ARDBEG 19

@Victor The beans are not salty?

@Nock I think @fiddich1980 has a point. You could get 3 Corrys and 2 Oogies for the price of the 19.

@BlueNote that's right, someone forgot to salt the beans. "Zydeco" is an evolved form of "(le)s_haricots" .

@BlueNote sadly not the case in my area. The Uigeadail is $80 while the Corry is $85. I could maybe get 4 bottles of Uigeadail and be $20 over the 19yo price or I could pick up 3 bottles of Corry and save a bit of money.

But that isn't the situation I presented.

Now, I am not saying this is happening . . . but I am saying it "might."

My mother-in-law has money (so does my father-in-law . . . but he never spends anything). On occasion we will be out somewhere and she is feeling generous. It may be because she just bought my wife an $800 dress or a $2,000 purse. And she might turn to me and simply say, "Which one would you like?" Now for her the difference in $300 or $550 is not a big deal. It really is more about getting the one you want. Now if I asked for the $1333 bottle of Lagavulin 25yo that would probably be pushing the generosity too far. But she wouldn't bat an eye if I picked the $550 22yo over the $300 bottle of the 19yo. Further, she wouldn't really think I was "saving" her any money. In her mind I would really be buying the 19yo because that is the one I want.

It is a situation that happens occasionally and without warning. We could be in a shoe store or a clothing store and she will simply ask, "Is there something you really want here?" And often I will say no. Sadly, that was the moment. There is no rain check. There is no deposit to be used later. There is no feeling of "she owes me one," or, "I can ask her the next time." It was just a generous offer that is taken or not in that moment. So I have to be on my feet.

In that situation what would you say between the three?
My birthday is in about a month. It is entirely possible that her daughter (my wife) might very well tell me the same, "Pick the one you want." Granted that would still be my money . . . but I would have permission. And that always feels like free money to me.

@Nock oogy is $173 here, Corry is $201.

@Nozinan on the bright side if the 19yo shows up at $300 or $350 it will seem like a bargain!

I just don't seem to be able to let this go. Sorry.

By and large people across the internet are complaining about the Ardbeg 19yo price

Am I taking crazy pills?

Did everyone forgot that Ardbeg released:

2016 the Ardbeg 21yo at £310

2017 the Ardbeg 23yo at £430

2018 the Ardbeg 22yo at £440

and now

2019 the Ardbeg 19yo at £169

The 19yo is a steal by comparison at less than half the price of most of the Ardbeg 20-somethings. Did I miss all the outrage at the Twenty-something pricing?

I just don't see the same outrage about Lagavulin releasing a 21yo for the Jazz festival at £395 (or $500) which I am sure will soon be on auction sites for twice that price.

Seriously, I am asking for some one to explain the outrage to me given the pricing of the last few years.

@Nock there is no justification for the outrage, of course, for reasons which you have clearly demonstrated.

Now what I think is the dynamic going on here is this:

1) many people mentally pay little attention to products they consider outside their budgets, and so don't shout a lot about the 20+ year olds

2) many of these same people pay intensely close attention to releases that straddle the gray area of what they think they can afford and what they think is too much for them to pay. Often these same people feel cheated if something that they would like to have comes in a little too high on the price tag than they want to pay for it. So they complain, a lot. And,

3).many people place an artificial mystique upon 20 years as a number of years for aging. It is as though something magical has happened at the number 20 which is so so much more than one more than 19. That phenomenon, together with their experience with being able to afford stuff up to about 16 years old, makes them cranky that they can't get a great, to them, price on many, but not all, 17, 18, and 19 year olds.

As we all know, it is a scarcity issue, and it exists with US whiskeys too. I bought Elijah Craig 18 yo SB for $ 35 each in 2011. It averages $ 322 worldwide and $ 370 in the USA currently.

As I was reading @Nock's post, I started to mentally compose a reply very similar to what @Victor said. But @Victor just went and said it sooooooo much better than I would have!

So yeah - seconded. Most everyday folks don't expect to be able to afford a 20+ year Ardbeg, but they think a 19 might be attainable. And then it's not.

@MadSingleMalt Seems to generally be a substantial price jump from 18 to 19 years old.

@Victor thanks for your wise words. They strike a true note for me. And thanks @MadSingleMalt for the "second."

It does make sense that you won't be upset about the 2016 Lagavulin for £800 or $1200 when it simply isn't on your radar. I mean you could be mad given that Laphroaig has a years 25yo for around £316 or $400. The Laphroaig regularly sits on shelves around me as does the Bowmore 25yo also for $400. But I think most drinkers don't bother with either. And that makes me think that those whiskies are "appropriately priced." Flippers aren't buying them and the only people who will bite have deep pockets and are going to drink them . . . possibly over ice, or possibly with ginger ale (no real judgment - it is their money).

But when you "hope" to see Ardbeg with an older age statement . . . and it appears just out of the mental-whisky-budget-reach. Ya, I get it. Makes sense.

Just as an aside. There is already a bottle of the Ardbeg 19yo on an auction site. And someone has already bid €270 . . . which is about $300 or about £240.

I agree to a large extent @Victor I know I won't realistically be able to afford a 20 something Ardbeg and thought that maybe a 19 year old might be in my price range and it's not. But I don't believe for a second that it represents good value at £170 a bottle. Could I afford to pay that? Yes if I made it a 2 month purchase, (although the buyers remorse would be strong). But I'm not prepared to pay that price because I simply don't think it's worth it. At that price it's significantly more expensive than every other late teen bottle on the market, bar maybe Macallan. If you're buying to invest then maybe it represents value. Ardbeg is one of those distilleries like Macallan and Highland Park people are prepared to pay crazy money for so £170 now might get you £400 in 5 years. I've always found their whiskies to be good but not anywhere as good as the hype.

Regards 19 to 20 years. There's unlikely to be any significant difference to the whisky. But there is a big psychological difference in drinking something that's 2 decades old compared to 1 decade and 9 years. Same as drinking something that is 39 years old or 40 more a mental thing than any tangible difference. But each decade after the first a whisky spends in the cask tends to mark a significant jump in price for that reason.

My other slight annoyance with the price of this Ardbeg is that other distilleries will look at the price and decide if Ardbeg are charging £170 for their 19 then they're going to bump the price of their 18 to £140 a bottle.