Decoding Whisky Value: Scoring the Best Value Bottles
Over the last few months I’ve sampled and reviewed nearly thirty whiskies on this site in my ongoing journey to become a Whisky Centurion. The whiskies I've tried range in price from around £27 to over £70, sparking my curiosity about value for money in a bottle of whisky. Value is highly subjective — what one person sees as valuable may differ entirely from another’s perspective. Sometimes, a cheap, easy whisky suffices, even if it means compromising on quality. Other times, splurging on a more expensive bottle can be gratifying, even if the extra cost doesn't equate to a proportional increase in value. But it made me wonder - is there a way to quantify this and will it help?…
Method
In my reviews I haven’t been rating the whiskies that I taste as I generally find ratings unhelpful, except in this context! However, many sites do provide ratings, so I compiled and averaged scores from as many reviews as I could find. While individual tastes vary, these ratings offer a broad cross-section of opinions from the whisky-drinking and reviewing community.
I paired these reviews with current prices (sourced from Master of Malt) to create an overall representation of value. Ideally we all want whisky that we would rate highly but at a low price.
Results
Even within the relatively small set of whiskies examined, there were both predictable and surprising results. Here are some of the highlights:
Macallan 12 Double Cask
Let’s start with one of the more obvious results. Reviewed in November 2023, Macallan’s 12 year old Double Cask barely exceeds the average review rating yet was by far the most expensive bottle I’ve reviewed at around £70. As a result, it sits on the border between two quadrants: not being good value or being good but expensive. This makes it hard to recommend as a good value whisky.
Read the full blog here
Available from Master of Malt for around £72
Auchentoshan American Oak
Another unsurprising result was the Auchentoshan American Wood. This whisky is really inexpensive and but has a pretty low rating compared to the others putting it comfortably in the ‘cheap and not great’ category. I should note that I used the current price of £27 but it is often available for around £22, which would offer better value for money at the lower end of the spectrum.
Read the full blog here
Available from Master of Malt for around £27
Ledaig - Sinclair Series, Rioja Cask
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all was this Rioja cask finished whisky from Ledaig. This was one of the highest rated whiskies that I’ve reviewed and is available for a very reasonable £40. It’s not what I would call a conventional whisky but for something a little different this is great value for money.
Read the full blog here
Available from Master of Malt for around £40
Bunnahabhain Stiuireadair
Another surprise was Bunnahabhain’s Stiuireadair. This no-age-statement release from Islay was well rated and is available for less than £40 making it extremely good value for money alongside the afore mentioned Ledaig Rioja Cask.
Read the full blog here
Available from Master of Malt for around £36
Fettercairn 12 Year Old
A slight disappointment for me was Fettercairn’s 12 year old whisky. Despite really enjoying this whisky myself, it scored slightly below average in the collected ratings and is relatively expensive. Maybe that extra money goes on the beautiful bottle rather than the whisky. Nevertheless, it won’t stop me recommending it though as I think it’s great!
Read the full blog here
Available from Master of Malt for around £48
What have I learned?
This analysis has been quite revealing for the whiskies I’ve reviewed over the past year. Many of the whiskies deemed ‘good value’ are ones I enjoyed and felt offered good value for money. Conversely, those with lower value scores often aligned with my preconceptions about their value. Obviously there are a few exceptions - I am not generally a big fan of peated whiskies but both the Ardbeg 10 and Talisker 10 have the two highest ratings of all of the whiskies in this sample. I haven’t tried the Talisker 10 yet - that is hopefully coming next week.
This is definitely an idea I want to explore further and the chart is a useful tool for assessing the relative merits of a whisky. My plan is to investigate a little further and probably incorporate it into future reviews. However I am a little torn; a large part of me feels uncomfortable with applying ‘science’ to whisky drinking because to me whisky is much more about the way it makes you feel rather than something that can be quantified in black and white - it is so subjective and that is, in part, why we all love it so much.
Let me know if you think this is useful and how else it could be used.