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What is the next bottle you purchase or open?

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By @T4sho3 @T4sho3 on 27th May 2011, show post

Replies: page 83/92

Wierdo replied

Actually you can see from this photo better than the one in the article the new Benromach cask strength isn't NAS and has an age statement consisting of distilling and bottling years.

The first batch is 10 years old. Roughly the same price as the 10/100 and slightly stronger. So it looks like essentially the same whisky.

Maybe they're trying to push it more on foreign markets and the thing about imperial and US proof was going to cause confusion? Going with cafk strength means the same thing in every market. Also they have a bit more freedom with age and alcoholic strength now. Maybe they'll bottle different batches at different strengths to try and create a bit of a buzz around it with people wanting to get every release as it comes out. Like mugs like me wanting every new batch of Springbank 12CS grin

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

Expand image
Wierdo replied

Someone on the Facebook page moaned about them discontinuing the 100 proof 10 and this was there response which is essentially what I said about wanting to make it more collectable

Hi, we wanted to continue to offer Benromach drinkers the same quality and recognisable flavour profile of Benromach 100° Proof but with the added interest of different batches and vintage years. By trusting in the expertise of our distillers, drinkers can enjoy the same overall flavours of 100° Proof, but now with subtle variations on the flavour profile. We're glad to hear you think our 100° Proof is a great whisky and hope that you'll be trying this new release - we'd love to hear your thoughts! slight_smile tumbler_glass

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@Wierdo Problem is that thy have discontinued a high quality readily available expression and replaced it with something in batches that will always be different.

So the amount of any given batch available is smaller, and the demand (for those who want to have one of every batch (or 2)). This will increase frustration and push up prices.

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@fiddich1980
fiddich1980 replied

A current review of Benromach 10/100 and the new Vintage Cask Strength version. Looks like they jacked the price up and "cask selection". My cynical side says "that someone is masking some bad cask". There was a time when the regular 10 year old 43% Benromach was only about $65.00 -$69.00 Canadian dollars and flew under the radar of most whisky buyers. It's still good whisky at it's current price $80.00 CND. I have not bought the 10/100 version because reviews tend to make the point that the regular 10 ABV 43% is pretty decent when compared to the 10/100 proof version. Is The Vintage Cask Strength more collectible now, that it is limited to 5,500 bottles a 10 pound increase in price and will there be a big jump in prices for all versions of Benromach? A rising tide tends to lift all ships.

wordsofwhisky.com/old-benromach-100-proof-…

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

@fiddich1980 a sad fact about this hobby is that talking up the whisky often results in talking up the price.

4 years ago 6Who liked this?

@OdysseusUnbound

@fiddich1980 When I first reviewed Benromach 10 on my blog, it was $59 in Ontario. I took out my crystal ball and predicted a price increase, and poof, the price went up to $79 only a few months after I published.

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@fiddich1980
fiddich1980 replied

@OdysseusUnbound or should I call you LCB-Joe. That price increase uhm ..... your doing! Someone is going to have to smash your crystal ball.confused laughing

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

I say it all the tiime: the key to economical whisky satisfaction is to identify what's good before everyone else does. The crowd doesn't like to be alone; the crowd doesn't like to think and act for itself. The crowd doesn't like the idea that someone else may not approve of that person's taste. The crowd likes to follow. The crowd buys what others think is good, and pays the steep price that results from that decision. Then the crowd later reflects on the price paid and often complains about the price. It was all baked into the cake. Do you want excellence without a scalper's price tag? Then dare to take the responsibility to think and act alone based on your own taste. You can have conformity with the crowd, or you can have very good whisk(e)y at a very good price. You are not likely to have both. The choice is yours.

4 years ago 7Who liked this?

@OdysseusUnbound

@fiddich1980 My wife blames me for all of the other ills in the world, why not this one too? laughing

@Victor There is much gnashing of teeth in the various Facebook Whisky groups when I defend/endorse a so-called bottom-shelfer. I really don't care though. I've been uncool my whole life, and I don't drink whisky to define myself or to show off, so I have nothing to prove with my whiskies of choice. The bourbon groups freak out when I list Old Grand Dad 114 as one of my favourites. The scotch groups get worked up when I state that I like Canadian or American whisky, even cheap stuff (gasp!) like Dickel No.12

That's what I appreciate most about Connosr: we all have our own tastes, but nobody poo-poos somebody else's preferences as inherently inferior.

4 years ago 8Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC replied

@OdysseusUnbound - I bet there'd be a few raised eyebrows on here though if someone raved about Lambertus . . . or admitted to putting ginger ale in a top dram smile

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

@RianC
RianC replied

@Victor - A fact that I've had dialogue with Ralfy about. 'Just the way it goes' was, I think, the gist of his response.

What you say about finding the good stuff before the herd does though is so true. Perhaps harder to do with whisky these days but certainly not impossible.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@RianC "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you got till it's gone..."

