Great rant! It's hard to talk whisky from an Ontario perspective without it ending in an LCBO-rant. You should try to get the LCBO's whisky buyer on the podcast, maybe we could open his/her eyes to what's out there. Hey, you managed to get Ralfy......
For whisky there is definitely a law of diminishing returns. For each is different. The most expensive whisky I’ve had was Highland Park 25 at $700 usd which was good. I literally enjoy younger cask strength whisky much more.
To use your vacation example, I’ll put it slightly different. You have rooms for $250 a night, Not a bad room, everything you need, comfy, good decor, location , room service etc. Now there’s rooms at $3000. What in the world can come with that room that will make it worth that much more than the $250 room. Especially if it’s in the same vacation area. Look guys sometimes knowing something is exclusive or carries a brand name etc is enough to have rich people pay those prices. I think Rolex. There’s other watches that are made of solid gold and just as good, and Rolex is still 10x the price.
But that's to miss the point and I might enjoy 30, $3000 nights over 30 $250. Equating value to cost is fine, but that kind of thinking robs the experience. A Lambo isn't worth it either, but then again it really is. The destination only thinking misses the best part of the trip--just like life.
@@markmlinar1511 Yes and no. Keeping with the holiday analogy. I don't go on holiday for the room. Spending the money on the room, while it may be a nice experience draws money that can be used for other amazing experiences. Same way I look at business class flights. There is definitely a diminishing return on investment issue with whisky same as there is for wine. Instead of the 3k bottle I can have a number of amazing experiences across a range of flavours and distilleries. There is also definitely a problem with hype and rareity in whisky driving the price point of some bottles beyond what is objectively their value.
@@blindtomuk Agreed. I don’t doubt that the 3k room is nice as hell. The issue is, most people, percentage wise either don’t have the money to throw away or choose not to spend it on that. It’s not even like a room. It’s more like a painting. A room has obvious differences like comfier bed or couches, amenities like a pool or spa, better views etc. A painting is subjective. It’s all in your mind. There’s people that will taste a 35 yrold Brora and if not told it’s thousands of dollars, they might pick a 21 yr Old Pulteney over it. Difference in price ? One is @300, Another is near $2000 dollars. If you earn enough money to feel extra special and spend on one bottle what 5 PlayStation 5’s cost or what 4 round trips to Hawaii,or maybe 8 Old Pulteney 21. Then all power to you. Nobody disputes the quality or the great feeling one gets when experiencing something that is rare or labeled exclusive. The question is, is it truly better than 8 $250 whiskies. My guess is the very great majority of folks who taste blindly would say no. Is a Lambo worth 400 k, that much better than a 80k Corvette z06? Depends on your wallet. If you have money to throw away, it’s your choice. You might still choose the Vette, and have enough to vacation in Hawaii for years to come with enough money left over to buy cases of Brora 35 , for many years into the future.
Great session as always! Interesting discussion on Italian importers. The Italians were way ahead of the curve when it came to whisky appreciation. There was a huge whisky bar culture in Italy in the 1950s and 60s and as such, there was huge demand for single cask Scotch. The likes of importers such Samaroli, bar owners like D’Ambrosio and collectors like Zagatti blazed a trail for bottling such incredible whiskies. As recently as 10 years ago Italy was a treasure trove of beautiful old bottles - sadly the prices have since gone nuts!!
It’s too bad that the migrants of italy to North America didn’t share the same taste. My grandfather had a huge bar of various whiskies. Little to no scotch.
Most entertaining content on the whisky tube. Such naturally flowing conversation and I find myself mostly agreeing with you. I was thinking the same thing as Jeremy about the Mexican vs Fiji vacation. Just there to get sunburnt and drunk on the beach 🌊🏖️. Clynelish 14 is my absolute must have on hand all the time whisky. Best quality/price ratio, even at LCBO. Just picked up two bottles a few weeks ago. Can't wait to one day meet both of you. Cheers, fellow Ontarians 🥃🇨🇦
Enjoyed the chat, Nice to now know what happened to the LCBO Laphroaig Cairdeas, been checking every day and still missed out as all bottles sold out in one morning, typical bullshit. P.S - Rob, sorry for your loss, It's my opinion that having your young kids cut your hair can do no good whatsoever..no good indeed however if there is a third wave and subsequent lockdown many won't see it anyway.(lol)
Instead of asking ... 1 bottle of Clynelish or 1 bottle of Brora. What would you choose between 20 different whiskies (you've never had) or 1 bottle of Brora. Or instead of the one amazing beach vacation, what about 20 different beach vacations?
