I’ve noticed that the threads on various posts (like this one) regularly discuss where you found a whisky (rare or not) for a great price. Why don’t we start a thread where we can let our fellow WDJK readers know about a great deal.
Share your great finds with us so we can benefit too. (Retailers: please, no self-promoting.) What did you find, how much was it, and where did you get it?
The new 18 y/o Glenmorangie, $80 at Spec’s in Texas, USA. Was nearly twice the price when released.
Hopefully, I won’t wait the usual 1 or more years before I open such a find. I have to admire it a while…. you know.
PA State liquor stores has the new Laphroaig 18 for $57, less than half the cost from retailers in other states. Many PA stores carry it, and PA has a handy dandy website for finding the closest store for anything carried in PA.
In NYC, Warehouse Wine and Spirit sell lagavulin 16 for $50 and Ardbeg 10 for $47.
Doesn’t get much better than that.
Warehouse is also great for inexpensive, lesser-know independent bottlings. Also, Astor Wines, right around the corner has very competitive pricing.
Bay Area, CA residents: Picked up Ardebg NamBiest for $65 at Jackson Wine & Spirits in Lafyette, CA
Small to mid-sized liquor stores in and around the Chicago area I have found Ardbeg 10 for $35 and Macallan 15 sherry cask distilled in 1985 in the low $60′s.
I am currently eyeing a bottle of The Dalmore Stillman’s Dram 30 Year Old for $110, but haven’t pulled the trigger due to not being able to fund much info on it.
Hey Paul, that’s a great bottle and a great deal for $110. Their SDs are very consistent and tasty.
I agree about the Dalmore SD being a good bottle and a good deal – I picked up a bottle of the 28 yo here in Colorado for about $135 a while ago, and I really liked it. Slightly smoky with what I felt was a hint of rye, which seemed odd but quite pleasant. A great spicy dram and at $110 well worth it, I think!
Last year Costco in Glenview, IL was selling Talisker 25 for $100.
Great deals! Keep ‘em coming. And the more specific you can be, the better. (I realize that some of you may not want to reveal your secret spot, but I am sure your sharing will be greatly appreciated.)
Just before Christmas I picked up 3 bottles of Pappy Van Winkle 23 for $48 each. That’s about 75% off the normal price. It was in a small but fantastic wine and liquor store in Menash, WI. Not sure why the blow out price, but I took advantage while I could. We’ll see if when they get more they up the price… hopefully not!
pvw 23 for $48? my assumption is that someone at that store mistook them for the 15yo and didn’t know any better. you’d think that a store that could get 3 bottles of it would know better but probably a clerk that didn’t know or care. very good for you though. dang! congrats and the good thing for you is that this happened when john rated the pvw 23 yo a “96″ (he’s usually rated them much lower).
the only recent luck i ran into was a small liquor store in houston tx (i already forgot the name – i didn’t bother remembering it bc i knew i wasn’t going to go back) had one bottle of wild turkey american spirit for 79.99 and i bought it (cheaper than the original price of $90).
i usually buy my stuff at spec’s – they never have specials on the premium bourbon i like. they do have specials (right now, springbank 10 yo is a good deal).
RPP: Yeah, PWV 23 for $48 is insane. Maybe that’s why you didn’t mention the store’s name?
The best deal I was ever part of–and sadly this was like a decade ago so they’re long gone–was when Diageo decided to dump the Rare Malts on the market here in the U.S. They had a fire sale in PA for $39.99. Imagine, cask strength Mortlach and Clynelish for that price!
A Rare Malts Clynelish at that price makes me want to weep. The best deal I ever found (apart from the $80 Talisker 25) was a bottle of George T. Stagg for $25.
Kittling Ridge 40 Creek Barrel Select- $9.95/750 ml bottle. I bought three 12 bottle cases and still have about 2 cases left. Unfortunately I bought these about a year ago so this price is no longer available. However they make nice gifts.
Driving back from Canada, the Duty Free store at the Sarnia/Port Huron crossing, they have 700ml bottles of Highland Park 25 for $145 CD
Let me start by saying I have no affiliation with Total Wines but I must say I was like a kid in a candy store there.
I always thought I had no other choice but to go to BevMo unless I decided to make an online purchase. Then one day my buddy asks if I’ve ever been to Total Wines. Their inventory blew BevMo out of the water (more comparable to a fully stocked Binny’s), including their prices on average. Off memory Nadurra was around $45, Laphroaig CS was $64, American Spirit was around $72. They had Triumph at an astonishing $120 (typo on their inventory list) so I asked the manager to price match and she did based on the least expensive ad she could pull-up on the internet. Said she would do it anytime. Kudos.
Brora old malt cask 21 year for $69 at Broudy’s in St. Augustine Florida
I found several bottles of Ardbeg Uigeadail for $69 a piece at a totally non-descript liquor store in the ghetto part of East Atlanta. I don’t recall its name, though.
