why is IB'whisky cheaper than OB'whisky?

[nebula21]

hi all.

my colleague bought DUNCAN TAYLOR Macallan 1968 35 yo.

that price is 100~120pounds. it's beautiful price.

why is IB'whisky cheaper than OB'whisky?

[jimidrammer]

Generally, most IB's are a little more than OB"s that I've seen. Now most are cheaper than a 30yo Macallan, if that's what you are comparing it to. That looks to be an interesting bottle. I wonder what effect 35 years has on a cask of Macallan and still be 53.1% abv. Does it say cask type? I've seen a couple Macallan IB's that are cheaper than their OB counterparts, but not sure if they are any good.

[scotch4ever]

I do agree that in general ID bottlings tend to be a bit higher than OB. I will always pay more for a product that is Not chill Filtered, Colored, and at a higher proof strenght. This also means that there was less product to be bottled and costs are higher. If we produced a standard OB single malt it contains on average 50 casks or more, plus lost of water, caramel colouring for some producers, and a whole lot of chill filtration. In the end they took a lot and made a bunch.

In regards to higher price single cask, single malt, at cask strength this in my opinion is just a numbers games. OB like MaCallan seem to be controlling the availability by increasing the cost. Meaning that they are less likely to run out if they chard two or three times the expected cost. Lets face it I know people who buy one bottle of Mac 25 a year, however, they would buy 4 or 5 a year if it were 1/2 the price.

Cheers,

[BruceCrichton]

A good friend of mine, A Source, tells me that DTC have more stock of 1960's Macallan than Macallan do, so that is why they are cheap.

[Drrich1965]

IBs my be more expensive for lower priced bottles, but very rarely for older, more expensive bottelings. For instance, you can easily IB Port Ellens for under $150, not the case for the IB. Same can be said for Macallan, Highland Park, Caol Ila, Bowmore, ect.

Also, the Aultmore i am drinking now is a Whisky Galore,and was under $30.....

[Wave]

Port Ellen's are a bad example since the OB's are all limited releases which are naturally going to be higher than many IB's. Generally though Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Springbank, etc IB's will be more expensive in younger bottlings yet tend to be cheaper than the OB's in older bottlings. At least that's been my experience.


Cheers!

[Drrich1965]

Port Ellen's are a bad example since the OB's are all limited releases which are naturally going to be higher than many IB's. Generally though Caol Ila, Ardbeg, Springbank, etc IB's will be more expensive in younger bottlings yet tend to be cheaper than the OB's in older bottlings. At least that's been my experience.


Cheers!

Agree, and I thought about that afterward, Port Ellen is a very poor example. Theory still holds, I think..

[Oliver]

In my experience, assuming the same distillery and the same age, IB's are more expensive then OB's. Sometimes much more.

I think your example of the Macallan is both an exception to the rule and testimony to the fact that the Edrington group has raised the price of Macallan malts to the stratosphere --while simultaneously lowering their quality to great depths.
No cheers for the Edrington group!

[Frodo]

From what I've read on this forum, it seems that IB's tend to cost more than OB's on this side of the pond, and the opposite seems true in England/Europe.

[Oliver]

I wonder why...

[Jan]

In my experience younger OBs are often cheaper than comparable IB. Not always, but often.

The older bottlings is often the other way around - cheaper by far in most cases.

But perhaps it is more a case of some 20+ OBs being priced more than a bit on the high side - rather than the IBs being cheap as such ?

Cheers
Jan

[Oliver]

I agree with that last bit. OB's tend to have way overpriced older malts.

[Ize]

I agree with that last bit. OB's tend to have way overpriced older malts.

I'm guessing, but maybe that's because of the warehousing? OB's have a lot room for "fresh" whiskies and there must be a lot "traffic"/renevue when wanting to make profit by volume. For few casks from the past is not the main business for OB's and that's why the room is very limited for them (or they are selling that part for IB's). IB's instead are not living from the volume, but specialties. They have room (or they have bought it from OB) and time for maturing whiskies in the casks. Go figure.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

I found that anything under circa 17yrs the OB's seem to be cheaper but once you go over the 20year mark the distilleries lose the run of themselves and start charging an arm and a leg and the IB's seem much cheaper. But that is only a limited view on certian whiskies that I personally like. I have never checked the likes of Ardbeg.