Which of these is best?

sillysocks

Hi all,

I'm not a whiskey drinker myself but my Dad has gathered these two bottles up over the years (a couple of golf prizes!) and they're unopened.

Its a friend's birthday soon and Im hoping to give him one of these if they're suitable! How much would each be worth?

Midleton Very Rare 1984 (White box with Barry Crockett signed under the serial number)



Bowmore Islay Single Malt Scottish Whiskey - Aged 25 Years





Thanks a lot!

squonk

I'm not well versed on my scotch but that 1984 Middleton is worth serious money. You'd want to be damn sure it was a great friend you were giving this to as a present. Others on here will have a clearer idea I'm sure but it wouldn't surprise me to see a 1984 unopened Middleton fetch €600 I think.

You're really getting into collector whiskey at this stage with that. It'd be a shame to crack that open!

sillysocks

squonk wrote: »

I'm not well versed on my scotch but that 1984 Middleton is worth serious money. You'd want to be damn sure it was a great friend you were giving this to as a present. Others on here will have a clearer idea I'm sure but it wouldn't surprise me to see a 1984 unopened Middleton fetch €600 I think.

You're really getting into collector whiskey at this stage with that. It'd be a shame to crack that open!

Wow, thought it might be worth a few quid but nothing near that! Don't think anyone will be getting it as a present if that's the case :-)

Anyone else have any thoughts on either bottle?

sidcon

Your bottle of Bowmore is worth approx €220 and your bottle of Middleton Rare is worth approx €1000. That price is only if you have the right buyer though.

IrishWhiskeyCha

The Bowmore is a current bottling and is currently available at retail for €199.00 in the Celtic Whiskey shop.

However if you want to sell it you won't get that. I have a bottle which I bought at retail for €169 a couple years ago so that to me would be a fair offer (Don't worry I'm not in the market for it).

The Midleton 1984 was the first Midleton VR released however they come up very regularly and the majority of collectors will have got a bottle. Realistic value €400 max in my opinion if you can sell it.

For drinking it really depends on you taste, the Midleton is an easy drinker the Bowmore will be more complex and has peaty undertones, but as an islay it is one of the more approachable versions with a rich fruitiness to it.

However another way to approach this is take the Midleton, bring it to the Celtic whiskey Shop and ask if you can trade it and how much? You might get a few quid more credit that way. Then you might have a choice of taking a few cheaper bottles and you could get a mix of Whiskey, Vodka, Cognac etc. So one or two for a pressie and some other stuff for yourselves.

Have you an idea of the person's taste as there are some wonderful whiskeys out there like Writers Tears, Yellow Spot, Green Spot, Redbreast all well under €100 each. And of course they have a great selection of Scotch too, as well as some special Cognac/Armagnac, Gin and Vodka.

However if I was asked to choose out of those 2 as a present for drinking I'd take the Bowmore.