Original Choice!
Deluxe, mind.
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Loch Fyne have some great offers at the moment too!
Master of Malt also had the corryvreckan at that price. Iâm looking forward to trying it. I resisted paying extra for next day delivery. Slight regret now because I have a stinking cold and a whisky this evening would be niceâŚ
If it wasnât for Bells and a host of other cheap blends in the supermarkets a lot of the industry would collapse. Most distilleries send a good bulk of their output to the blenders who operate on a truly industrial scale. I came across one of their works traveling South of Speyside, it resembled a chemical plant, a million miles away from the image the industry portrays at its traditional distilleries just up the road.
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The Blair Atholl distillery is a nice walk around, part of Bells.
I donât really have a problem with Bells etc, I prefer single malts obviously, but in the past Iâve had many bottles of Bells for Christmas 
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You have malt whiskies and grain whiskies, produced in different ways.
If you âmixâ malt and grain, then you get a blended whisky.
(Donât use the word âmixâ amoung whisky aficionados, unless you want to upset them 
. I use it here for explanation.)
Any type of mixing whiskies alone (not to be confused with creating hipster drinks) can better be called blending in this context.
It really is a craft to blend the whiskies correctly, even single malt whiskies are âblendedâ.
Because every barrel matures in an individual way. So, even for a standard bottling, say Ardbeg 10, you need to blend (mix) a bunch of barrels from the warehouse for bottling, that are all different. This Ardbeg 10 needs to have the same taste next month or next year. This challange to secure this consistency requires craftsmanship. The same goes for a bottle of blended whisky like Bells, JW etc.
More on (industrial scale made) grain whiskies:
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Industrial scake doesnât begin to describe it. The plant I saw wouldnât look out of place on the Humber estuary. I remember speaking to one of the traditional distilleries I visited (part of the group that owns Bells) and 90% of their output went to the cheap brands.
when I did the tour a couple of years ago one of the issues they had was a lack of aged whiskey, certainly not sufficient to meet demand. Their answer was to market distillers blends using whiskey that had been aged to varying degrees. As an example, majority at ten year, a percentage at 15 year and a smaller amount at 25 year. this then allowed them a way to meet demand, increase prices and everyoneâs happy. I would say the majority on supermarket shelves are now of this variety rather than the more traditional 12 or 15 year variety. these global drinks companies know how to market their wares, thatâs for sure.
I remember watching a fella from China raid the âexclusiveâ cabinet at a well know distillery on Skye where the cheapest was ÂŁ750, he walked away with a case of the stuff! None of the distillers blends for hi, no siree.
There is only 1 option 
But what you describe indeed is the tendency in the last 10-15 years, one needs to throw huge amounts of cash for anything above (decent) standard, let alone something special.
me too - Ive have toured many whiskey (and gin) distilleries and it is the same. More are still (sorry!) popping and making gin whilst they are waiting for stuff to age. I went to one in Wales, whose intent is to make whiskey, but thatâll be another 5 years at the earliest - in the meantime, they are doing a good trade in gin.
My brother gave me a bottle of Dartmoor Single Malt for my birthday, and to my palate itâs absolutely superb.
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Yep me about it, I always end up choosing the expensive one at the blind tasting, luckily Miriam inevitably agrees. Thankfully at one distillery the ÂŁ2500 option came second to one at a tenth the cost, birthday present I might add.
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They really have brought an expert on board who knows what heâs doing.
Tended to think youâre affiliated based on your nickname, but since you received a gift, I guess not.
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Make sure there is a message in the bottle when planet earth is done
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As I have a reasonable collection of whisky now, I have been thinking about how I store them. Do any of you folks keep them lying down, to avoid problems with bottles which have a cork?
You are doing it wrong.
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True ! But I canât drink them fast enough⌠Forget my question about storing them on their sides. I heard it mentioned that by doing this, if the cork is kept wet, it avoids problems. But I understand that to be nonsense, so up it is.
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Standing upright as the high alcohol percentage can effect the cork and start to degrade it.
I only have one bottle I havenât opened yet, gone up ÂŁ75 in the last two years. Glenfiddich winter storm batch 3. But now itâs at the point I really want to drink it and canât stop thinking about it 
So do I buy another in the hope it will still go up in value. Then drink this one. Or hide it better so I forget about it more?
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I imagine the answer is that you drink it, and buy 2 extra bottles!