I am a drinker rather than a collector. So I do not now tend to have more than a half a dozen bottles on the go (although certain friends like to remind me about the time, when living in England, I had 28 different single malts in the cupboard).
I would have a glass of whisky two or three times a week, generally.
Apologies if this is a personal question, so no need to respond, but would you buy bottles at the prices quoted above regularly or would you get samples, gifts from friends etc. ?
And the advice was much appreciated. Of course I haven’t been given the opportunity to express an opinion as yet. I live in hope ( of the faint nature).
No problem. I do not mind answering an honest question.
There would be several aspects. First, I have been fascinated by whisk(e)y since the late 1980s. So I built up a lot of ‘whisky tasted’ in my head over the last 30 odd years. Top notch whisky used to be a lot cheaper (and still is in French supermarkets).
Second, I was in the SMWS for quite a few years during the 1990s and 2000s. Their prices for splendid bottlings used to be the best value on the planet and I availed a nice bit.
Third, buying miniatures from sites such as The Whisky Exchange used to be, before Brexit, a well affordable way to try different whiskies.
I mentioned before here about how joyless I find a lot of the current hoohah around Irish whiskey. A recent 500 bottle release of 3/4yo pot still from Ballykeefe Distillery sold out, for €450 a bottle. Madness, driven by flippers. I have no interest in that craic. Or in the feeding frenzy around Redbreast Dream Casks.
I would not often spend, at this stage, more than €100 on a bottle. No need: there is plenty of great drinking below that marker. I do occasionally share a bottle with friends.
I might be a bit off the mark about the current 30yo. It is now a few years since I drank some. And comments online are underwhelmed by latest iteration.
Cannot go wrong with the 25yo, though. Still wonderful, as a bottle last year demonstrated all over again.
Might get a miniature. I had the opportunity to taste a very rare 50 year old Middleton last time I was home and have never scented anything like it. It was truly lovely, though not in any way shape or form lovely enough to justify the apparent price tag (nothing is that lovely). The fact that I can still exactly remember exactly what it was like now (or think I can) is testimony, though there may be a big ladle of confirmation bias.
I’d love a bottle of something similar.