more jumping prices (and not because of milk or gas...)

[acroyear]

its actually in the Scotch Whiskey market. Sometime over 15 years ago, the conventional wisdom of the time seemed to be that the "fad" (or fashion, if you will) for aged single-malt scotch would wind down in 15 years time, leaving some distileries overloaded with stock that wouldn't go anywhere.

so they cut down production.

significantly.

15 years later, and the fashion has increased n-fold, and suddenly the distileries are finding themselves out of stock for a great many popular brands. In particular, Oban 14 and Lagevulin 16 are (2 of the 6 "classic" malts) are now on the "very hard to get list". In Virginia, Oban jumped in price from $45 to $75 a bottle (and what you see in the stores is all VA's going to get for the rest of the year), and the Lagevulin simply can't be found at all.

Thank god for privately-owned stores. I found the Lag up in New Jersey (mind you, for $20 more than I paid for the same bottle 2 years ago) to get for a co-worker. And this place had a lot of it. Probably more Lag in this store than in the entire state of Virginia right now. While I was at it, the MacAllan seems to be in the opposite situation, and has an overstock of the 12 (though the 15 is long-gone as an item -- seems they don't want to risk losing stock for their 18s now), so I got a bottle of that for about $12 less than I would have paid in VA. Kinda makes up for it.

Also got a bottle of a 16 of something I'd never seen before, but i'm holding on to that for the annual party. If i'm risking a scotch i've never had before, i'm *not* doing it alone.

Comments

[cozit.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity... have you ever tried the Irish whiskey that's similar but slightly different from the Scotch?

(pure curiosity... after all, as alcohol and my tastebuds and system don't get along particularly well, I'm unlikely to ever try either...)

[acroyear70.livejournal.com]

irish whiskeys are NOT scotch, nor are they the same as tenneesee hootch, irish potching (moonshine, effectively), kentucky burbon, nor canadian whiskeys, though all come from the same basic family of recipes (distilling particular malts and grains, but different grains from those that make gin, vodka, or tequila).

I can like and/or respect the irish whiskey families, but in the end, they're not scotch.

and the variety of scotches, from the blends to the particular regions of single-malts, are more diverse than the varieties of beers in america. for those of us who can taste the craft, every nuance is unique and worthy of consideration (even if our consideration is to never consider that nuance again, which has happened, and often).

[deza.livejournal.com]

You should get together with tall_man and talk Scotch sometime. He's been missing having someone around that can appreciate it. ;)

[dawntreader]

"If i'm risking a scotch i've never had before, i'm *not* doing it alone."

few wiser words have ever been spoken. :)