Trader joe's single malts

[mbc]

For those of you who shop at Trader Joe's, I'm wondering if any of you have noticed/tried the Trader Joe's branded single malt scotches they're carrying now? I just noticed them this evening and it looks like there's one claiming to be from Aberlour and another claiming to be from Macallan, both 10 year olds... if anyone's tried them out I'd like to know what you think. The price points (like all the liquor at that store) made them especially attractive...

 

[jcusey]

I just noticed them this evening and it looks like there's one claiming to be from Aberlour and another claiming to be from Macallan, both 10 year olds... i

Is there any reason why you're qualifying this by saying that Trader Joe's is "claiming" that the malts come from Aberlour and Macallan? Third-party bottlings are not uncommon for Scotch, and I can't imagine Trader Joe's wanting to mess with a false claim about something like this.

 

[mbc]

I didn't mean to imply anything underhanded by that... just wondering how the quality at that price compares to similar bottlings with the distillery's own branding (if there's any difference at all) which are usually more expensive.

 

[jcusey]

I didn't mean to imply anything underhanded by that... just wondering how the quality at that price compares to similar bottlings with the distillery's own branding (if there's any difference at all) which are usually more expensive.

Well, how much are they? At a good enough price, what's the harm in experimentation?

 

[mbc]

I believe the Aberlour is $17 and the Macallan is $20, so I'm going to give one (or both) a try soon... I very much liked the Aberlour 10 year old I tried several months ago so I hope this is more or less the same (for about a third of the price).