I deal with that every time I have 2 or 300 to spend. I usually spend @ 100-150 ish on one really good bottle and the rest on $65 bottles. Won’t spend all my hard earned cash on one darn bottle. Even if it’s not my money. Give me 3 grand to spend and I doubt I’ll spend more than $400 one any one bottle, let alone 3k.
Great video, very fun topic. I don’t think many enthusiasts would choose “20 bottles of Clynelish 14” over the Brora 38…but what if the choice was a set of each of the last 6 or 7 Springbank Local Barley releases? Or maybe 12-14 bottles of different Springbank 12-year old cask strength releases? That might be more of a tempting decision 🤣
I enjoy both young and old whisky, but there are flavors, complexities, etc that only exist in old whiskys. Are they worth the price? Well I think Dustin summed it up pretty good. Once in a while its okay to treat ourselves lol
i have been searching for Clynelish 14 for a couple years now. Had 1 bottle a few years ago it was amazing. Can i ask where you guys find it? I am in Mississauga. BTW love your videos. Cheers
1 bottle in all of Onterrible (Sarnia), nice selection eh? P.S - I was told by someone at LCBO that when you see a number 1 for only 1 location it actually means 0 !!!!! nice policy eh?
The LCBO is a joke. I was lucky enough to get a cairdeas this year. Last year they had the wrong one advertised on the website and I had the same experience with the store management hoarding the bottles at their store. 😂
Maybe someone else have mentioned this one, I do not know, but....Probably LCBO just do not want you to buy alcohol, like at all.... This is why it is governemnt controlled, no matter how sad is it, because they are scaling the strategy down to the alcoholics and do not care about the connosieurs, and as it is government owned, you should think about it from this point of view. Yes, there are some ppl who works there, probably they are taking a HUGE advantage (private businesses, etc, etc....), but apart from that, they just do not care... Probably this is just about it and not more.
did the same thing over the weekend with Caol Ila 12 and 30. Is it worth it? Well I had the money to spend, so sure. It's an individual question. I'd put it this way, I would NOT put myself in a financial squeeze over a bottle of whisky. It's certainly not worth that.
Price madness: nowadays, i only buy Scotch at 60-100$ range from LCOB. GET THIS : for the price of THAT Brora30y, i can vatt from my United Distillers Rare Malts cask/strength series (black box circaa 2004-2005) stock : (2-yes two !) Brora21y vintage 1982 58.1% (2-two) Blair Athol 27y/ 1975 54.7% and (2x) Auchroisk 28y v.1974 56.8% - and - (1) Talisker20yo 58.8% vintage.1982 . . . and get drunk on the new vatt. ! !
If you have bills coming out of your pockets and won’t notice thousands taken out of your bank account, or accounts, then Brora is worth it. Otherwise it doesn’t make any logical sense. I don’t even need a really expensive bottle for my example. I would rather buy 3 $130 bottles, than spend $400 on one bottle. I’ve spent over $800 in one day at a liquor store and I’d never ever consider spending it on just one bottle. No way can I justify that. It’s not spending the $800, it’s plunking it into one bottle. There isn’t a bottle on earth that is worth ten times what I already think is a great bottle that’s well over $100. But of course if money isn’t an issue there’s paintings worth millions as well. As far as the experience vs the quality , it’s up to the individual to discern the value of the experience they’re seeking. It all boils down to your pocket and your point of view.
I only buy $89.99-$119.99 American Dollar. Lately I am splitting bottles with coworkers, we both win and haven’t bought a “loser” bottle yet. Mostly due to the great youtubers, you two included.
I’d love to split the cost and then split the bottle evenly on more expensive stuff. I’m the only person collecting that I know, or even interested in drinking fine single malts as a hobby for that matter. Only whisky aficionados I know are you guys from the online community
Let’s be honest, Clynelish 14 isn’t the same today as it was 10-15 years ago either. So that’s not as much an apples to apples as if you got an old bottle of Clynelish 14 off auction and pitted it against those two.
Nothing makes sense with luxury items. It is all perceived value. Diamonds are pretty rocks after they are cut. They are not rare. But great marketing, and association with celebrity, wealth and status. Now they are stupid expensive for a rock from the ground! Whisky is no different other than it is not a monopoly like diamonds. Wealthy people need to spend money on something. Demand sets prices. Also part of it is taking advantage of how are brain works and our desire for limited or "rare items" and our irrational fears of being left out of something our brain things is needed for survival. It was a long time ago prices used to be set at x% above production costs. Now it is a marketing study on what someone is willing to spend for it, regardless of cost. Our brains are not rational when it comes to "rare" things...
