Most, however, tend to find a category and stick with it. Some brands produce whiskies that cover the gambit of price points, from budget range through premium range. It simply means that it is without blend and made from one independent malt. Single malt does not mean it is more or less expensive. Once combined into their perfect blend, are they suddenly less valuable? No. As an example, imagine a blend of four ultra-premium single malt whiskies that are seemingly made to be put together into one magical bottle of perfection. There is a common misconception that a single malt whiskey is the ultimate, most premium option when choosing. Aged barrels are an extremely limited, costly resource and can drive up the overall price of the products aged in them. Finally, for whiskies requiring well aged barrels, like Scotch, it can be challenging to find them available. This lack of supply combined with rise in demands has led to the rise in barrel pricing. Speaking of oak, the lack of abundance in supply has caused a shortage of barrels overall in parts of the U.S. The necessary creation of new barrels for the multitude of whiskey producers has led to a rise in general market value of barrels, specifically oak. All whiskey require some form of wooden barrel for aging. First, whiskey is more popular than ever. There are multiple factors that can encourage barrel costs to rise. Like many products on the market, whiskey is not immune to the costs of production experiencing volatility over time. While age is just a number and does not always mean the whiskey will be better, the very expensive whiskies are usually well aged or very rare. Imagine, making a product and not being able to sell it until 20 years from now - it would have to be a very expensive product to make up for all the whiskey you could have produced in that time frame. If a whiskey producer is aging a particular whiskey for 20 years, that means the barrel is tied up for 20 years.

Primarily, very well aged whiskies (like 20+ years) are very limited productions. While not necessarily an indicator of quality, age can lead to an increase in price for a variety of reasons. Bourbons are produced in warmer regions, therefore, are often found “younger” on shelves than Scotch whiskies produced in the cool climate of Scotland are. Warmer climates lend themselves to quicker aging, while cooler climates require a longer time in the barrel to perfect the aging process. Barrel aging to its optimum age can be expedited by the regional climate and type of barrel the whiskey is in. AgingĪs discussed earlier, the age of a whiskey does not necessarily indicate its quality. What is it about each whiskey that causes such fluctuations in price point? Here, we will look at several factors that drive the cost of whiskey products. As you can see in the chart above, whiskey pricing goes from minimal (budget) to average (standard) to high (premium) cost levels.

Macallan whiskey price list