To Buy Or Not To Buy?

Judging from the flurry of emails I've received lately, I can tell that we've really got everyone in quite a pickle about whether or not to purchase a bottle of our exclusive Ladyburn cask.  In order to help ease some of this capitalistic tension, I will offer a bit of what I hope is sage advise.

-If you've never spent more than $100 on a bottle of whisky before, this is not the bottle for you.  To me, great single malt scotch usually falls into the $80 to $150 range.  I think that the Ladyburn cask we bought is special enough to warrant a $300 price tag because it is easily twice as good as something like Macallan 18 ($140) as well as twice as old.  Plus, it's extremely rare.  However, whisky comes with expectations and if you've never felt like $140 was a reasonable price for a bottle, then you certainly won't feel that way about $300.

-If you're worried about quality, then let me tell you: you're covered.  The quality is there and the complexity is stunning.  If you're worried about whether you'll like it or not, I can't guarantee anything. 

-If you've ever gone out to eat and paid $70 for a bottle of wine at a restaurant, then you know you're probably paying more than double the retail price.  Yet, we're all willing to treat ourselves now and then in these situations.  If you figure you'll get at least 26 pours out of the Ladyburn, then it comes out to be about $12 a glass.  If you ordered this glass at a restaurant it would be $75 easily if not $100.

-If you're waiting to see what else we have in store so that you don't blow your entire savings right away, then that might be a good idea.  However, the Ladyburn will be gone before you find out what's next, so that's a gamble you'll have to take.  I can tell you this: there is no whisky coming up down the road that is as good as the Ladyburn.  However, there are two other closed distilleries coming and you can probably buy two of those for a little more than $300, so that might be the move.  Again, that's a personal preference.

-As it stands now, there are no peated Islay whiskies coming down the pipeline.  We had a cask of Lagavulin in the mix, but it fell through at the end due to complications.  No Ardbeg, Laphroaig, or anything like that so don't hold out for a shocker later on.

-There won't be a chance to sample these whiskies at a tasting because we cannot legally taste spirits that we purchased via K&L.  They have to either be provided by the distributor or purchased by the retaurant hosting the event.  Since we have already purchased every bottle, this type of arrangement is not possible.  You'll have to decide on faith.  The other selections should run deep enough to allow you to taste your own purchase and decide if you want more, but no chance to try before you buy unfortunately.

Does that help at all?

-David Driscoll

David Driscoll