@@WhiskyInThe6 Yeah was a wee bit cheaper back then for sure, was still my most expensive bottle at the time though. Staying in 2010 will give you a few more just for laughs, 37 Year Clynelish 72 Vintage £120, 27 Year Clynelish 82 Vintage £75, 26 Year Glenlivet £70, 25 Year Ben Nevis £70, Yamazaki 18 £50 , 36 Year Linkwood £125, 40 Year Glen Keith £125, I could reel loads more off Rob happy times
My top whiskys are probably Hibiki 17 YO (400 €) and Springbank 25 YO (500 €). I paid this money last year. Those 2 and other 60 bottles are colecting dust in some closet. I have strange hobbys... I like to watch them not drink them. 🤣🤣🤣
The trick is to drink and experience whisky before it becomes rare and sought after.
Is it worth it? Is a Ferrari worth twice the cost of the new Corvette? Well probably not but if you have the money you go for it.
Totally.
Great rant! It's hard to talk whisky from an Ontario perspective without it ending in an LCBO-rant.
You should try to get the LCBO's whisky buyer on the podcast, maybe we could open his/her eyes to what's out there. Hey, you managed to get Ralfy......
For whisky there is definitely a law of diminishing returns. For each is different. The most expensive whisky I’ve had was Highland Park 25 at $700 usd which was good. I literally enjoy younger cask strength whisky much more.
$700 for Highland park 25 is absolutely crazy. .
You could buy 30 single malt whisky's for the price of one bottle of brora. I work on £50 max for a bottle that's the limit for my budget
To use your vacation example, I’ll put it slightly different. You have rooms for $250 a night, Not a bad room, everything you need, comfy, good decor, location , room service etc. Now there’s rooms at $3000. What in the world can come with that room that will make it worth that much more than the $250 room. Especially if it’s in the same vacation area. Look guys sometimes knowing something is exclusive or carries a brand name etc is enough to have rich people pay those prices. I think Rolex. There’s other watches that are made of solid gold and just as good, and Rolex is still 10x the price.
Great points
But that's to miss the point and I might enjoy 30, $3000 nights over 30 $250. Equating value to cost is fine, but that kind of thinking robs the experience. A Lambo isn't worth it either, but then again it really is. The destination only thinking misses the best part of the trip--just like life.
@@markmlinar1511 Yes and no. Keeping with the holiday analogy. I don't go on holiday for the room. Spending the money on the room, while it may be a nice experience draws money that can be used for other amazing experiences. Same way I look at business class flights. There is definitely a diminishing return on investment issue with whisky same as there is for wine. Instead of the 3k bottle I can have a number of amazing experiences across a range of flavours and distilleries. There is also definitely a problem with hype and rareity in whisky driving the price point of some bottles beyond what is objectively their value.
@@blindtomuk Agreed. I don’t doubt that the 3k room is nice as hell. The issue is, most people, percentage wise either don’t have the money to throw away or choose not to spend it on that.
It’s not even like a room. It’s more like a painting. A room has obvious differences like comfier bed or couches, amenities like a pool or spa, better views etc.
A painting is subjective. It’s all in your mind. There’s people that will taste a 35 yrold Brora and if not told it’s thousands of dollars, they might pick a 21 yr Old Pulteney over it. Difference in price ? One is @300, Another is near $2000 dollars. If you earn enough money to feel extra special and spend on one bottle what 5 PlayStation 5’s cost or what 4 round trips to Hawaii,or maybe 8 Old Pulteney 21.
Then all power to you. Nobody disputes the quality or the great feeling one gets when experiencing something that is rare or labeled exclusive. The question is, is it truly better than 8 $250 whiskies. My guess is the very great majority of folks who taste blindly would say no. Is a Lambo worth 400 k, that much better than a 80k Corvette z06? Depends on your wallet. If you have money to throw away, it’s your choice. You might still choose the Vette, and have enough to vacation in Hawaii for years to come with enough money left over to buy cases of Brora 35 , for many years into the future.
Great session as always! Interesting discussion on Italian importers. The Italians were way ahead of the curve when it came to whisky appreciation. There was a huge whisky bar culture in Italy in the 1950s and 60s and as such, there was huge demand for single cask Scotch. The likes of importers such Samaroli, bar owners like D’Ambrosio and collectors like Zagatti blazed a trail for bottling such incredible whiskies. As recently as 10 years ago Italy was a treasure trove of beautiful old bottles - sadly the prices have since gone nuts!!
