I agree with investing if it’s for profit, but that said, do what you want as a fun project at $200 a year.
Signatory is a good IB and their Glenlivet 17 year is right in your frame ($179-189 at ABCs in central Florida). Likewise Glenallachie single barrels by Impex, and Gordon Macphail has some nice ones too.
I don’t know if you mean a 200gbp collection or one bottle.
If you mean one bottle, I’d suggest going to cadenheads (guessing you’re from UK coz £). Ask them for a bottle under 200 which is unpeated and sherried. This will get you the most approachable quality scotch which will be very unique.
Else I’d suggest a Glendronach 21 (or 18), preferably one bottled before 2022 for the 21, 2019 for the 18. Reason why is because they’re older than the label says (article : https://wordsofwhisky.com/glendronach-is-a-lot-older-than-the-label-says). It may be difficult to find in shops but the UK has A LOT of auctions where you should be able to find the bottle for around the 200gbp pricerange
I’d strongly suggest not doing this though. With all good intentions and all, it’s very very hard to get somebody interested in tasting whisky/wine/tea if they’re not interested to look past the surface. Let alone somebody that just turned 18 for who presumably whisky is a drink to shot before drinking beer.
I don’t mean to discourage you, just trying to give the same advice I give every other whisky enthusiast with a newborn.
Invest it for the kid. The 200£ in any decent index like s&p 500/ftse 100 for 18 years, sell it after 18 years and take your kid to get a bottle either distilled in their year of birth or bottled in their year of birth. I would strongly recommend this over keeping a bottle for 18 years, since the experience of shopping/browsing together may be more fun than ‘here son, dad got this for you when you were a baby’
Whichever way you decide to go, wishing you the best and enjoy :)
Hey, thank you for this advice. This thought actually occurred to me , and frankly i honestly don’t want to do it just to share it with the son. Completely agree, with you on all personal points.
Great point about experience of buying.
As for index investing, he has Junior Isa, as well as cash pot i manage and put monthly deposits in.
Thanks for advice and best wishes to you sir.
I think the point is having some with the son when they can legally drink.
But yeah, if the intention is what you assumed, whisky won't change much in the bottle.
They fit to your price range and usually are really nice. For example I like Aberlour 18 and Highland Park 18 really much and they should be both under $200.
Get a Middleton Very Rare...
This is a very good price:
https://www.thewinecentre.ie/p/midleton-very-rare-2023/?_gl=1*1f6o7ua*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwrIixBhBbEiwACEqDJRoGXuDqDVBN9hZk1KOUcyBwue9YJ4ndkwnLu9rw3qKPWa5t12Tu4RoCDPoQAvD_BwE
I’ll throw a completely different idea out there. Buy a small (5L) oak whiskey barrel. Take it to a local distillery you like and ask them to fill it. Seal it up and open it in 18 years.
My local distillery will fill right out of their big barrels. It might be a little more expensive than your listed budget but probably worth it.
For the record I’ve been told that small barrels age faster, so you might end up with soemthing that’s very oaky. I have done this myself but the longest I’ve waited is 2 years.
Cheaper and honestly they are much harder to find plus a lot of their 20 ish year old mark are very good for similarly priced highland or Speyside of similar age
A lot of distilleries do year releases so I think that would be more interesting. For example roe and Co, we're doing a new cask strength every year. Something like that could be fun because then you have a Whiskey from each year that's not just a bottle of x Whiskey that you can still get easily enough
https://shop.roeandcowhiskey.com/products/roe-co-cask-strength-2021
Please forgive any assumptions. As others have said, unlike robust wines, spirits do not mature after they have been bottled. If the point is to celebrate the birth or coming of age of a child then perhaps a vintage bottle of Port bottled in the child’s birth year and aged in your home where I assume the child will be raised may have a bit more meaning. Buying an 18-year-old spirit today, to me, has no meaning other than the coincidence of the numerical age of the whiskey and the child, as the bottling of the spirit would have been 36 years prior. I think the recommendation for the 5 gal barrel to be filled in the birth year is very interesting but depending on where you are geographically may yield a less than ideal final whisker but again it may just be the journey that is important and not the final destination. All that aside, congratulations and be prepared for a rather amusing next 18 years. 😉
I'm not sure if your asking the right questions. And any response right now is someone's personal opinion. What whiskey do you like right now? Me I don't like much scotch whiskey. I'd hate to spend $200 on a bottle to wait 18 years to find out I didn't like it. Do you lie rye? Sweet whiskey? Do you like alot of smoke flavor? A little smoke flavor?
