Aldi whisky - 40 yr old tipple selling for £50
Discussion
For the whisky lovers... gotta be worth a punt surely?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2064...
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/news/article-2064...
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Wadeski said:
Sounds like someone had some old whisky that didnt age too well, so got rid of it for an Aldi PR stunt.
I am not a whisky man, but I have to ask, why does it sound like old whisky not aged very well. What have you heard? Or tasted?Here is a review from someone who has actually tasted it.....
http://caskstrength.blogspot.com/
Um - take away the margin - the fancy packaging - and the taxes. Sounds like paint stripper money - the only way to tell though is to lay out £50.
Also, this Thursday I think, they have a 24 year old for something like £30. I have seen comments elsewhere about the past origin of some past bottlings - Dalmore and Tomintoul are I think two that come to mind. Where are these one's from ?
I have only tasted one 40yo before - and the taste I had was worth more than that bottle - damn nice though - for the price of a distillery tour (only person on a Monday afternoon in late March - took pity on me
) - tell a lie - two actually - same distillation but different cask - so different.
Also, this Thursday I think, they have a 24 year old for something like £30. I have seen comments elsewhere about the past origin of some past bottlings - Dalmore and Tomintoul are I think two that come to mind. Where are these one's from ?
I have only tasted one 40yo before - and the taste I had was worth more than that bottle - damn nice though - for the price of a distillery tour (only person on a Monday afternoon in late March - took pity on me
) - tell a lie - two actually - same distillation but different cask - so different.dazco said:
I keep forgetting, time and time again, this is pistonheads. If it is not top dollar it is s
t.
Must
Remember.
Crap whisky this, st. You need to pay at least £150 for a good 'un. Last one I bought was nearly eight grand and that only just sufficed.
Better?
Not really. It's like buying an own brand 40 year old 'car'. You don't know who made it until you buy it so have to take a punt and hope it's OK. You know it isn't a Ferrari Daytona or a Lamborghini Muira as it's way too cheap for that. If you're really lucky it might be an Alfa Junior or BMW of some sort, maybe a Lotus Elan or a nice Type 2 camper. However, it could be a real dog, like a Moskivitch, poverty spec Marina or a plywood kit car. If they said where it was from people would be less sceptical but it does look like it could be a sub standard product the distillery doesn't want to put its name to.t.Must
Remember.
Crap whisky this, s
t. You need to pay at least £150 for a good 'un. Last one I bought was nearly eight grand and that only just sufficed.Better?
A slightly silly example I admit but an effective way of getting the point across on an automotive forum.
As for Whisky having to be expensive, have a look on the whisky thread, there are several great drams at under £20 and dozens under £30, it's certainly not a cliquey PH thing!
jamiebae said:
Not really. It's like buying an own brand 40 year old 'car'. You don't know who made it until you buy it so have to take a punt and hope it's OK. You know it isn't a Ferrari Daytona or a Lamborghini Muira as it's way too cheap for that. If you're really lucky it might be an Alfa Junior or BMW of some sort, maybe a Lotus Elan or a nice Type 2 camper. However, it could be a real dog, like a Moskivitch, poverty spec Marina or a plywood kit car. If they said where it was from people would be less sceptical but it does look like it could be a sub standard product the distillery doesn't want to put its name to.
A slightly silly example I admit but an effective way of getting the point across on an automotive forum.
As for Whisky having to be expensive, have a look on the whisky thread, there are several great drams at under £20 and dozens under £30, it's certainly not a cliquey PH thing!
Sorry, that example has nothing to do with either real life or this thread. There is no such thing as a 40 year old unknown own brand car. At least use something from reality to compare it with.A slightly silly example I admit but an effective way of getting the point across on an automotive forum.
As for Whisky having to be expensive, have a look on the whisky thread, there are several great drams at under £20 and dozens under £30, it's certainly not a cliquey PH thing!
I must admit a lot of people here are savvy and do not subscribe to the 'if it's cheap it's s
t' mentality but they have usually been coaxed into Lidl or Aldi. Some people on this thread dismissed this drink and they only know THREE things about it.
1 It is 40 years old
2 It is fifty quid
3 It is from Speyside
40 years old seems to be desirable, Speyside has no bad rep with whisky so it must be the price. It is too cheap and as a result, despite the review I posted, it is dismissed as rubbish.
This dismissal must be based 100% on the price of the whisky.
It could be a loss leader. Aldi are getting great publicity from this, and they only have 3000 bottles to sell.
The distillery may be close to bankruptcy and fear it may not be the right time to put out a premium whisky at a premium price.
