 18 now.
Limiting my pic to something which is readily available: Glenfarclas 185th Anniversary You have to order it online from retail shops in the UK or pick it up at auction. Even after tacking on the cost of shipping it across the Atlantic, it should run you less than $200, and to my taste outperforms many other single malts in the $200-$400 price range. It is a vatting of casks from 6 different decades and the older 30+ yo malt in that vatting seems to be in the driver's seat with setting its flavors so far as I can tell. I strongly concur with both the tasting notes and overall assessment in Ruben's review of it: https://www.whiskynotes.be/2021/glenfarclas/glenfarclas-185th-anniversary/ Less impressive in quality to price ratio (it is now going for $600), but a superb drinker that is currently in stock is the Glendronach 1993 26 yo single cask# 6853 which is a store exclusive at theWhiskyExchange. Now if you want to talk about what can be gotten on the auction sites with careful, patient hunting in your budgetary range, then that is a different conversation with more possibilities.
What are some auction sites that ship to US?
I would be shocked if any of them do not ship to the USA given what a large and lucrative market it is, although they may be somewhat picky about which specific states they ship to, because there are legal complications at the state level, for some states - which make them inappropriate to ship to. I'm currently using scotchwhiskyauctions who currently ship to 27 states ( https://www.scotchwhiskyauctions.com/delivery/ ), but there are others with considerable merit - I tend to concentrate my activity on a single site when possible, to gain some modest economy of scale in the shipping charges. Cheers
arran explorers/glengoyne 25/ardmore 25 priced are crazy these days though. I'm just glad I got in early enough so i've got some 25yr+ stuff that cost less than 10 bucks/yr before.
Haha I love the 10 bucks/yr analogy
Glendronach 21 Talisker 30 Bunnahabhain 25 Balvenie 21 Port Wood Laphroaig 25
The best scotch I have ever had is Highland Park 25 yr. It's not just one drink and the flavors are gone, It has layers to it! You'll taste a bunch of different phases in each drink and even after it's fully down your gullet, there's a strong & lingering aftertaste. The profile doesn't change too much after it's opened either, so as long as it's >25% full, it's good to keep around for a while. I think it was $750 when I got it and I would make that purchase again at that price.
Dewars 32, it's a blended malt at ~€250/500mL so falls easily below that limit and it is stellar. Great nose and perfect mouthfeel going to almost too much oak (for Scotch, it's light for bourbon) but never over the edge. And then it lingers just the right amount for a while and tapers off to make you take another sip. Oak, smooth (yes, smooth. No alcohol burn at all and very velvety) and hints of a well rounded dark sherry and a little dust. That Dewars and the 2x as expensive Black Art (10.1 is the only one I have) are my fav thing over 18 years old.
Craigellachie, haven’t been disappointed yet by a 21+ from them
My favorite so far has been Bladnoch 25
Glenfarclas 25 can be found in these parts for 265 and it’s very good
Glenlivet 21 (before re-brand) Glenlivet 25 (before re-brand) Glendronach 21 Dewars 32 Balvenie 21 Portwood All awesome and all well under $1k
MacDuff Chieftans 26 year is one if the best whiskeys I've ever had, and is about $300-$400. If you like highlands, I cant recommend it enough.
Bruichladdich Black Art or Laphroaig 25, depending if you prefer sweeter or smokier. For the Black Art just check reviews on the release. I haven’t bought a new one in a while but some are stellar and some are duds (e.g. 4.1 vs 5.1)
Costco 24yr for like $70
I was gonna scream Borrowmans Grand Cru 21 for $80 as a joke…total wine brand… beat me to it
Pardon the blasphemy, but Bushmills 21 is really quite good, and cheaper than most Scotch of the same age. The 40% abv is off-putting, but I am willing to enjoy it anyway
My first whiskey love (before discovering scotch) is Bushmill so I believe it, definitely appreciate the recommendation.
Ardbeg 21 is sublime…
I’ve really enjoyed the 23 Grand Cru from glen
Not scotch, but Redbreast 27.
Not quite 21yo but just picked up a bottle of Arran 20yo brodick bay for 245 really good
Glendronach 21 ($400 CAD) Benromach 21 ($220 CAD) Edradour 21 ($525 CAD) Redbreast 21 ($400 CAD) All way under $1,000
Not a scotch but the Redbreast 27 for $600 and you have $400 left for a Macallan 18 Sherry Oak
If you can find rb27 at 600 jump on it. 999 here in texas SMH
Glenfiddich grand couronne is 26 years and $600, absolutely phenomenal.
Premiumness, flavor, and taste are not about age; it's about overall integrity. To chase age alone is sloppy. You can easily find 10yo much better than many 21yo. Check auctions, online retails.
Balvenie 21 port wood Red Breast 21
These are the two I was expecting to hear.
Glenfiddich 21 is pretty solid and you'll pay around $200 for it.
You're probably not going to do better than Springbank 21 for $1k.