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William Administrator
Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 4054 Location: Scotland
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Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:59 pm Post subject: Kilchoman 100% Islay 3rd Edition Released |
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Islay's independent farm distillery, Kilchoman has released the 3rd edition of its popular 100% Islay range. This 3rd edition is a vatting of four and five year old fresh bourbon barrels.
100% Islay is bottled at 50% ABV and has a RRP of £59.95
I havent had the chance ti taste this 3rd edition yet but going by the first 2 editions i have high hopes for it. I will let you know what i think when i get hold of some.
More info on the Kilchoman 100% Islay 3rd Edition here:
www.scotchmaltwhisky.co.uk/kilchoman100islay3.htm _________________ There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky. |
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Big Mac Master Of Malts
Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 2202 Location: USA - Formerly Scotland
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 1:37 am Post subject: |
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I am sure it is as good as any 4/5 year old peated Islay whisky can be but an RRP of £59.95 is quite frankly IMO crazy and no more than a rip off, the pricing of whisky has gone mad
With the gradual move to no age statements by many brands, with most of the big producers with ever increasing unjustified price increases way beyond any increases in production costs it seems to me like it is organised price fixing by the big players in the whisky industry which is followed by the profiteering small players and independents who are happy to profit on the big companies price fixing.
I am not targeting Kilchoman here as many companies are profiteering at the moment and it should be stopped.
Sorry for the moan but i feel that i am being ripped off more and more these days. |
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albo Master Of Malts
Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 1888
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:46 am Post subject: |
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Here here. Very well put Big Mac. I wholeheartedly agree with each and every one of your points. |
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Alexppp Master Of Malts
Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:38 am Post subject: |
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I too agree with your points Mac - I think there is a simple, if unrealistic, solution: stop buying their products! For example, I for one haven't bought a single Macallan bottle since they went NAS and hiked up their prices, and am certainly not going to buy a Kilchoman until they release something priced for drinking rather than collecting. Fortunately there are still distilleries that haven't gone down that route, so we still have options.
(Of course, it's not really going to happen because it's a booming market and I imagine the majority of people who buy them are not fanatic single malt drinkers, but if everyone spoke with their wallets distilleries would have to rethink) |
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Crane Master Of Malts
Joined: 26 Jun 2008 Posts: 1231 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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It does seem like the big companies have a new business model when it comes to single malt whisky or premium blends and that is to sell at premium prices rather than sell volume. They have realised due to the surge in popularity of whisky in the last 10 years they can do this and the profits for volume of sales are much higher. |
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rlemkin Single Malt Member
Joined: 09 Sep 2012 Posts: 71
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not going to hate on Kilchoman, they received quite a lot of praise for their whisky, young though it may be.
Having tried a few I would agree that it's pretty good, I wouldn't pay £60 for it, but others plainly will. Let's not forget that it's also more of a craft operation that has a much smaller output than every other Islay distillery.
Unlike other companies they're not deliberately trying to punt young whisky cheaply.. it's pretty much all they've got and people are buying it! |
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DavidUK Double Malt Member
Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 174
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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I wonder how many whisky drinkers still buy Diageo bottles despite the outrageous pricing of some of their annual releases eg Port Ellen and Lagavulin?
Give me Kilchoman any day. |
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Alexppp Master Of Malts
Joined: 16 Jul 2010 Posts: 1791
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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DavidUK wrote: | I wonder how many whisky drinkers still buy Diageo bottles despite the outrageous pricing of some of their annual releases eg Port Ellen and Lagavulin?
