Laphroaig 30 yr old? Advice needed.

[Guest]

Hey folks,

Some advice needed from the whiskey lovers out there. Am over in America at the moment and while picking up beers from one of the liquor stores I noticed a bottle of Laphroaig 30 yr old at what seems an incredibly good price. ($289.99!) Now it's an American import and isn't boxed but it stills seems a very good price compared to back in the UK. Anyone able to offer any advice as to why? And whether I should be leaping on it as something to put away.

Cyrano

[AlanG]

Personally i'd be using it to flush my drains lol. Tastes like TCP :emo11:

It's supposed to come in a wooden box. Maybe that's why it's cheaper? A whisky is like a model. It is worth how much you are willing to pay for it. Now if you said it was a bottle of Jura, Royal Lochnagar or Dalwhinnie then i'd have told you to buy it without even thinking about it lol

[Guest]

Getting it back through customs may be a challenge. I know you have an allowance but they may view something as valuable as this a bit differently. I'd tentatively ask someone who knows what they are taking about for some advice.

In this day and age of economic climate though are you sure that there is a market for a 200 quid bottle of whisky? If you can't sell it you have a rather expensive drink on your hands. Personally this is all a bit of a con to me and how anyone can claim that a 200 quid bottle of whisky tastes any better than a 20 quid one I really think is having you on.

I'm sure the whisky lovers will have a different opinion but I just can 't come to terms with 200 quid for a bottle of whisky any more than I can come to terms with £150,000.00 for a car or $20,000.00 for a watch. A ten quid casio does the same job!!! I know, I know, I'm just an unappreciative phillistine!!

[AlanG]

I have a couple of bottles that managers dram whiskys that range from £125 to £500 a bottle. I personally wouldn't pay that much for them but to a collector they would. Shame i'm not allowed to sell them though.

[PJP]

I'm with Allyne. Laphroaig is very definitely not to my taste, although I have consumed a bottle. Even with some asistance it took several years. Now the Jura or Royal Lochnagar, different story. However to get back on thread, as has been said before, what is it worth to you?

Is it for personal consumption or to knock it on? If it's for you, only you know how much you are willing to pay for a drink but if you're looking to move it on, there will be someone who will show you a profit on it, if you can afford to wait that is.

Not much help I know but with these things it's always going to end up with you hoping you've done good choosing.

I could tell you a personal story about a car I was offered for £4.5k which I saw eight years later for £425k.

That is not a misprint!!

I don't think this whiskey will show that level of profit though.

The best price I ever saw was a 1935 Macallan for £22.00 a measure in 1993.

Peter

[Guest]

Now Gents you have touched a raw nerve, a good Whisky is a very personal choice, as you may know on the south shore of Islay, there are three distilleries side by side, Ardbeg, Laphroig and Lagavulin. In order to enjoy any of their whisky you have to enjoy peaty flavoured whisky. In which case there is nothing wrong with Laphroig, for me it is a little light in flavour when compared to its other two whiskies. Ardbeg was fantastic until it closed, and was taken over. My personal favourite is Lagavulin, heavy in peat and flavour a definate after dinner dram.

As to investment, personally I don't; I drink the stuff, but if I did I would only invest in cask strength (not less than roughly 52%). When I retired three years ago a greatful client gave me a bottle of 30Yr Lagavilin, 52.6% at that time it was valued at £220, if you look on the internet today, the cheapest price is £990 and I have seen £1,134. If you see it for less, they are always 'Sold Out'.

Cheers Derek

[Guest]

I like ASDA Smart price Gin............................................... ........................... running away very quickly...........

[Guest]

You forgot your coat Graham..

[Guest]

Usually I do my best not to pay more than 20 quid a bottle for whisky which is unfortunately why I've not had Lagavulin in forever. The only one I've spent a little bit more for recently is that Welsh whisky when it was on sale. (worth sampling gents if you get the chance, very nice) Usually with a little patience you can get a nice bottle of something without breaking the bank, Tomatin and Singleton both tend to come under the 20 pound mark often enough.

I guess with this 30 year old ideally I'd be looking at selling it on at some point but really if I did end up with it for my own consumption I'd hardly complain. It's just most of the uk based websites I've seen it on have it at anywhere from 300 - 500 at the moment. Pounds that is. More research in order I guess. =)

Cyrano

[AlanG]

Now Gents you have touched a raw nerve, a good Whisky is a very personal choice,

Couldn't agree more Derek. And i personally think Laphroaig is like chewing on a clod of peat itself whilst drinking TCP lol. But each to their own. That's what makes the world go around. I don't mind a hint of smoke and peat but i don't like it to over-power the rest of the notes in the drink.

Getting back to the OP. Cyrano i don't know if there is a limit to what you can bring back into the country but i only think it goes on volume anyway and not alcohol percentage. Best to check though. Last thing you want is HMRC 'taking' your bottle or making you pay more. As i said before though. I'm sure it should come with a wooden box, hence the lower price

[AlanG]

Oh and i've just made 13000 Ltrs of Dailuaine's finest. So it should be ready for you to sample in 12 years time lol