"Regrets, I've had a few."

[sinclair]

Has anybody seen a bottle on a shelf that they should have bought at a good price but didn't and regretted it ever since ?A few years ago a local wine shop had a sale, and on the shelf was a Bruichladdich 3D1 the Peat Proposal for £23 and an Ardbeg Very Young for £25.I had limited funds at the time so got the 3D1 Good buy ,but have regretted the AVY ever since Another shop had a Very young Ardbeg For Discussion for £30 but was closed for lunch ,went back 2 days latter but it had gone. Get over it i hear you say, Move on ,but it still hurts!.

[Willie JJ]

I've had a few of those regrets. But really too many to mention

[r900p]

Was in Asda today, they had an L4 Ardbeg 10 which i left becuase it had no box, should i have picked this one up?

Anyway loads of them, for me being too ficused on Bruichladdich's i didn't look at getting anything else. I got the Ardbeg Committee Ogy nesletter but didn't bite becuase three of them at 90£ got me a few Laddies for my collection.

Rob

[The Third Dram]

Most of my major 'regrets' whisky purchasing wise have to do with not having the foresight many years (even decades) ago to snatch up bottles that have since gone on to become either classics or hard-to-come-by rarities...

Bottles such as the 43%ABV 12YO Lagavulin, 18YO Macallans distilled from the late 1960s through the mid to late 1970s, official distillery releases from sites such as Glenesk and Rosebank (to name but two), the Bicentenary issue from Bowmore, and goodness knows what else!

Oh well... Live goes on, and the whisky keeps flowing.

[anationonfire]

With out a doubt a few bottles of PC5

[Jobi]

For years i've regretted not picking up a Balvenie 1972. Soon, through forum generosity, I'll finally find out if the regret has been warranted.

[orangedogofglory]

Very interesting question - my answer would be different had you asked two weeks ago.

There are many bottles that maybe I should have "stocked up on." But the way I see it now - in my lifetime, there will always be good, new whiskies coming out. There will always be something new to try that will be great in its own way. So sure, I may be out of Laph 15 and 30, but I'm not going to go through the effort and expense to find and buy another one, because sure enough there will be something else worth trying that I haven't yet had.

What makes this easy is the slew of photos and tasting notes that I'm hoping to have systematically organized soon. That way I can refer back, but still drink forward!

[Wave]

Bottles such as the 43%ABV 12YO Lagavulin, 18YO Macallans distilled from the late 1960s through the mid to late 1970s, official distillery releases from sites such as Glenesk and Rosebank (to name but two), the Bicentenary issue from Bowmore, and goodness knows what else!

I have to agree with the Lagavulin 12yo 43%, I know I should have bought more when I had the chance but hindsight is 20/20 and they would have been all gone by now anyway (that was back when I drank a lot more than I do now!). I did have a mini of it up till a couple of years ago and opened it for New Years Eve, it was delicious!
I think the most regret is not getting the Port Ellen 1st Annual Release when I had the chance to in '02 during my first visit to Islay, also the PE 4th Annual Release I found at the Blair Athol distillery shop in '06 and at the time thinking I'd wait till I got to Edinburgh to get it. Silly me, I haven't seen it for sale since!


Cheers!

[PoppaMitch]

I can think of quite a few, but the two that stick out are the Dalmore 28 year old Stillman's Dram and the Ardbeg 1977 OB that I passed on for under $90 each...

[ClubSmed]

I wish I had bought more than just the one bottle of laphroaig cairdeas 2009.

I also have some regrets around the Tesco sell off of several bottlings at stupid prices like the Glen Moray at £8

[johan brugge]

In my case it's the opposite. It's not a question of what I should have bought at the time and let it pass. No doubt I've had a few which I can't remember I'm afraid. Only one sticks to my mind and that's the PE 9th release at around 216 Euro. But I get over it rather fast. On the other hand I (still) regret some bottles I've bought that didn't live up to my expectations and I thought they were a waste of my money. And I can think of more than one.

[talisker10]

My regret is that I did not start drinking single malts when turned legal age in 1982. I missed a LOT of great whiskies.

[steveblack]

Mine is a different kind of regret, one of availability.

I was looking to buy a Glenlivet Nadurra for long. I was excited to find it at Singapore duty free and decided to buy just one bottle, partly because I was not sure how it will turn out because the 12YO/15FO 'livets were not great hits with me; partly because I was going to Malaysia and not sure how many bottles would be permitted because I already had a Yamazaki 12 with me.

Boy, how I regret it. Nadurra has to be one of the best whiskies I had ever had and I am looking at the near empty bottle with a huge sense of regret. Unfortunately I could not get Nadurra at Kuala Lampur, Langkawi or Dubai duty free again. Now wondering when my next bottle of Nadurra will come along

[Dubois]

Mortlach 1972 22yo (Rare Malts)

[jhershauer]

Two so far:

1. I bought one bottle of Laphroaig 30 year when it was available locally last May. It's my favorite whisky, I should have bought two.