Give me Kilchoman any day. |
Depends - I'm not going to stop buying some of my regular drinks (e.g. Talisker or Caol Ila) if other releases from Diageo are priced outrageously. The entry-level Lagavulin is still reasonably priced for a 16 year-old compared to other whiskies of its age. The reasons behind outrageous pricing are of secondary importance to me - if it's not priced for drinking then I won't buy it - though Kilchoman's reasons are easier to accept than a big multi-national company's. |
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Keith Master Of Malts
Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1506 Location: Scotland
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with you Mac. It does appear like there is some agreement in the whisky industry about pricing. The whisky industry know they have an luxury item which is affordable to many people and it is very professionally marketed these days and they seem to be stretching the prices constantly to see what people are willing to pay. You used to always hear the Scotch Whisky Association complaining about the unfair duty/tax on whisky imposed by the government but they have gone quiet these days but the government duty rises is nothing compared to the rises imposed by the whisky companies in recent years. |
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William Administrator
Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 4054 Location: Scotland
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Posted: Tue Jul 09, 2013 11:46 pm Post subject: |
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I have some interesting statistics about the volume of sales and value of sales, i will look them out and post them here tomorrow. They will confirm what some have said above sales volumes are down and sales values are up. _________________ There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky. |
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Big Mac Master Of Malts
Joined: 02 Nov 2006 Posts: 2202 Location: USA - Formerly Scotland
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 1:38 am Post subject: |
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Sorry if it seemed like i was singling out Kilchoman but an RRP of £59.95 is excessive for a young whisky, and i wouldnt say it is particularly collectable as Kilchoman are releasing 30,000 bottles plus a year AFAIK. The first releases will be very collectable but i think you will be fooling yourself if you think any of the bottles they are releasing now at this price are goung to make much money anytime soon. It has been a while since i tasted their whisky, i liked what i did taste, it was very young and showed potential and it would be interesting to taste it to see how it is maturing but not at stupid prices, i am am not going to support there start up costs by over paying for young whisky. As Alexppp said
Alexppp wrote: | I am certainly not going to buy a Kilchoman until they release something priced for drinking rather than collecting. |
William wrote: | I have some interesting statistics about the volume of sales and value of sales, i will look them out and post them here tomorrow. They will confirm what some have said above sales volumes are down and sales values are up. |
William, i would be interested in seeing those stats. |
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Diademo Master Of Malts
Joined: 22 Aug 2012 Posts: 1255
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:16 am Post subject: |
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I'm surprised that they are releasing 3rd edition of 100% Islay because most shops still have in stock 2nd and even 1st edition. |
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albo Master Of Malts
Joined: 22 Mar 2011 Posts: 1888
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 8:08 am Post subject: |
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I too wouldl ike to see the stats William. It's not a great shock that volume of sales are down but value of sales are up. I wonder what the long game at play is here then. I'm guessing and I don't know if you have the stats William, but I would imagine volume distilled has not dropped in line withh the volume sold, so I'm thinking the big companies are starting to hord more older whisky for premium releases a long way down the line.
I didn't ever think this thread was a direct go at Kilchoman, it was just the price of thier 4/5yo whiisky that started this, they are not the most guilty out there at all (I'm looking at you Macallan), but just because they are a small start up, £60 for a 4/5yo whisky is OTT in anyones book. As others have said the later releases wont be of any resale value in the forseeable unless the distillery goes bust and closes.
The whole NAS whisky market is really starting to take a strong foot hold and that annoys me, I'm not saying 'older is better' and there are some excellent NAS whiskys out there, what gets my goat and probably most people here, is the price for these NAS whiskys, for a product which is predominently quite young and this does not have the associated costs built up over the years. I unerstand waiting 21 years for a product, holding it in storage, not making any return on investrment for such a long time, comes with a premium, but 4 or 5 years not so much.
Not sure why my rant turned on the NAS whisky market, but I'm tired and grumpy this morning.
Still onward and upwards eh. |
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William Administrator
Joined: 10 Apr 2006 Posts: 4054 Location: Scotland
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 1:16 pm Post subject: |
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Here are some figures on whisky sales volumes and values for the UK 2011 - 2012, I haven't got the past years figures but I would guess the figure will show the same trend these figure show. The figures are from a market report I was sent last year which was published by First Drinks/ William Grants & Sons
Sorry for the quality, my scanner is in the back of a cupboard as I rarely use it and it just took up space on the desk so I took the images with a digital camera.
As you can see Blended Whisky sales value was up 4% and the volume of sales was down 2%.
Malt Whisky sales value was up 5% and the volume of sales was down 2%.
_________________ There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky. |
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Alastair Master Of Malts
Joined: 13 Nov 2006 Posts: 1670 Location: Ayrshire - Scotland
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Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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I am always surprised to see gin getting such a big share of the market, i cant stand the stuff. It is no surprise to see sales values up and volumes down. |
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