It’s too bad that the migrants of italy to North America didn’t share the same taste. My grandfather had a huge bar of various whiskies. Little to no scotch.
All rants eventually gravitate to the LCBO :)
Bowmore, just a few years ago put out Devils Cask , Tempest 10 and Laimrig 15 year, all 3 were
It’s a must
I'm still holding on to the last few drops of my Laimrig.
@@marksaliba4194 Laimrig definitely my favourite Bowmore.
Most entertaining content on the whisky tube. Such naturally flowing conversation and I find myself mostly agreeing with you. I was thinking the same thing as Jeremy about the Mexican vs Fiji vacation. Just there to get sunburnt and drunk on the beach 🌊🏖️. Clynelish 14 is my absolute must have on hand all the time whisky. Best quality/price ratio, even at LCBO. Just picked up two bottles a few weeks ago. Can't wait to one day meet both of you. Cheers, fellow Ontarians 🥃🇨🇦
Enjoyed the chat, Nice to now know what happened to the LCBO Laphroaig Cairdeas, been checking every day and still missed out as all bottles sold out in one morning, typical bullshit. P.S - Rob, sorry for your loss, It's my opinion that having your young kids cut your hair can do no good whatsoever..no good indeed however if there is a third wave and subsequent lockdown many won't see it anyway.(lol)
Instead of asking ... 1 bottle of Clynelish or 1 bottle of Brora. What would you choose between 20 different whiskies (you've never had) or 1 bottle of Brora. Or instead of the one amazing beach vacation, what about 20 different beach vacations?
Great question. Definitely harder to answer.
I deal with that every time I have 2 or 300 to spend. I usually spend @ 100-150 ish on one really good bottle and the rest on $65 bottles. Won’t spend all my hard earned cash on one darn bottle. Even if it’s not my money. Give me 3 grand to spend and I doubt I’ll spend more than $400 one any one bottle, let alone 3k.
Great video, very fun topic. I don’t think many enthusiasts would choose “20 bottles of Clynelish 14” over the Brora 38…but what if the choice was a set of each of the last 6 or 7 Springbank Local Barley releases? Or maybe 12-14 bottles of different Springbank 12-year old cask strength releases? That might be more of a tempting decision 🤣
Cheers
Hey Rob, what isyour day job to be able to afford all these crazy bottles? Is it all supported by the channel and patron income?
Unfortunately I’m just a school teacher. Also have one of the lowest Patreon followings out of all the UA-camrs lol.
I enjoy both young and old whisky, but there are flavors, complexities, etc that only exist in old whiskys. Are they worth the price? Well I think Dustin summed it up pretty good. Once in a while its okay to treat ourselves lol
Totally agree
i have been searching for Clynelish 14 for a couple years now. Had 1 bottle a few years ago it was amazing. Can i ask where you guys find it? I am in Mississauga. BTW love your videos. Cheers
They are currently at various locations at the LCBO.
Got one in Woodbridge recently.
1 bottle in all of Onterrible (Sarnia), nice selection eh? P.S - I was told by someone at LCBO that when you see a number 1 for only 1 location it actually means 0 !!!!! nice policy eh?
@@WhiskyInThe6 so i guess i should stop relying on the lcbo website??
@@WhiskyInThe6 thx alot got myself 1 just now.
Recently picked up Clynelish 14, love it!
Solid stuff for the money.
@@WhiskyInThe6 hell yea, one of my favorite highlands
I was able to get a dram of Brora 30 at the Lunar Rogue in Fredericton, NB for $40. Amazing. I think it's like $500/pour now!
I can buy three clynelish 14 *equivalent* or one glendronach 21 (2021-bottled)
114AU$ vs 300AU$
The LCBO is a joke. I was lucky enough to get a cairdeas this year. Last year they had the wrong one advertised on the website and I had the same experience with the store management hoarding the bottles at their store. 😂
Maybe someone else have mentioned this one, I do not know, but....Probably LCBO just do not want you to buy alcohol, like at all.... This is why it is governemnt controlled, no matter how sad is it, because they are scaling the strategy down to the alcoholics and do not care about the connosieurs, and as it is government owned, you should think about it from this point of view. Yes, there are some ppl who works there, probably they are taking a HUGE advantage (private businesses, etc, etc....), but apart from that, they just do not care... Probably this is just about it and not more.