2. I posted here about a bunch of Scott's Selection bottlings on sale locally for $99 (regular price $180 - $250). One of them was a 1977 HP CS (25 year?). I was planning to get HP Earl Magnus soon, so decided I didn't need both. Wrong!

Fortunately, while I missed out on the Scott's Selection HP, it fell into friendly hands (our own Sean here on the forums), and I got to have a nice sample of it. Thanks Sean! That is one nice HP...I think it's as good or better than the $280 OB 25 year. What a great buy for $99.

In both cases, I was debating the purchase and kidding myself about sticking to a budget. However, both were rare bottles, with just 1 or 2 available. Lesson learned...in situations like that, don't expect to change your mind a couple of weeks later and still find the bottles available.

Jeff

[Ganga]

There are very few whiskies I've had regrets about. I don't really feel remiss in skipping or not buying certain whiskies. It's not like I'm going to resell them or anything. I would say my regrets are more along the lines of some of the ones I've purchased. Drumguish comes to mind...

[Bulkington]

I regret not buying many more Laphroaig 30s and Springbank 175ths.

[Sherried Malt]

Ohhh Bulky, you have a PM...

[Sherried Malt]

I have a couple of different takes on this. One, I probably bought too many whiskies because I got caught up in the frenzy of it all, and now I have no idea when I'll actually drink them.

But more along the lines of what the OP was talking about, I wish I bought more of the HP 21 before they dropped the abv to 40%.

Oh well, I have enough of the other stuff to drown my sorrows!

[dramtastic]

Can't say I have any regrets so far. If I can afford a particular whisky or whiskys I buy it/them. If I see something I would really like but don't have enough coin at the time then there is nothing I can do about it.

[johan brugge]

Can't say I have any regrets so far. If I can afford a particular whisky or whiskys I buy it/them. If I see something I would really like but don't have enough coin at the time then there is nothing I can do about it.

I agree DT. It's a pitty sometimes but some other whisky (or whiskies) you fancy will come your way some day. I'm still thinking about that PE 9 I missed though ...

[johan brugge]

Hmmm, sounds very tempting but I think I'll pass this time. I'm waiting for the new Port Ellen 1983 26yo Duncan Taylor to come to Belgium. It has landed in The Netherlands already but it doesn't come cheap. Surprise surprise.

[I_SPEY]

Johan, at http://www.whiskysite.nl: Port Ellen 1983 Duncan Taylor 26 years old Cask 674 0,70 ltr Cask Strength at 54,6% Prijs € 199,99 A cheap buy, I think!

[johan brugge]

Johan, at http://www.whiskysite.nl: Port Ellen 1983 Duncan Taylor 26 years old Cask 674 0,70 ltr Cask Strength at 54,6% Prijs € 199,99 A cheap buy, I think!

I know. I've received their newsletter a few days ago. There is also the online shop Whisky Van Zuylen, but apparently they are already out of stock (or it's not yet in stock). They sold (sell) it for 179.95 €. I'll take my changes and hope for it to come to Belgium. I don't like their shipping costs.

[I_SPEY]

The owner is a friend and I could pick it up and bring it to Belgium(borders ).

[johan brugge]

Very nice!! You seem to be in good company there. You're always welcome to bring a bottle to Belgium. If you need a place to stay in Bruges I know a nice little hotel. I can even get you a room with a discount.

[I_SPEY]

Certainly a friend of your's? Well I could drive to Putten or somewhere else, just across the borders. I'm planning a business trip to Etten-Leur/ Bergen op Zoom shortly, so it's up to you.

[johan brugge]

I've just sent you a PM.

[Knolly]

Only one really - Lagavulin 30yo that I saw a few years ago. At the time - it would have been the most expensive bottle I've ever bought (not now though - ouch!) so I hesitated. Then, it was gone. Over the past few years, they have come up once in a while - someone on this site was even kind enough to let me know of one in NYC I think last year - but I haven't sourced one out. Someday, I'm sure I'll grab one though...

Otherwise, there's always a "could have, should have" moment: whether it's PE release whatever, PC5s, Laphroaig 30s (definitely covered in that department!), old Ardbegs released in the late 1990s, or - even more generally - lots of common bottles that were much more reasonably priced before price rises of 2006 - 2008, there's always going to be something newer (or older) that you'll regret not buying. As it is now, I have enough whisky to probably last me the next 20 years, so I'm not stressing

[Jarppa]

Last summer on a ferry from Turku to Stockholm, Lagavulin 12 YOo was on sale. I hesitated because I was going to buy it from Flensburg in north of Germany, unlucky for me it was out of stock in German store. I came back week later on a same ferry ,this time from Stockholm to Turku and I was eager to buy 2 bottles of Laga 12 but of course it was out of stock.