The Ben 10/100 is a solid whisky, @fiddich1980. Highly recommended. The standard 10 is very good too, despite the low ABV. But the two, in my opinion, are very different whiskies and both worth having in their own right.

4 years ago 5Who liked this?

@MadSingleMalt

Tomorrow night with my club, it's Springbank Spring Break! We're tasting:

  • Springbank 10

  • Springbank 10 100 Proof

  • Springbank 14 Fino 1996 Single Cask

  • Springbank 18 (and maybe the 15)

  • Springbank Local Barley 11

4 years ago 5Who liked this?

@Hewie
Hewie replied

@MadSingleMalt good looking line up. How old is the 10 100 bottle? Be interesting to see how it compares in there. Have a great night.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@MadSingleMalt No 12 YO cask strength? I guess it is a bit ubiquitous, but still very delicious

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

@Victor
Victor replied

@Nozinan Springbank 12 CS is rare where I live.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

Wierdo replied

I guess the difficulty in finding a good whisky at a sensible price before others realise it's good and drive the price up is that seems to be hard to do. You look at whiskies like Daftmill that have only been an active distillery for 12 years. There is a massive buzz around it and you can't get a bottle for love nor money.

You've got people buying bottles of 3 year old whisky from new distilleries for £200. One distillery in England (think it was the lakes) were selling a spirit that couldn't even be called whisky as it was less than 3 years old and people were lapping it up.

I guess what I'm saying is very, very little goes under the radar.

I think it comes back to what you often say @Victor if you find a whisky you like at a price you don't begrudge paying, then stock up. Because it can only get more expensive.

I've had my fingers burnt recently in that respect by Pulteney, Balblair and now I guess Benromach in that respect (although I am at least glad they've not made their cask strength whisky NAS).

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

@cricklewood
cricklewood replied

@Wierdo I was wondering if you'd post about the new Benromach cask strength. I saw they posted it on their official insta page last night, good reporting!

I can understand why they would shape up their cask strength offering, indeed the whole 100proof can be seen as a bit confusing for some markets. It also just comes off as a Cask strength version of their existant product rather than something unique in its own right.

I can see from an inventory perspective being easier to manages stocks for something like this and this is exactly the kind of thing we'd enjoy from someone like Springbank so I don't think it's too bad here.

That said potential price increases and also the limited nature of releases is never something that is favorable to Connosrs, although I haven't seen any frenzy for Benromach releases yet...

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@Victor Rare here too. I got my first bottle in Toronto and the other three, I believe, in Calgary. Sadly, only one left in the bunker.

4 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge replied

@RianC, too late, but yes indeed, a few raised eye brows and a few good laughs. I had a second helping of Lambertus in one sitting and a dear Connosr friend mixed The Champagne of Ginger Ales with a 30 YO Rye at my daughter's wedding reception. @OdysseusUnbound is correct, we are a tolerant and understanding group for the most part (with only the occasional flare-up, mea culpa).

4 years ago 7Who liked this?

@MadSingleMalt

@Hewie, the Springbank 10 100 Proof was from the old "tan label" days, before the glossy black labels that preceded the current godawful color-block labels. I haven't researched it or anything, but by my memory, that places it around 2011 or so. It's just about my favorite whisky of all time, and I was incredibly grateful to the buddy who traded it to me when I told him how much I adored it. I was happy to share the last inch or so with my club, and it was a smash hit.

The 11 Local Barley was similar to it.

4 years ago 6Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

Jack Daniels #7 Tennessee Whisky. Why? Because there appear to be many in nearby stores, 200 cc bottles for less than $10. I recently acquired a single barrel Barrel Proof version as a gift and I want to be able to make a proper comparison when I open it.

4 years ago 4Who liked this?

@talexander
talexander replied

@Nozinan Very curious to see your notes and comparison.

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@talexander Likely that you will be there on opening...

4 years ago 1Who liked this?

@Nozinan
Nozinan replied

@talexander Well, if I pick up the JD number seven before we meet, I may open that one to familiarize myself, but I'm happy to wait until we can all get together for the CS version (with 3 different single barrels in play possibly...).

4 years ago 2Who liked this?

Wierdo replied

@MadSingleMalt you're right about the current Springbank labels. I much prefer the previous black ones.

4 years ago 3Who liked this?

@Benancio
Benancio replied

@Victor My amigo. I’ve always enjoy your insight as well as your company. It’s been a while. It’s been a long time since I’ve bought another bottle, still living off my reserves. The issue I have with these inflated prices is must don’t deliver the goods, at least not at the price they charge. I know what I like, It’s mostly tequila and IPAs right now, but if I come across a bargain on Scotch or Bourbon i Love I’ll add as many as I can afford to my collection. Sometimes quality comes at a high price sometimes it doesn’t.
I stopped chasing Pappy, I remember when it used to be stocked on the shelf.

Cheers Friend Benancio

4 years ago 5Who liked this?

Liked by:

@Alexsweden@ajjarrettR@Nozinan@Mantisking + 3 others

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