Grangestone @ Total Wine

@likemywomen There are plenty of better whiskies available for $60. I'd return.

Must read this story about me returning the grangestone. 1 reason due to reviews and 2nd reason because i really felt betrayed by someone trying to really help me and i felt like i was sold by a used car salesman.

So I returned it to a DIFFERENT total wine location near my home rather than where i originally bought it. I walked in, left the bottle with the cashier and walked to the scotch aisle. I went to a grab a bottle of a macallan but it was sold out, so I called a manager over to have the forklift operator bring it down.

Behold....the manager starts selling me on the Grangestone because it's his "number 2" whiskey right now (what a crazy coincidence). The forklift operator overhears him and then asks in disbelief, "There's a number one in front of grangestone?!?!?!" The manager then replies "Yeah, johnny."

The gig is up, Total Wine.....the gig is up.

@likemywomen Wow. I've had some similarly ludicrous experiences where three different employees in a single visit try to sell me on Grangestone, but that story takes the cake. Seriously, if there was a single alternative in my area with anywhere near the same variety, I'd be willing to pay higher prices never to shop there again. It really is disgusting. Should we be writing letters to the company? I really find this behavior reprehensible.

@AKGcandlefish

Sounds like the same salesmen trying to sell me duct cleaning or added cable packages...

I would just use the store when it suits you. If you can get the best price, go ere. If it's the only place to shop, know what you want before you walk in, and ask for it by name. If they try to sell you the Grangestone tell them you don't like it and "focus on what I asked you please".

@Nozinan,

Or just tell them that you love the Grangestone but still have a couple cases at home and were simply looking for something else on those rare occasions you weren't in the mood for the "best" Scotch. ;)

@broadwayblue

The sarcasm may be lost...

Key to Total Wine: Go in, buy what you know and love, leave. I get Longrow CV there cheaper than anywhere else in Seattle.

FWIW, it's certainly not among the best I've had. but hard-sell (which I've fortunately never experienced) notwithstanding, I think it's a good value for the money. It's a respectable diversion when I'm looking to be frugal. I couldn't care a hang what the staff does or doesn't get from a sale. IMO, it's a decent dram for the price.

I work at Total Wine. I'm from Scotland originally, and know quite a bit about this label. It's a JW Grant effort made at the Grangestone Industrial Estate near Girvan in Ayr. They also put out Ladyburn, and the blends Grants and Monkey Shoulder are done there.

We don't get any credit for sales of this stuff. I wish we did. I find it both funny and insulting that people apply all these motivations to sales efforts. The company has little to no liquour education, and it's purely by chance my location has myself and a former Seagrams rep working there. There is an emphasis on Spirits Direct products, but only because they bring more profit. There's no real sales training either, just a culture of getting the yellow price tag sales up. I'm not surprised at the poor recommendations.

FWIW, I dislike this whisky, and think the 18 is like pot pourri. The cask finishes rage from decent (sherry), to God awful (rum). The 21 is pretty damn good for the money, but if you were to ask me, the Spirits direct stuff I'd recommend will be other stuff (usually small runs from independent bottlers).

I, too, fell into the trap. Unfortunately, I bought two. For no particular reason, it took me a year to open. Big mistake! I made it my personal challenge to have it gone in a week. Everyone who came to visit got the pleasure of a dram. I even gave some thought to stopping strangers on my street and offering them a dram. By the way, I met my challenge. The next time I went back to TW I took the remaining bottle for return. The good news! They took it back on credit and I left with a 16 year lagavulin.

@r1niceboy do you know if there really are perks to reaching top tier status in their points club? Total wine opened stores in Houston this year and I will have enough points for their Grand Reserve Status by the end of July. My hope is that it gets me an inside track to btac releases in the Houston market.

@newreverie The loyalty stuff is winecentric, tbh, but there are coupons for spirits on occasion and discounts on classes, which will mean you can get half off on one. The classes are good, if done well. If not, it's at least a chance to taste new things. I do the scotch classes, and usually change the lineup of products to suit my enhanced, more in-depth lesson. I can't remember when I last did any of the young Grangestones. I did the 21 year in my last one, which wasn't one of the regularly scheduled classes. My bosses give me leeway to do as I will in Scotch, as I make the customers happy. Otherwise, grand reserve members get invitations to buy exclusive bourbons and limited run beers. We had a line of people at opening one day to get Rip and Pappy van Winkles when we got an allocation. Dirt cheap (comparatively), so I'm sure most ended up for sale online. I recommend finding a Total Wine that has a person that can describe a product well, and always ask for them. Usually they won't hesitate to steer you off a Spirits Direct product to a better thing for your taste profile, knowing you'll return in future when you're looking for something else. I'm high on the Macqueen's 32 year old blend right now, as well as the Glenmorangie Bacalta (which has as varied a taste profile fro sip to sip as any whisky I've ever had, save a Royal Brackla). The Montgomerie's Tobermory is also lovely for the money.

@r1niceboy -I'm glad I found this discussion as I don't have any TW stores in Maine but will travel to Mass soon to do some shopping.