Why don't more distilleries do this?

Agreed. I've seen some ridiculous prices for triple-packs of samples from some distilleries, and way over-priced half bottles (if you can manage to find distilleries that bottle them). In my view, they're missing out on our business because as you said, the discerning drinker is forced to compromise or just not bother buying OR go to a bar and pay too much for a dram just decide whether they'll buy a full bottle later.

Agreed. There are some 3x200ml packs with a good value for money. I got it from Talisker and Springbank (CV range).

I agree. Most 2x and 3x "samplers" are overpriced here in Seattle though. I avoid trying new things if they're IMO overpriced. If they were a good deal (read "not-for-profit") I'd certainly try them and possibly become a regular buyer.

Sometimes I think that spirits companies get a primal predatory instinct with smaller size bottles, ie they believe that the smaller the package the more hard-up, ie hard-core alcoholic, the potential buyer is,...and, the more they should be able to charge top rate. In Washington, D.C., for example, this sort of idea can be seen in local law which requires that a purchaser purchase a minimum of six 50 ml minis at a time, on the dubious assumption that this will discourage skid-row types from easy access to feed their habits from their last begged-for dollar.

I really do not believe that most spirits companies have yet fully grasped the marketing promotional advantages for themselves in seeing wide distribution of samples of their products.

@Victor -- good points all around. Interesting about D.C.'s policy on miniatures. I don't buy miniatures myself, as I've heard that the cardboard in the little caps can affect the taste. But the package I mentioned in my original post would seem to be the best of all worlds for all concerned. They're half-bottles, not miniatures (375 ml each), which would give the consumer a chance to try both expressions -- plus, the profit margin remains the same for the company, as the price point is right between the two (actually, it skews a few dollars higher than the halfway point, so the profit is even more). I don't know any skid-row types, but my guess is that they don't spend sixty bucks on a whisky package. ;)

@WhiskyBee, 375 ml is a nice size, though for sampling something new I like 200 ml even better. Much as I wish that all booze were constantly available in these sizes, I am sure that it would be a nightmare for the stores to stocks lots and lots of little bottles of varying sizes in hundreds of different items. Practical storage must be a huge issue here, as it is at the bars at restaurants. It is no wonder to me that you can't often find rare premium whiskies at a restaurant bar with small storage space: after they stock what they KNOW large numbers of their customers will recognise and ask for, they have very little space remaining to stock anything else.

As for lawmakers, they are looking at volume, and seeing not much Highland Park 30 for the connoisseur, but lots of vodka and tequila mixto for college students, non-connoisseur businessmen in for the weekend, and street people. They, like the spirits companies, are thinking mostly about the heavy volume business.

@Victor Very interesting fact about D.C. 50mL minis.

Just in the past few months I've purchased 2 seperate Glenmorangie "value packs".

Both packs include their standard 750 ml 10 yr Original Glenmorangie; 1 pack had 2 nice glasses with "Glenmorangie", and "British Open" etched onto them, and the other pack had 3 50 ml samples of the Nectar'Dor, Lasanta, and Quinta Ruban.