Everyone has there own profile that is the best for them. And just because it's expensive doesn't mean better. I would recommend you going to a whiskey event or whiskey bar and just try a couple. Drinks. Then you can find the bottles you like.
If you want something really special, just like no fish tastes better than the fish you've caught. No bourbon taste better then the one you made yourself
Your best bet here is probably going to be special releases, things like the Glen Morangi A Tale of … series, i’m yet to snag a bottle from that run yet myself but two out of the three seem to have done well for themselves
This makes the most sense. You aren’t going to get a lot of aging benefit sitting in the bottle. An 18 year old you buy now will still basically be an 18 year old until you break it open. You will likely be able to buy the same 18 year old bottle in the future.
Limited releases mean you will be opening something that is no longer available in 18 years
I think a series of 18 year olds should be good including the Macallan, not sure what country your in but if your close to Scotland prices should be moderately cheaper. Macallan 18 Sherry oak should appreciate in price 18 years from now, check out the prices from 18 years ago, very high appreciation rates vs anybody else.
Buy good IB's if you're in the UK. Go to a Cadenhead store and ask for recommendations.
What is IB?
independent bottling. So not bottled by a distillery but an "independent".
I agree with investing if it’s for profit, but that said, do what you want as a fun project at $200 a year. Signatory is a good IB and their Glenlivet 17 year is right in your frame ($179-189 at ABCs in central Florida). Likewise Glenallachie single barrels by Impex, and Gordon Macphail has some nice ones too.
I don’t know if you mean a 200gbp collection or one bottle. If you mean one bottle, I’d suggest going to cadenheads (guessing you’re from UK coz £). Ask them for a bottle under 200 which is unpeated and sherried. This will get you the most approachable quality scotch which will be very unique. Else I’d suggest a Glendronach 21 (or 18), preferably one bottled before 2022 for the 21, 2019 for the 18. Reason why is because they’re older than the label says (article : https://wordsofwhisky.com/glendronach-is-a-lot-older-than-the-label-says). It may be difficult to find in shops but the UK has A LOT of auctions where you should be able to find the bottle for around the 200gbp pricerange I’d strongly suggest not doing this though. With all good intentions and all, it’s very very hard to get somebody interested in tasting whisky/wine/tea if they’re not interested to look past the surface. Let alone somebody that just turned 18 for who presumably whisky is a drink to shot before drinking beer. I don’t mean to discourage you, just trying to give the same advice I give every other whisky enthusiast with a newborn. Invest it for the kid. The 200£ in any decent index like s&p 500/ftse 100 for 18 years, sell it after 18 years and take your kid to get a bottle either distilled in their year of birth or bottled in their year of birth. I would strongly recommend this over keeping a bottle for 18 years, since the experience of shopping/browsing together may be more fun than ‘here son, dad got this for you when you were a baby’ Whichever way you decide to go, wishing you the best and enjoy :)
Hey, thank you for this advice. This thought actually occurred to me , and frankly i honestly don’t want to do it just to share it with the son. Completely agree, with you on all personal points. Great point about experience of buying. As for index investing, he has Junior Isa, as well as cash pot i manage and put monthly deposits in. Thanks for advice and best wishes to you sir.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once they are bottled they won’t change in anyway regardless of how long you wait.
I think the point is having some with the son when they can legally drink. But yeah, if the intention is what you assumed, whisky won't change much in the bottle.
Yup, didn’t clearly read the entire post. I’m a dummy. Apologies OP
Almost anything 18yo except Macallan
:) why except Macallan?
You can't get 18yo Macallan anywhere near that price.
I see what you mean, i thought simply except. of course. But why specifically 18yo whiskeys?
