Official Bottling Dutch Single Malt | 46% ABV
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Good enough to have you ditching that expensive wine habit
Whisky is too expensive
Open doors kicked in? Check.
Anything useful to add, Mason? Perhaps. Context and perspective are everything, right?
Context has the power to bring clarity and visibility to murky, unfamiliar waters. Perspective, and above all the ability to utilise it successfully, can make us understand each other’s ideas and convictions, bring consensus to places where it is needed, and make us respect one another and the world we have to share. Thus spoke Mason Mack.
Why don’t I do my part and offer a perspective on whisky prices that might make it look a bit less expensive than it seems?
Let us, for example, pick a decent bottle of whisky. Nothing outrageous, nothing too expensive, but not cheap either. Something a whisky botherer can get all geeky about, without breaking the bank. I’d say there is a ton of value to be found within the €45 till €50 mark. Or Pounds, whatever applies to you. Think about higher ABV Arrans, Ardnamurchan’s core range AD/, Lochlea’s Our Barley, Signatory’s 100 Proof range, or Craigellachie 13. The blends aimed at enthusiasts are represented here as well. Think of Douglas Laing’s Remarkable Regional Malts range, Campbeltown Loch, and the TB/BSW 6 by Thompson Brothers. I could go on for a while. Plenty of great stuff to play with in this price range.
So, let’s take a €50 bottle of whisky. Spending that amount of money on a bottle of alcohol is nuts to a lot of people outside of our community. But should it be? If a decent dram is usually about 25ml of liquid, then I’d be able to get 28 drams out of one bottle, give or take. That would end up equating to €1,79 per glass.
What if we introduce some perspective to this? How about we compare it to wine? We could apply the same formula here. A good value, enjoyable bottle of wine isn’t one that is sold for €3,50 in the Spar. (I’ll cover my arse here and say that, like with whisky, there are always exceptions). You also don’t have to go crazy. For about €8 you can buy a nice-sipping wine for an evening with friends or alone. Something interesting of quality that is easy to share; a.k.a. good value.
You’ll typically get four and a half decent glasses out of a bottle of wine. So, if we divide €8 by 4,5 we end up at €1,78 per glass. Only 1 cent more for the whisky.
“Ah, but Mason…” I hear them say, “The bottle price is just so much cheaper with wine. I don’t have to hand over a €50 note for that bottle of wine. The price of entry is just so much higher.”
Well, yes. But you’ll have to drink that whole bottle of wine within a day or…five? Max? Otherwise, it oxidises too much and the only thing it could still be good for is cooking. What if you don’t want to drink a glass of wine every evening for five days in a row. If I open that bottle of whisky, I’m not worried about that in the slightest, because I know that that bottle could easily last me three years if I wanted it too.
“Maybe, but those are tiny amounts you’ll have to pour. You’ll get more product with wine!” Uhuh. Yeah. But I drink for the experience of smell, texture, flavour, and discovery. As whisky drinkers, we quickly realise that we don’t need a pint of the stuff. Not least because you’ll end up on your knees, hugging the toilet bowl while telling yourself you’re brave and that all will be over soon. The amount of liquid is, in this context, hardly relevant.
I’m fully aware that this is a wildly over-simplified way of looking at it, but it’s a perspective I quite like to use, because it makes me feel less bad about spending… erm, I mean because it’s an interesting take on the subject. Of course whisky is expensive. Once you start accumulating and collecting, your wallet will never forgive you. And I do think it’s being wildly oversold at the ‘premium end’ and that it could do with some price attenuation overall, but in the aforementioned price range there is a world of discovery and value waiting for you.
Speaking of which…
Review
Millstone PX Peated, Pedro Ximenez casks, Dutch Single Malt Whisky, 20cl bottling, 46% ABV
€17.50 (£15) paid, still widely available
Here’s a whisky that up until now was totally off my radar, which is odd, because the distillery lies only about 20 kilometres from where I live. In my relatively short time of whisky appreciation, I was simply too busy spending my hard-earned cash on my ferocious discovery of Scotch.
There is just so much of it, and so much that is recommended and raved about, that it can make you forget about other countries and regions. I have bought a bottle of Green Spot and one or two bourbons, but that’s about as far as my horizons have broadened.
Things are changing now, and I’m more relaxed about YouTube-induced (and Dramface-induced!) FOMO over Scotch. I saw this wee 20cl miniature on the shelves of a local retailer and decided that at €17,50, it could be a good new experience of a local distillery. I didn’t mind that it was fully matured in a PX cask, which is usually not what I’d go for. I wanted to try something new.
And oh boy!
Score: 7/10
Very Good Indeed.
TL;DR
Good enough to have you ditching that expensive wine habit
Nose
There are some lovely dark tobacco notes which lure you in. Aromatic peat, a fire on a farmyard where slightly wet vegetation is being burned. There’s a hint of soy sauce. Meaty, barbecued bacon or spare ribs lacquered with honey.
Palate
Young (the website tells us at least 4 years old), but properly put together. The soy sauce carries through on the palate. There’s medium peatiness, followed by a real meatiness. That barbecued bacon slathered with honey is here in bucketloads. Something industrial and sooty comes peeking around the corner after addition of water. The finish goes a bit bitter, like really dark chocolate. It’s slightly drying and more than a bit moreish.
The Dregs
This whisky truly surprised me. It simply hadn’t occurred to me to try it out earlier. I suspect that when this is finished it won’t be too long until a full size bottle makes its way onto my shelves, especially at the attractive price it’s being offered at. I’ll justify it by reminding myself that some wines are just as expensive as some whiskies, in some quantities.
Score: 7/10
Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. MM
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