The old adage says, ‘Price is what you pay, while value is what you get’. During my decade of whisky writing, I’ve hitherto avoided focusing on the former. Aside from the fact that I have no interest in flipping or the ‘hustling’ side of the secondary market, the reality is that everyone has their own budget to work to according to their means. What’s expensive for one might be reasonable for another, and this is one of the reasons why at Whisky Magazine we focus on characteristics including balance, complexity, and the overall quality of a whisky when writing blind-tasting scores, rather than adjusting for price. We feel it’s up to the reader to decide if a dram is worth the money based on our blind assessment of the liquid.

Nevertheless, what’s undeniable is that right now most whisky fans are preoccupied with the cost of living. Many are expressing a mix of concern and indignance about recent price hikes, and no small amount of schadenfreude when they see ‘limited editions’ sitting on shelves 12 or more months after release. There seems to be a mood among many enthusiasts that, as brands increase prices in line with now-irrelevant 2021 secondary market values, the dedicated core drinkers are being left behind.

On the other side of the coin, distillers I’ve challenged on this topic argue that there’s incredible value to be found in Scotch whisky compared with other premium drinks. A £50 bottle of Champagne, for instance, has only six servings and must be finished once opened — compared to the 14 very healthy drams one might enjoy from a bottle of whisky over the course of a year or more. Some also argue that it’s simply illogical for a product aged for 18 or more years to be priced under £100, as many were until recently.

Whichever side of the argument you sit on, I think there is legitimate cause for concern. Several brands have what might be called ‘SKU bloat’ — that is, they’re releasing so many ‘limited edition’ products that even whisky journalists can’t keep track of them.

Truly collectable bottles are collectable because they are significant and scarce.

And to be scarce there either had to be very few to begin with, or the vast majority of them must be drunk — two things that won’t happen with huge-run releases of ‘manufactured collectables’ nobody is drinking because it’s been implied they’ll be worth something in the future. As for significance, it’s hard to perceive a new release as a milestone when the previous ‘rarity’ was announced a month ago, and another will follow next month.

Nevertheless, for the whisky drinker who wants to do just that — drink their whisky — I think there is still a lot of good value to be found, but this may mean setting aside preconceptions. I’ve written before about my growing interest in blended whiskies, which I think often check all the flavour boxes for a reasonable price. Legacy blends like Johnnie Walker Black Label and fan favourites like Green Label are popular for a reason, and they also stand up well in blind tastings. Meanwhile, small-batch releases from new-wave blending houses like Compass Box, Woven, and Turntable deliver much of the stylistic complexity of older malts at an affordable price. They also offer whisky fans a taste of the scarcity and inconsistency to be found in single casks and old bottlings bought at auction but with none of the risks or drawbacks of those categories.

I’ve also been consistently impressed by the quality of releases from the likes of Morrison Scotch Whisky (Old Perth Blended Malt, Mac-Talla Single Malt) and Douglas Laing (Remarkable Regional Malts), while core expressions from distilleries like Glen Moray, Tamnavulin, Tomatin/Cù Bòcan, Speyburn, Loch Lomond, and Deanston deliver great quality, often for less than £45. In the US, I’ve been blown away by the quality of cheap bottled-in-bond products from Evan Williams, JTS Brown, and Old Bardstown, and the likes of Old Grand-Dad 114. All can be found for less than $35.

Are these whiskies as good as bottles five or ten times the price? Perhaps not. But are those pricier bottles scoring five or ten times higher in blind tasting? No, they're not. This would suggest that good quality whisk(e)y remains fairly accessible if value is given precedence over hype.

But value isn’t just to be found in cheaper whiskies. Those looking for older, more complex drams can still find excellent and fairly scarce liquid for a fair price if one is willing to step off the hype train.

Dewar’s Double Double range includes superb blends over 20 years old for under £90, while Johnnie Walker's Ghost & Rare (£200-£300) expressions offer truly excellent old spirit character (albeit without an age statement) at a fraction of the price of an equivalent Diageo high-age malt like those in its Prima & Ultima collections. Meanwhile, older single malts from ‘world’ distillers like Hellyers Road, Sullivans Cove, and Millstone (usually around £100-£300 in the UK) deliver many of the same organoleptic qualities as very old Scotch whiskies carrying a few extra zeros on the price.

Across the Atlantic, Portland distiller Westward’s first ‘old and rare’ expression, Milestone (US$250), has given us a glimpse of an American single malt that can give Scotch whiskies three times the price a run for their money in terms of complexity and mouthfeel. And given that Milestone is created using a solera blending system, it's likely to only get better with each batch.

That these new-wave distilleries are now 'coming of age' can only be a good thing for enthusiasts chasing 'old whisky' characteristics. Regardless of the price point that suits you, I'm convinced whisky will continue to deliver value where it matters most: flavour.

An abridged version of this column first appeared in Whisky Magazine issue #201.