Great video, Shane. All excellent points. I particularly want to highlight the core range issue. That's not a discussion we hear enough about, but there are far too many core ranges that are lacking in either quality, variety, or both. 🥃

Best whiskyvlogg in the world!

I want producers who make both peated and unpeated distillate to make an effort to try blending their distillates to make light or medium peated whisky. It's already being made anyway, all it requires is for someone to run some blending experiments and you get an entirely new product for realistically not much work compared to finding a new source for casks to do some exotic finish or to make a change to the production process(like altering the fermentation or distillation).

I think we've mentally associated cork and wooden stoppers with the idea of "heritage" or premium materials because it's natural. Like leather with clothes or shoes. But you're right, cork is relatively silly given how often they break and fall into the bottle, or degrade and allow air in!

13:04 Amen! Natural cork stoppers are prone to braking, which a big minus. At the same time they don't any value to a whisky. Why don't people talk more about this. I hate natural cork in whisky. As for the calendar, you can shoot the videos ahead and release them in December.

Thanks for that sweep...With warehouses bursting and current pricing in the midrange market no longer tenable, I think we're going to see a lot more of what Signatory just did with the 100 proof releases: high alcohol, cask driven, age statement, attractive price. And evil 👹 corporate versions of that, i.e. too young, too strong, prettied up with superwet casks and sold at a "bargain" price.

the outro is fantastic xD

Said the same about no purchases in 2024, ive got too many bottles that ive never even attempted to open

That is an ambitious 2024, good luck Shane. Glad to see the advent calendar is all ready for next year. Kindest regards, S.

lol that ending! Update on my bottle ban 2023, I bought 9 bottles total in 2023. Way down from past years and I feel like 9-12 is where I will land in 2024. I do want to go for quality over quantity that is the goal.

Loved the house of cards finish 😂

I stayed for the gag at the end😳 good one! Can’t wait to see what’s on deck next. Great recap and looking forward to your new advent. Cheers 🥃

I hope that a lot of the under the radar distilleries which offer reasonably priced aged statements (glen moray, ancnoc, deanston etc) stick to their guns on pricing and see an uptick in sales as a result of other distilleries cashing in rather than trying to keep up. For anyone who is interested, ancnoc 24 is £150 on MoM right now which seems fair, and perhaps a bargain to be stashed for the future in case my hopes arent realised! Ps - would happily get involved with a Patreon

Loved the gag at the end with the cards. Wasn't expecting that. Agree with the cork thing. I lost some of my Port Charlotte 10 to evaporation due to a loose-fitting cork. I bought a lot of whisky last year so this year I will be more discerning and buy a lot less. I haven't bought rum since September 2022 so looking to add some rum purchases this year. Moving forward with whisky I want to explore some of the independent bottlers more. I've only had a couple of Signatory Vintage ones which I've enjoyed. Cheers!

Hi Shane I loved this whiskey review, you hit all the great points, I was the one who wrote you about the cork tainted bottle of viking honor last year that I still have, and can't drink.Highland park too be exact, its horrible stuff, and after I bought it, the store wouldn't take it back without a receipt, I bought thousands of dollars of scotch from them over the years, so I wrote them off my list of where to buy my whiskey from, but your video was exactly where I'm coming from also, this is the best KZfaq video I've seen yet,thanks for saying what all of us are saying, thanks for the great review, and cheers brother !!!

Great video... and very nice card piramid setup lol

Where was the beautiful Debbie McGee for the card trick ffs ;-) You could have trumped the whole KZfaq whisky community there Shane. Enjoyed that, this year is a cut back year, I have a fair few half bottles, no need to over load each month.

That little sleight of hand with the house of cards was fun. I won't even ask how you did it! Great to hear your ideas about whisky in 2024 - excellent food for thought. Yes, I'd love to see some vertical tastings of good core range material in future videos. That would kill two birds with one stone since you'd be supporting realistically-priced products (well, those with age statements of 12yo and under) as well as those which come with a decent presentation (46%, NC, NCF). I'd be highly selective about new distillery products in 2024, staying true to those that aren't trying to fleece us, while avoiding new overly-hyped bottlings that come onto the market with excess flannel and prices to match. I think that some new distilleries are already on a shaky financial path which may begin to crack and crumble as the year progresses. Occasional reviews of high-quality, top-end bottlings would also be welcome if it's clear they're worth their weight in gold, so to speak. Offering a "buy me a dram" option on Patreon is something quite a few reviewers do and the funds may well help with buying bottles which you'd like to review. Seems a sensible option to me. Remain true to your fundamentals, though, as there's much in your unexcitable down-to-earth style that obviously appeals to many an enthusiast. Cheers.