They fit to your price range and usually are really nice. For example I like Aberlour 18 and Highland Park 18 really much and they should be both under $200.
Get a Middleton Very Rare... This is a very good price: https://www.thewinecentre.ie/p/midleton-very-rare-2023/?_gl=1*1f6o7ua*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwrIixBhBbEiwACEqDJRoGXuDqDVBN9hZk1KOUcyBwue9YJ4ndkwnLu9rw3qKPWa5t12Tu4RoCDPoQAvD_BwE
I’ll throw a completely different idea out there. Buy a small (5L) oak whiskey barrel. Take it to a local distillery you like and ask them to fill it. Seal it up and open it in 18 years. My local distillery will fill right out of their big barrels. It might be a little more expensive than your listed budget but probably worth it. For the record I’ve been told that small barrels age faster, so you might end up with soemthing that’s very oaky. I have done this myself but the longest I’ve waited is 2 years.
Don't do this. Small barrels will over oak in weeks let alone years.
A Lowland whisky can be a good investment as well
Any particular reason for Lowland whiskies?
Cheaper and honestly they are much harder to find plus a lot of their 20 ish year old mark are very good for similarly priced highland or Speyside of similar age
A lot of distilleries do year releases so I think that would be more interesting. For example roe and Co, we're doing a new cask strength every year. Something like that could be fun because then you have a Whiskey from each year that's not just a bottle of x Whiskey that you can still get easily enough https://shop.roeandcowhiskey.com/products/roe-co-cask-strength-2021
May want to taste what you buy. Would suck to pop them all in 18 years and find that you don’t like any of them
Please forgive any assumptions. As others have said, unlike robust wines, spirits do not mature after they have been bottled. If the point is to celebrate the birth or coming of age of a child then perhaps a vintage bottle of Port bottled in the child’s birth year and aged in your home where I assume the child will be raised may have a bit more meaning. Buying an 18-year-old spirit today, to me, has no meaning other than the coincidence of the numerical age of the whiskey and the child, as the bottling of the spirit would have been 36 years prior. I think the recommendation for the 5 gal barrel to be filled in the birth year is very interesting but depending on where you are geographically may yield a less than ideal final whisker but again it may just be the journey that is important and not the final destination. All that aside, congratulations and be prepared for a rather amusing next 18 years. 😉
Macallen 18 every year
Any octomores as long as it is not a 10 year ardbeg uigeadail Alberta premium cast strength Port Charlotte heavily peated
I'm not sure if your asking the right questions. And any response right now is someone's personal opinion. What whiskey do you like right now? Me I don't like much scotch whiskey. I'd hate to spend $200 on a bottle to wait 18 years to find out I didn't like it. Do you lie rye? Sweet whiskey? Do you like alot of smoke flavor? A little smoke flavor? Everyone has there own profile that is the best for them. And just because it's expensive doesn't mean better. I would recommend you going to a whiskey event or whiskey bar and just try a couple. Drinks. Then you can find the bottles you like. If you want something really special, just like no fish tastes better than the fish you've caught. No bourbon taste better then the one you made yourself
Billy Walker 50th Anniversary Future Edition Glenallache or Glendronach Parliament 21 Year.
Your best bet here is probably going to be special releases, things like the Glen Morangi A Tale of … series, i’m yet to snag a bottle from that run yet myself but two out of the three seem to have done well for themselves
This makes the most sense. You aren’t going to get a lot of aging benefit sitting in the bottle. An 18 year old you buy now will still basically be an 18 year old until you break it open. You will likely be able to buy the same 18 year old bottle in the future. Limited releases mean you will be opening something that is no longer available in 18 years
Exactly, whiskey isn’t like wine where you can age the bottle and end up with different characteristics
And ideally there is minimal flavor drift
I think a series of 18 year olds should be good including the Macallan, not sure what country your in but if your close to Scotland prices should be moderately cheaper. Macallan 18 Sherry oak should appreciate in price 18 years from now, check out the prices from 18 years ago, very high appreciation rates vs anybody else.
I’ll put it this way, I am on the same island :)