Mink’s Package Store in Marietta, GA has Longrow 14 regularly for $50 a bottle (only place in Georgia that sells Longrow). They also routinely have specials like the Old Pulteney 21 for $89 and 17 for $69. They also have Highland Park 25 for a price so low, I’m not going to mention it, since I’m liable to buy up their last two bottles. Suffice to say, though, they have some great specials now and again, and some whiskies that no one else seems to carry (Longrow 14, Rosebank, a Port Ellen once in a while, etc).
My usual go-to places for whisky in Atlanta are either Total Wine (which has some amazing deals) or Tower Package on Piedmont Rd (which has Atlanta’s best selection, and occasionally does sale pricing).
JWC: I would think they mistook the PWV 23 for the 15 as well, except that they had 6 fresh bottles of that right next the the 23 for $50 (I bought 2 of those that day too). Image that, I paid $2 more for the 15!
I actually sold 2 of the PWV 23 in order to justify to my wife the amount I spent on the 2009 BTAC.
John: I didn’t mention the name of the store because I feel a tiny bit guilty. But anyone who loves whiskey in the Appleton, WI area knows this is the only store in 100 miles that gets any of the good stuff.
Warehouse also has the Glenkinchie Distillers Edition for $30, the Cragganmore DE for 40, and a Talisker 25 for $80.
Well, I know the intent of this thread is “What deals are there available now”, rather than “What’s the best deal you ever got”, but here it is. I used to get Forty Creek here in Massachusetts for $11.99. Theft, that was…not available at all any more. And that’s only the second-best deal I ever got–the best was the travel retail Highland Park 3 x 333ml box of 12/18/25 for Cn$60. Based on the price for a full bottle, the 333ml 25 was by itself worth $100. Bought three of those, and so got a litre of HP25 for Cn$180, with a litre each of 12 and 18 thrown in for free.
talisker 25 for $80? ! dang, that’s almost as crazy as the pvw 23 for $49! y’all are lucky. i keep reading about dusties and great bargains when i go on the forums – sadly, nothing like that happens to me in houston, texas. the little independent liquor stores i goto don’t get the good stuff and the ones that do (primarily spec’s) – they always know better and they sell out. moreover, since i live in texas, i cannot order online.
as far as houston texas goes, for the most part (as far as bourbon is concerned), finding a great whisk(e)y deal is actually FINDING the whisk(e)y you are looking for close to msrp.
btw, as texas pointed out on a previous thread, spec’s is having a special on the sprinbank 10 yo’s for a few months.
I think my best deal ever happened on Christmas Eve this year, I went to one of my local big box liqour stores to pick up some last minute beer for our Christmas party and ended up walking out with the new 23yr VW Decanter set. As I was checking out, I saw it behind the counter and just out of curiosity asked how much….$212! Clearly they priced it as a regular bottle of PVW 23 and I got myself an early Christmas Present!
Highland Park 15 yo Earl Magnus with the wooden pedestal.
From a tip off that a Dutch retail chain sold them for € 55/$80 while a HP newsletter put them at £ 85 and that’s €95/$138.
So there are now a fair number of HP EM bottles laying around.
@17.
$80 for the 25 YO? At this price, I would have bought a case
We are not that fortunate in Europe with such good deals. Only more choice …
I can’t say the store name, but it is in NY. I bought a bottle of “Douglas Laing’s Premier Barrel Selection 20 Years Macallan” at $33. I bought 2 bottles.
I found Bowmore 12 yr for $16 at ABC store in NC. I got all of them. Then, I headed to the another store of ABC in the same area and I got the same deal. A week later, the price went up to $46 or so.
In general, the price of the most single malt whiskies in Japan are very reasonable.
Man, I am jealous – Some great deals out there –
A bit off topic – Best I ever got was about 10 years ago, Sam’s was selling Dalmore 12 YO for $11 and it included two Dalmore tasting glasses – Bought about ten of them – Dalmore long gone but have the glasses
According to Chuck Cowdery, Virginia Gentleman is no longer being made. Anyone in the DC area can get 1.75s at cellar.com
for $22.00 or at calvertwoodley for $16.00. Sadly, neither will ship the bigger bottles but I assume both are available in store.
Here in Rhode Island, McGreen’s Liquors in Riverside sells Balvenie 21yo Port Wood for $83 – I see it at $160 most other places. It also sells the 1.75L bottle of Jim Beam Black for $22.98 and the Aberfeldy 12yo for $28.99. Haxton’s in Warick sells a 1.75L bottle of Knob Creek for $29.98. Aberlour 10 is $29.99 at Joyals’ in West Warwick.
Thanks John.
For current deals, maybe it would be helpful to start the post with the state you are in?
PA: I agree with Tim that the PLCB webpage is easy to sue and I drive up there from MD frequently for good deals.