Anything is possible I guess.
did the same thing over the weekend with Caol Ila 12 and 30. Is it worth it? Well I had the money to spend, so sure. It's an individual question. I'd put it this way, I would NOT put myself in a financial squeeze over a bottle of whisky. It's certainly not worth that.
100% agree.
Price madness: nowadays, i only buy Scotch at 60-100$ range from LCOB. GET THIS : for the price of THAT Brora30y, i can vatt from my United Distillers Rare Malts cask/strength series (black box circaa 2004-2005) stock : (2-yes two !) Brora21y vintage 1982 58.1% (2-two) Blair Athol 27y/ 1975 54.7% and (2x) Auchroisk 28y v.1974 56.8% - and - (1) Talisker20yo 58.8% vintage.1982 . . . and get drunk on the new vatt. ! !
Insane
Wish I had the knowledge 10-15 yrs ago
@@WhiskyInThe6 i had no idea, either - i started out by liking them over COgnacs, then over 2 years, Scotch took over . . .
If you have bills coming out of your pockets and won’t notice thousands taken out of your bank account, or accounts, then Brora is worth it. Otherwise it doesn’t make any logical sense.
I don’t even need a really expensive bottle for my example. I would rather buy 3 $130 bottles, than spend $400 on one bottle. I’ve spent over $800 in one day at a liquor store and I’d never ever consider spending it on just one bottle. No way can I justify that. It’s not spending the $800, it’s plunking it into one bottle. There isn’t a bottle on earth that is worth ten times what I already think is a great bottle that’s well over $100. But of course if money isn’t an issue there’s paintings worth millions as well. As far as the experience vs the quality , it’s up to the individual to discern the value of the experience they’re seeking. It all boils down to your pocket and your point of view.
100% buddy. Cheers.
point of diminishing return, for me, is $200 US. I wont spend more than $300 for a bottle.
Makes sense brother.
I stop at $200. I’ve spent much, much more in one day at a liquor store . I just can’t justify putting it all towards one bottle. Just can’t .
I only buy $89.99-$119.99 American Dollar. Lately I am splitting bottles with coworkers, we both win and haven’t bought a “loser” bottle yet. Mostly due to the great youtubers, you two included.
Scottish and Irish. Too many loses with American whiskies
Thanks Daniel
I’d love to split the cost and then split the bottle evenly on more expensive stuff. I’m the only person collecting that I know, or even interested in drinking fine single malts as a hobby for that matter. Only whisky aficionados I know are you guys from the online community
This show got me to buy a back up of something expensive beginning with B
Nicely done
I love your podcast so much
No whisky is worth the money if you cannot afford it. It's just water and barley from a wooden cask after all....
Agreed
And Diamonds are just made of carbon
Rob has lots of bottled up frustrations haha
Lol I’m getting worse with age.
Let’s be honest, Clynelish 14 isn’t the same today as it was 10-15 years ago either. So that’s not as much an apples to apples as if you got an old bottle of Clynelish 14 off auction and pitted it against those two.
Nothing makes sense with luxury items. It is all perceived value. Diamonds are pretty rocks after they are cut. They are not rare. But great marketing, and association with celebrity, wealth and status. Now they are stupid expensive for a rock from the ground! Whisky is no different other than it is not a monopoly like diamonds. Wealthy people need to spend money on something. Demand sets prices. Also part of it is taking advantage of how are brain works and our desire for limited or "rare items" and our irrational fears of being left out of something our brain things is needed for survival. It was a long time ago prices used to be set at x% above production costs. Now it is a marketing study on what someone is willing to spend for it, regardless of cost. Our brains are not rational when it comes to "rare" things...
Excellent points Everwind. Cheers!
Paid £195 for that 2007 Brora from TWE back in 2010
That’s insane.
@@WhiskyInThe6 Yeah was a wee bit cheaper back then for sure, was still my most expensive bottle at the time though. Staying in 2010 will give you a few more just for laughs, 37 Year Clynelish 72 Vintage £120, 27 Year Clynelish 82 Vintage £75, 26 Year Glenlivet £70, 25 Year Ben Nevis £70, Yamazaki 18 £50 , 36 Year Linkwood £125, 40 Year Glen Keith £125, I could reel loads more off Rob happy times
LCBO is the worst...
100%
do a blind tasting then you will get a firm answer!
Another dynamite episode!
My top whiskys are probably Hibiki 17 YO (400 €) and Springbank 25 YO (500 €). I paid this money last year. Those 2 and other 60 bottles are colecting dust in some closet. I have strange hobbys... I like to watch them not drink them. 🤣🤣🤣
LOLCBO.
Too much of a good thing?
Possibly