...where distraction is the main attraction.

Friday, September 7, 2012

A bit of a delay this week, so some links for you!

Howdy great readers!  Diving for Pearls is going to be a little quiet until the weekend rolls around.  A curious curveball (more of a changeup, really) crossed the plate of my non-whisky offline life.  It's all good, though.  I promise a fun single malt report this weekend!

In the meantime there has been a 'splosion of great blog posts from around the sphere recently:

Chemistry of the Cocktail and The Coopered Tot both reviewed Canadian whiskys last week.

Chemistry also posted a great piece on the non-age statement whisky releases and their pricing.  We're looking at you, Macallan.

The Tot also had a great post about an old Suntory blend he'd found in his father-in-law's (impressive!) liquor pantry.

Turbo at the Edinburgh Whisky Blog slugged Diageo over their new Port Ellen pricing -- "Port Ellen - Are they taking the piss?" -- and I enjoyed every word.

David D wrote an outstanding article last week (or maybe two weeks ago) entitled "Too Many Channels (or the Return of Brand Loyalty)".  Ostensibly it's about TV, advertising, money, and whisky.  But it also focuses on what Kristen and I like to call "the burden of too many choices" and how consumers are reacting to that reality.

And finally, Sku at Recent Eats wrote the brilliant (not overstating it) Fast & High Makes Better BBQ.  I can't tell you what it's about, you just have to read it.  Maybe twice.

6 comments:

  1. This is weird. The Whisky For Everyone blog went to an Edrington press event for the 1824 Series and they were told the age statement range is staying in the US, Southeast Asia, and Russia. Every other Macallan market is going NAS. Which suggests that we aren't getting the 1824 series at all. Well, for now at least.

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    1. Hey Eric. I've been seeing similar stuff about the timing of the 1824 releases. There doesn't seem to be a set date for the US yet. Maybe they're still working on their marketing plan? I can imagine that they'd keep two completely separate ranges going for too long. But for now, we still have the age statement goods.

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    2. It's now May of 2013 and I'm still not seeing the 1824 range here (nor Canada apparently). In fact the rare reviews from American bloggers got samples from UK stores.

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    3. Yeah, I haven't heard a peep about when the 1824s are coming here, either. I'm sure the bloggies will be abuzz the moment it does. The prices on the 1824s are steep. The cheapest Gold is about $55 (via exchange rates) and is only 40% ABV. I'm sure that will go over well when it hits our shores.

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  2. Eh, I can't exactly fault Diageo for jacking up PE prices. It's not as if they can't see how much money is changing hands on the secondary market and they'd like to get a chunk of that. Are they going to institute some kind of test to see if you're the kind of person who is actually going to drink it before they sell you a bottle? It sucks for everyone who would like to drink it rather than buying it as an investment, but if the demand is there, that's life.

    If you really want to drink some Port Ellen, there's always the Islay Collection, which is expensive but not devastating:

    http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-7805.aspx

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    1. I agree that's the wiser financial decision for Diageo. They know what they're doing. But since I'm on the side of the consumer, especially regarding whisky prices, I always enjoy a good gripe over Diageo.

      That Islay Collection is, considering the full bottle prices, a good deal. Aside from that damned int'l shipping.

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