JWC and Patrick,
WRT to the $80 Talisker 25, it was bottled in 2005, 57.2% ABV, 15,600 bottles from refill casks. The ‘refill casks’ are obviously refill bourbon, as there is no fruit that would come from sherry casks. As such, I find it to be a rather brooding dram. The most interesting part is seeing how the malt lasted an additional 15 years, without much contribution from the cask. But there isn’t the depth or complexity I would expect from a 25 year old. So it is worth the $80, but I would not have been happy spending the usual $200 (not a major concern for me, as $200 is way out my usual shopping range).
Slainte.
Louis
Micah, that’s a good idea to put your state name first.
Don’t remember the exact time frame, but I think it was around Thanksgiving in 2009, Binny’s of Chicago had a 50% sale on a large amount of stock. I recall it went on for quite a while too (many weeks). Not sure if it’s an annual thing, but I will keep checking as I got some great deals (Ballechin #3 for $50, The Arran Napoleon Cocnaq finish for $40, The Arran Chateaux Margaux finish for $40, Edradour 11yr straight from the cask bordeaux finish for $40). Binny’s also ships.
Tim and Micah,
I’m not sure when you used it last, but the PLCB product search feature just got upgraded and has become much more restrictive and harder to use. You can now only search one parameter at a time (previously you could select any number of combinations) and closeouts aren’t showing up under the closeout parameter consistently. I’ve already bitched.
Abolish the PLCB! Interested in that cause? Visit http://noplcb.blogspot.com/
Actually, the Talisker 25 at Warehouse is $90 now. Price went up around Thanksgiving, I believe. They also have the Talisker 175th for $50.
John, your link isn’t working!
And for those who don’t live in NYC (Warehouse has no website), you can find $48 Lagavulin 16s here:
http://www.astorwines.com/SearchResultsSingle.aspx?p=2&search=04164&searchtype=Contains
Ardbeg Beist for $90.
Some people do no t seem to be aware of this so I’ll post it here too. Arbeg is offering rebates on some of their whiskies until Feb 2 or so. Here is a link to the rebate form.
ANB $20 rebate
Uigeadail $15 rebate
10 yo $10 rebate
http://www.ardbeg.com/sites/default/files/us-christmas-rebate-certificate.pdf
[...] Hansell wants to know – what whisky deals are available near you? And what’s your oldest bottle of [...]
BFlshback – thanks for the reminder. I forgot about that and just purchased a few.
There is always ebay for some good deals on rare bottles…if you can accept the risk.
@ 32
Bill, that is standard at Warehouse and some other shops. The price will rise as the supply decreases. I have noticed this on a number of finite releases over the years, such as this older vintage Talisker, a Bowmore 21 that was long past general release, and the Springbank 21 some years ago, so I doubt it has anything to do with price increases from the producer or wholesaler level.
David S, FYI: you can now reply directly to another person’s comment by clicking on the reply link below their comment, just like I did with you.
Just like this? Thanks John, the new format looks great and works well!
Yep, just like that. No more @32 (unless you want to do it, that is.)
No doubt. The $10 hike seemed pretty obviously timed with the holidays.
Gawd, would I like to find an affordable Springbank 21.
I’m late to single malts and can only wonder at the deals that have come and gone at Warehouse. They had Longmorn 15 for $39.99 for almost a year after people started lamenting it’s departure. When I bought their last Dalwhinnie DE (which I love), having just discovered it, I was told that when they first got their stock in they were asking something like $30 for it. [shakes head]
if you’re in the twin cities (mn) you probably already know chicago-lake liquors,
but they still have many bottles of laphy 15 for $43.
Forgot to mention that Oban 18 is $80 at Warehouse as well….
Generally not a big Canadian whiskey guy, but Crown Royal Cask 16 is only $29.99 at Empire Wine in Albany, NY. A steal at that price. Also have seen it for around $40 in the Rochester area.
Wild Turkey 101 in one liter bottles now on closeout at select PA LCB stores…$14.69 each! The 750 is 21.99 and the 1.75 at $42!
driving South on Route 31 in New Jersey today, decided to stop at Super Saver Wine & Spirits in Pennington. Picked up Bernheim Wheat for $29.99 since that’s $10 less than I’ve seen it anywhere else. Might be a while until I try it, too many open bottles at home right now. Only 2 more bottles left on the shelf.
Got two bottles of Triumph for the price of the regular nadurra (which the store improperly labeled) at Total Wines and two boxes of Peat Monster for $47.
deal alert for minneapolis area folk: surdyk’s has an unadvertised special on the laphroaig 18: $56.99. not sure how long this will last. of course, it’s only $4 below the normal price at blue max but hey, every dollar counts.
and yes, chicago-lake’s $43 laphroaig 15 steal continues (and since they have so many bottles on the shelf, i didn’t bother grabbing another today–i still have 1 or 2 in the back of my cabinet).