DjangoJohnson
Arran The Robert Burns Single Malt
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed
May 10, 2023 (edited August 21, 2024)
I don't know about you, but I'm getting to that point where I'm ready to stop buying whisky. Don't get me wrong, I love it. But I'm not seeing inflation. I'm seeing greed. The price increases in the last year alone are astounding. I bought a bottle of Legent a year ago at $35. It's now $50. I bought a bottle of Glenlivet Caribbean for $35 a few months ago. That too is now $50. I was just looking at getting another bottle of Knob 12 which I bought maybe 6 months ago for $60, and it is now $72. These aren't incremental cost of living increases. These are highway robbery. And in the back of my mind, I'm thinking fuck these distillers. Good as your shit is, your shit isn't good enough that I'm going to let you pick my pocket. I have maybe 60 bottles in my collection. I'm 43 years old. I'm trying to do the math to figure out how to parcel out my current collection to last the rest of my life.
Then I remember, there's still a lot of inexpensive whisky out there that's good. Take this bottle for example. It's an Arran product. When it was around it was going for $33. Unfortunately when I bought this bottle, it was on clearance and hasn't been in local stores since, and it took me too long to open it. Had I opened it sooner, I would have realized this is perhaps the best sub-$35 bottle of whisky I've ever had. A nice sherried roundness to the nose, not terribly complex but fruity. The palate is strawberries and cream and the finish is long enough to feel like I've just tasted a delicious desert. And the best part is, for the delight it gives me, it doesn't break the fucking bank. So maybe I'm not buying whisky, maybe I'm just shifting my perspective. Maybe complexity is overrated. Maybe age statements are overrated. Maybe, what I'm saying, is I'm going back to researching what the best budget bourbons and ryes and scotches and irish whiskies are (notice I've left off Japanese because frankly budget and Japanese is an oxymoron).
And that's it. this might be my shortest review ever. But it's also a manifesto. If you see reviews of complex expensive shit on here going forward, it's likely because I already own it. My overindulgence is done.
32.99
USD
per
Bottle
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Cant agree more with all the commentary. Pricing is becoming ridiculous with increases almost every couple months. We need to identify the best value malts and stick to them let the matket around us go wild. This RB is an Arran release and is in todays market fucking amazing value. I jst got another bottle at TW for $26. They have discounted this down and Im fine with the needle going the other way for a bit. Having this back to back against Compass Glasgow and Spice Tree this takes both with ease. They are polar opposites with the CB marketing and story vs RB SM that most people do not even know is Arran. There are value gems out there just have to check this site for advise and be ultra aware
@DjangoJohnson @PBMichiganWolverine Nice review. Ah, the ever increasing price of whisky. I've seen it grow inexorably over the decades, usually in pace with CPI but I agree in the last year or two there has been a bump in all markets that is hard to attribute to anything other than a hike at source, or initial distribution. Hello Diageo, yes I'm waving at you, guys. However when it comes right down to it there is one fundamental cause of this, and it's us. The boom over the last decade didn't just happen out of nowhere. It's a craze and our evangelising has fuelled desire and inflated prices. This site/forum is a major culprit. Just a couple of years ago you could find Springbank 10 easily at any specialist outlet any time you looked - now it is a rare commodity - yes, commodity. We have fuelled the secondary, flipper and hedge-fund markets with our sage advice and now they buy up what we should be getting. Up against the wall with all the bas***ds, I say, but we have to accept they are our own dark spawn.
This is a great value scotch for sure
It's different depending on where you live. Both things can be true, and even at the same time. 50 different states, 50 different sets of alcohol regulation. Thank you 21st Amendment. But what seems true everywhere is that prices are going up.
Oh, and sorry, just to expound a little further. Last year around this time I got a bottle of Yellow Spot for 80$ from the state store. It's now $130. That's the distiller too. I don't believe it's the state pushing that up by $50.
@PBMichiganWolverine @Scott_E So in PA, the state stores regulate the prices. They just approved a 4% hike last month, which is part of it. But with the 4% things went up a little. The 59$ to 72$ with Knob 12, that's not the state, that's Beam Distilling.
@PBMichiganWolverine @DjangoJohnson I too am at a point where the cost doesn’t justify the experience. I have been happy enough sipping BiB Rye Old Fashioneds/Manhattans saving my hard earned pay with a smile. I have been shifting purchasing towards the sub $40 bottles. I have held the belief that distillers are holding back output to drive price up. A colluded effort. My conspiracy theory. At the end of it all, prices will shift the buyer to find joy elsewhere. Tequila, wine, beer? Market shift.
@DjangoJohnson agree 100% ! I don’t think it’s the distillers. I think it’s the greedy retailers.