Thanks for the in-depth analysis of the whiskey market! It's even better than Ralphie's..😇

Great whisky chat cheers i won't be buying much whisky in 2024

Some excellent suggestions for the year ahead; Both for yourself and the industry. Oddly enough the last cork failure I had was a bottle of Pusser's rum and the damned cork part is now floating with the juice inside the bottle. Good thing its 75% abv. Next thing: I very much like the idea of reviewing several expressions in one video. Chris Goodrum does that on his Good Dram Show and it allows a sort of theme to take place. His videos are long though (which I enjoy).Which brings me onto the 'Core Range'. He recently did an episode on anCnoc and it was a run through their line up, going through their age statements. I commented that it was good to see a distillery with a fine range of craft presented whiskies at good prices. Anyway, some young whippersnapper had a pop at me for being a whisky newbie and pointed out that Ardnamurchan and Bunnahabhain had a range. He had difficulty comprehending that a collection of expressions does not equate to a quality core range. Totally agree about daft premiumisation resulting in poor quality. If you want to have a good laugh watch Malt Activist's reviews of each of the Diageo Special Release range from 2020. They are all hilarious and perfectly capture our frustration. WT

Just heard that the inflation rate has risen "unexpectedly" - due to increases in tobacco and alcohol costs! Of course, distilleries might be less tempted if they (or we) didn't have to pay huge amounts of "duty" on every dram! 🤷‍♂🥃

Brilliant mate absolutely fantastic wish list! I'm fully with you on the limitations of categorisation which deprives us of so many innovative and exciting whiskies. English whisky is not governed by SWA but they sure as hell get as close to it as possible to make sure their products are of similar 'quality' to Scotch. They do have much more wiggle room though so let's see

Hi Shane, excellent video. Cutting right back on buying whisky in the future, really got more than enough, time to open and drink what I’ve got. Looking forward to whats coming up on your channel. Slàinte Shane

I love the channel and would love to contribute. It would be cool for it to simply fund your bottles to review or something like that. What if patreon people get to vote on the topic of a video per month or something like that? Not determine all the content, but maybe have a say a couple times a year etc

Shane, great video. I'm looking forward to watching your channel in '24 especially your Single cask Advent. Cheers!

I have certainly seen prices dropping on the regular stuff I buy, still not cheap, but more reasonable.

If you have enough stock, nothing to worry about😏

Terrific video and thoughts Shane. I enjoyed this very much and I agree! Cheers!

Young age statement whisky like Arran 10, Deanston 12, Ledaig 10, etc are high quality and affordable price!

Wonderful video as always. Yes yes YES to the C.S. calendar. Also looking forward to the core range verticals (last time we talked about that was quite a long time ago *cough cough*)

Wow. Nice. I felt robbed by an $89 Wolfburn Langskip and promised never to do that again, until Ardnamurchin CS came along at $79. LMAO! I have a $65 Raasay which is the greenest thing I've ever tasted. It's malty but WOW! The Langskip is a potential whisky but this Raasay is truly "robbing the cradle". So their special cask CS offerings really need an 8 or a 10 before I'm spending over $100. On the other hand KK heavily peated at $110 seems reasonable. I know they need the cashflow but even with inflation I vote for an age statement and a price to match

Thanks Shane, good points on emphasizing good core range offerings and moderating buying in 2024!

Excellent thoughtful stuff and I certainly agree with most of what you say. Have some concerns about plastic corks though, I think they’re unproven in terms of potentially tainting whisky over time and aren’t we as a society trying to reduce our use of plastics?

Great insight and thought provoking video. Think the comment about grain is particularly interesting because I personally give it very little consideration but realize that there may be much more that can be achieved. The first step is for the grain whisky to be seen not as a filler but as a quality product in its own right. Perhaps this change will come in the same way that blended whisky seems to be getting recognition.

IN light of poorer economy, tight(er) budget , slow sale and government recommendations to consume less alcohol moving forth, my outlook for new distilleries are more cautious. . . We start to see Scotch / booze sale (range -15 to - 30% off) even on high moving items, a first in 8 years across the land. Unless we see even MORE significant reduction in prices from new distillers.

Great review and very pertinent, straight to the point and agreed solidly with your wishlist ! . In respect to new distilleries, the UK ones are almost impossible ( or stupidly overpriced priced) to grab in Aus, but it did give me pause to check in on the local aussie product. If i'm gonna spend stupid money on whisky I want it to be local. I've overlooked these previously simply down to value, better experience from selected Scotch & world whiskies ( at least the ones with reputation). I was not surprised from most & pleasantly surprised from a few and I thank the community vibe promoting promiscuity. After all it's a journey. Looking forward to your core range reviews, we're more likely to have them abroad. For my 2024, I'm planning to buy only 1 decent bottle a month, aside from daily sippers because i have too many decent ones already, and we all need to keep an eye on our budgets. Just loved your card trick too !!!

Marketing, the weak glue that nominally keeps all the card together 😂

What I want in 2024: litre bottles

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