The whisky MAY be rubbish, but to just right it off based on price smacks of snobbery. Don't forget, this is still a whisky that a distiller has looked after for forty years and felt that the whisky was worth keeping and maturing.
dazco said:
Sorry, that example has nothing to do with either real life or this thread. There is no such thing as a 40 year old unknown own brand car. At least use something from reality to compare it with.
I must admit a lot of people here are savvy and do not subscribe to the 'if it's cheap it's st' mentality but they have usually been coaxed into Lidl or Aldi.
Some people on this thread dismissed this drink and they only know THREE things about it.
1 It is 40 years old
2 It is fifty quid
3 It is from Speyside
40 years old seems to be desirable, Speyside has no bad rep with whisky so it must be the price. It is too cheap and as a result, despite the review I posted, it is dismissed as rubbish.
This dismissal must be based 100% on the price of the whisky.
It could be a loss leader. Aldi are getting great publicity from this, and they only have 3000 bottles to sell.
The distillery may be close to bankruptcy and fear it may not be the right time to put out a premium whisky at a premium price.
The whisky MAY be rubbish, but to just right it off based on price smacks of snobbery. Don't forget, this is still a whisky that a distiller has looked after for forty years and felt that the whisky was worth keeping and maturing.
I don't agree I'm afraid. The dismissal (if you can call it that) is based on the fact that this whisky has come from a distillery which everyone knows, but they have chosen not to put their name to it. In most cases this is because it doesn't make the grade to be sold under their brand. It is nothing to do with the distillery being close to bankruptcy or anything else, as there is only a finite amount of this age of whisky available and there will always be demand from indie bottlers or blenders for it.I must admit a lot of people here are savvy and do not subscribe to the 'if it's cheap it's s
t' mentality but they have usually been coaxed into Lidl or Aldi. Some people on this thread dismissed this drink and they only know THREE things about it.
1 It is 40 years old
2 It is fifty quid
3 It is from Speyside
40 years old seems to be desirable, Speyside has no bad rep with whisky so it must be the price. It is too cheap and as a result, despite the review I posted, it is dismissed as rubbish.
This dismissal must be based 100% on the price of the whisky.
It could be a loss leader. Aldi are getting great publicity from this, and they only have 3000 bottles to sell.
The distillery may be close to bankruptcy and fear it may not be the right time to put out a premium whisky at a premium price.
The whisky MAY be rubbish, but to just right it off based on price smacks of snobbery. Don't forget, this is still a whisky that a distiller has looked after for forty years and felt that the whisky was worth keeping and maturing.
It is certainly a loss leader, but even then it might not actually be any good. It could be a great £50 dram, but it may not and if you don't know who produced it there's no 'brand equity' to give people confidence in the product, like you'd have with a Glenfarclas, Ardbeg or Bunnahabhain.
The car example was silly, but is absolutely relevant to this case.
jamiebae said:
I don't agree I'm afraid. The dismissal (if you can call it that) is based on the fact that this whisky has come from a distillery which everyone knows, but they have chosen not to put their name to it. In most cases this is because it doesn't make the grade to be sold under their brand. It is nothing to do with the distillery being close to bankruptcy or anything else, as there is only a finite amount of this age of whisky available and there will always be demand from indie bottlers or blenders for it.
It is certainly a loss leader, but even then it might not actually be any good. It could be a great £50 dram, but it may not and if you don't know who produced it there's no 'brand equity' to give people confidence in the product, like you'd have with a Glenfarclas, Ardbeg or Bunnahabhain.
Sorry, you have no way of knowing most of the things you have posted as fact. How on Earth do you know how buoyant a whisky company is?It is certainly a loss leader, but even then it might not actually be any good. It could be a great £50 dram, but it may not and if you don't know who produced it there's no 'brand equity' to give people confidence in the product, like you'd have with a Glenfarclas, Ardbeg or Bunnahabhain.
As you say, it may be a great dram, and that is where my mini rant has a point, it MAY be good. It cannot be dismissed because it is inexpensive.
And a read of the review I posted seems to say it is a very very good buy.
dazco said:
Sorry, you have no way of knowing most of the things you have posted as fact. How on Earth do you know how buoyant a whisky company is?
As you say, it may be a great dram, and that is where my mini rant has a point, it MAY be good. It cannot be dismissed because it is inexpensive.
And a read of the review I posted seems to say it is a very very good buy.
Why don't you shut up now? You're coming across as an argumentative prick. The most important point is that the £50 whisky seems worth having, unlike the slightly cheaper oneAs you say, it may be a great dram, and that is where my mini rant has a point, it MAY be good. It cannot be dismissed because it is inexpensive.
And a read of the review I posted seems to say it is a very very good buy.
