mAlmanac Chapter 7 - Shopping |
Shopping |
The basis of my personal malt rating system is rather simple.
I try to translate the fun my nose and tongue are having with a malt into a 1 to 100 scale,
so the malt I like the best gets the highest rating. Quite simple, wouldn't you agree?
The result of the system is my fairly straightforward HITLIST
of single malts.
So why aren't my shelves filled with bottles of Ardbeg 17yo and Laphroaig 15yo?
I'll tell you why: Because I'm Dutch!
And not just because we Dutch are notorious for our pennypinching.
The tax-system in Holland is of a progressive nature, which means that bottles that are more expensive to begin with are
more heavily taxed. The result is that your 'average' 12yo malt (0.7 litre) will typically set you back anything between 35 and 40 Euro's, which is quite reasonable I suppose.
Older and/or rarer malts, however, are a lot more expensive here in Holland. A Macallan 30yo costs about 250 Euro's, while a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label goes for 200 Euro's. That's just plain lunacy, as far as I'm concerned; especially because some liquorists offer the superb Lagavulin 16yo for less than 40 Euro's. This means I can drink 5 bottles of Lagavulin 16yo for the price of a single bottle of Blue Label. Not really a hard choice, is it?
Well - it isn't so easy when you're in front of the shelves with money burning in your pocket.
In an foolish attempt to rationalize my
purchasing process I took out my calculator and did some doodling. Although the prices of single malts range from less than 20 to more than 1000 (!) Euro's, it's not neccessary to pay more than 50 Euro's for a good bottle. That's the price of
the Laphroaig 10yo Cask Strength here in Holland. Excellent malts like Balvenie 12yo, Laphroaig 10yo and Macallan 12 can actually be obtained at a considerably lower price. I sometimes pay more than 40 Euro's for a bottle, but as far as I'm
concerned a price over 50 Euro's is 'too rich for me'. I may spend more on the occasional special bottle, but these bottles won't be replaced.
So, let's say I'm prepared to pay 40 Euro's for a bottle (0.7 litre) of good single malt whisky.
Using this as my 'Fair Price Anchor', I can take the initial quality score of a malt, and add or subtract 1 point for every Euro price
difference. Then I look at the alcohol percentage. I'm a big fan of cask strength malts. For one thing, you can dilute them in various stages and enjoy different 'faces' of a malt before it reaches the 'standard' 40%. Besides - you simply get
more alcohol for your money. That's why every 3% extra alcohol adds another point to the BfyB score.
The final element in the equation is the size of the bottle. Litre bottles are subject to availability, but contain over 40% more whisky than an average 700 ml bottle - and 30% more than the odd 0.75 litre bottle. For those of you with the same consumption pattern as me: that means 20 generous drams per bottle instead of 15! At the same time, the price difference is sometimes less than 10%. That's why every litre bottling that is readily available here in Holland (like Laphroaig 10yo or Longmorn 15yo) receives a 'Volume Bonus' of 5 points.
Sounds complicated, you say? Not at all. Let me give you some examples. When we look at Glen Ord 12, the friendly price of 27 Euro's adds a cool (40-27=) 13 points to the original 80 quality points and pushes it to 93 value points. It's a 0.7 litre, 40% bottling so that's the final value rating. Another example; Glenfarclas 105 costs only 36 Euro's, even though it's a litre bottle at 60%. The quality rating of 80 points translates into (80+4+7+5=) 96 value points.
Hey presto; suddenly you've got a brand new list that looks quite different.
In fact, this list resembles the usual content of my shelves
a lot closer. After I completed the list I realized it may have been the ultimate exercise in futility, but since I had already gone through all the trouble I decided to present it here. I hope you find it useful. Feel free to click on to the
next chapter if you don't...
Laphroaig 10yo |
97 (86pts/35 |
*** Best Value for Money |
The 'Bang-For-Your-Buck-List' |
All the whiskies in the list are single
malts; I haven't included any blends
or vatted malts. That doesn't mean
I think they don't offer enough fun
for their money. Affordable blends
like Teacher's or Black Bottle are
excellent placebo's when malts
(or the cash to acquire them)
are not available. When you're
able to spend a few Euro's or
dollars more you will find that
'sleepers' like Longmorn 15yo
or Dalmore 12yo offer lots of
'added value'. Just check the
list at the left for a couple of
'Bang-For-Your-Buck' malts
that gave me pleasure and
were friendly on my wallet.
** Reasonable |
Cragganmore 12yo |
89 (81pts/32 |
* Unattractive |
Miltonduff 12yo |
79 (74pts/36 |
The prices in the list were valid in March 2001
at one of my two favourite malt mongers in
Amsterdam. Both sometimes import bottles
through creative channels, so the average
prices are generally a little lower than at
supermarket chains like Gall & Gall. Please
note that this list is based on my own
personal preferences and Dutch prices.
Not neccessarily, anyway. I like the Balvenie 12 yrs. Doublewood over the Balvenie 15 yrs. Single Barrel, for instance. Or the Macallan 10 yrs. 100 Proof over the
Macallan 12 yrs. Some people like the Laphroaig 10 yrs. better than the Laphroaig 15 yrs. Nevertheless, the average 12 years old single malt is better than the average 8 years old single malt. And the average 18 years old malt is better than
the average 12 years old. This being the case, deciding on how to spend
your hard earned cash is no easy task. I hope this 'Bang-for-your-Buck' list will be of some use to you.
The price differences between different
countries can be considerable. Despite
all my nagging about the prices of some
single malts, I guess I shouldn't complain.
Compared to the USA, Sweden, the UK
and Israel the prices here in Holland are
quite friendly. Even when your local prices
are higher, you can still use my system.
Just try it and see if it works for you.
Slainte!
- Unreasonable |
Tormore 12 |
69 (67pts/39 |
Apart from the Dutch taxing system, the very basics of whisky production play an important part in the relatively high prices of older malts. Every year the
whisky is maturing in barrels, a small portion evaporates. This means that a barrel that contained 500 liters when it was filled, may have lost 50 liters after 12 years, and after 18 yrs. there may be just 400 liters left. The vanished part of
the contents of the barrel is called the "angel's share". Well, hey, the angels can have as much whisky as they like, but why should I have to pay for that? Well, anyway;
Combined with the higher costs of storage, this angelic alcohol abuse accounts for some of the price difference. Another factor is economics of scale; The older malts are produced and marketed in smaller numbers, so the overall costs have to
be distributed over fewer bottles. And then there's the 'profiteering' factor, of course. So - usually older malts are more expensive.
Besides; don't they know it's unwise to drink-'n-fly?
But are they also better?
I don't think so!
Because these 'value' ratings are based on my personal 'likability' ratings, they are coloured by my preferences.
But I just don't see how you can determine the 'value' of a malt without taking the pleasure it provides into account.
And
pleasure is, as we all know, a personal and subjective experience. An alternative approach to the system I've used would include a fictuous standard malt with a 'fair' rating and a 'fair' price - for instance 80 points and 40 Euro's. From
there, you can calculate a fair price for each rating on your scale and determine your own 'value' range.
So there you have it. I hope the information on this page will help you to spend your malt money as sensible as possible. Check out the Public Warnings for tips on how to spend your money unsensibly.