456mgt said:
dazco said:
Sorry, you have no way of knowing most of the things you have posted as fact. How on Earth do you know how buoyant a whisky company is?
As you say, it may be a great dram, and that is where my mini rant has a point, it MAY be good. It cannot be dismissed because it is inexpensive.
And a read of the review I posted seems to say it is a very very good buy.
Why don't you shut up now? You're coming across as an argumentative prick. The most important point is that the £50 whisky seems worth having, unlike the slightly cheaper oneAs you say, it may be a great dram, and that is where my mini rant has a point, it MAY be good. It cannot be dismissed because it is inexpensive.
And a read of the review I posted seems to say it is a very very good buy.
Cheese Mechanic said:
Old whisky does not always mean good whisky.
Wadeski said:
old whiskies can go "too far" and become woody. Sadly they tend to get chucked into aged blends through the spirit trading market.
I agree with all of the above.This, however, is balls:
dazco said:
I keep forgetting, time and time again, this is pistonheads. If it is not top dollar it is st.
Must
Remember.
Crap whisky this, st. You need to pay at least £150 for a good 'un. Last one I bought was nearly eight grand and that only just sufficed.
Better?
While there may be a lot of whisky snobbery in the world, largely from those who don't really know much about the subject, PH is relatively free from it.t.Must
Remember.
Crap whisky this, s
t. You need to pay at least £150 for a good 'un. Last one I bought was nearly eight grand and that only just sufficed.Better?
jamiebae said:
As for Whisky having to be expensive, have a look on the whisky thread, there are several great drams at under £20 and dozens under £30, it's certainly not a cliquey PH thing!
Quite.MonkeyBusiness said:
3000 bottles between 450 stores = 6 bottles per store. One for the manager, one each for his two mates, one for the deputy manager, one each for his dad and his mate. Wouldn't bother making a trip to Aldi because they will be sold out before they open.
Sadly this is probably true.Part of the problem here is that a lot of people will buy this whisky purely because it's 40yo and therefore must be good. A lot of people won't buy it because it's from Aldi which is quite sad really.
I tend to agree with the sentiment that £50 is very, very cheap for 40yo whisky. In life, things tend to be cheap for a reason.
Best to approach it as a £50 whisky and compare it with other £50 whiskies rather than other 40yo drams.
I'm sure it will be a decent dram. Other bottles that Aldi have released have, by all accounts, been pretty decent.
F-Stop Junkie said:
The stuff goes on sale Dec 6th, but a random blogger has bottles early?
I think not.
You'd be surprised what random bloggers get from distilleries, bottlers and retailers I think not.
Lefty said:
I tend to agree with the sentiment that £50 is very, very cheap for 40yo whisky. In life, things tend to be cheap for a reason.
Best to approach it as a £50 whisky and compare it with other £50 whiskies rather than other 40yo drams.
I think you probably nailed it here Lefty with this simple analysis. Best to approach it as a £50 whisky and compare it with other £50 whiskies rather than other 40yo drams.
In my 100+ bottles the average price is under £40 - simply as most cost in the £30 to £40 area. Nothing has been over £90 (although I have tasted over this level many times). So its easy to compare them - along with the 'does it fit my taste preferences' argument.
Being a Yorkshireman (short arms / deep pockets) I ask myself 'have I enjoyed my dram at that price. If I were to go out and pay over £100 for a Royal Salute I would feel personally let down. Spending £15 on Black Grouse or £25 on Quarter Cask and I am very happy.
One of the best ways to appreciate the value of a dram is to do a tasting across a distillery portfolio - working through from NAS / 10 right through to 30 years, if you are lucky - even better if its blind tasted. Its one thing to desire the 30yo - but when you factor in the cost, out of your own hard earned money, many will pick something between 15 and 21 years as their most desired dram. Its attainable and enjoyable in equal measure. That's not to say there is anything wrong with the NAS / 10 - its the building block for the 15 etc and good to drink for a change to remind you why you like the 'big brother' dram, given the choice.
The same type of principles apply to our car choices - the Brora and (used)CL500 will both have to wait for that lottery win (oops - forgot - I don't do the lottery). Again like cars, old whiskies get more unpredictable - the slightest thing can change a dream to a nightmare, a fortune to scrap.
There are no PH whiskyheads here that can either afford or desire to drink 'dream drams' on a regular basis - it would be too boring anyway. I do buy some things in Aldi, as I do Waitrose, but I'm giving this a miss for something more up my street - eg 57 North / Coal Ila Moch. If anyone does buy the Aldi dram lets hear your opinion - it may be the bargain of 2011 - compared to say the 57 North (£55 ish).
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