ralfy review 1085 Extras - Recalibrating our 'malt-mission' for another year.

[@SimonneNZ]

I've been forced to recalibrate due to lack of space for all my bottles. I'm having to be more selective now. I've also spent more on a single bottle this year than in previous years. It's funny, when I first started out, I couldn't imagine spending 50 pounds on a bottle (approx. $110 NZD) and now that is a regular price point, but I am buying less bottles. Cheers!

[@SaltyCuban]

I’m buying less as well due to space and the prices. However I’m being extra picky when I buy. I don’t plan on buying on impulse any more. Also find myself buying more duplicates of bottles I know I like vs taking chances on curiosity bottles. Lastly I still have a hard time spending more than $200 on a single bottle. That’s always been my ceiling. Last time I spent a lot on a bottle was $160 on Old Pulteney 21.

[@SonsofLiberty-u8j]

Great rant, great video. All taxation is theft.

[@whompbiscuits8930]

I suppose I have a different angle re taxes at least compared to most Americans. This may be idealistic/delusional but I like to think that intelligent people are ok with paying taxes *IF* that money is responsibly spent. Critical social services, public health & safety, infrastructure, etc. But here in America, tax revenue is largely spent very irresponsibly. Corporate giveaways & ridiculous military excursions are the biggies here in the US. So when people are against taxation, I get it to a point. But we Americans are highly consumeristic, we're the top consumer economy in the world and have been for many years. So irresponsible spending is unfortunately part of our culture.

[@b1gsteve251]

Our politicians are paid off by lobbyists, which should be illegal, and are mostly wealthy multimillionaire’s and out of touch with their constituents because they’re mostly too busy with partisan fights, rather than compromising to get shit done. I also have no problem paying taxes, but our tax laws are a mess too. Sláinte 🥃

[@cantbendknee]

The Waterford whiskey distillery has been the first shock wave this year.

[@drpapa26]

Denmark started taxing sugar a few years ago. Unsurprisingly, prices went through the roof.

[@MortAllachie]

Today I actually picked up a Glenlivet 12. My brother in law have “given whisky a new chance” and he picked up a Famous Grouse. That’s a blend I can’t handle, so I want to introduce him to the whisky that opened my eyes (or nose and moth) to single malt before I present him with the “good stuff” 😊

[@MortAllachie]

Not that it has any thing to do with Irish, but it is 40% 😉

[@AmenMoto]

Hi Ralfy, checking in after many years away from the channel. Very nice to see you're up to your normal ways and some things in life are reliably consistent. Merry Christmas

[@urbanerikson9415]

Exploring and finding the IB bangers is exciting but the real reward is giving and sharing the experience with like minded friends 🤗. Thanks for all interesting views.

[@-xirx-]

Unfortunately, none of my friends or family like whisky! 😔

[@urbanerikson9415]

Find new friends? 😊 We are a world wide community after all 👍

[@-xirx-]

@@urbanerikson9415 we are! And I am in the process of right now. Cheers! 🥃

[@ThisAndThat-l4p]

Regarding coping with higher prices, higher taxes, here in the US, many families now buy Generic Brands (store brand) of the Brand Name products, or buying things in bulk from big discounts stores like Costco. If the only way to drink quality Scotch is drinking less, I am all for it. But, I am not willing to spend $180 for a 18 year old Scotch regardless of how good it might be. I truly dislike the KZbin Channels who line up Rows of Springbank on display behind them to show off! Who cares about a $600 bottle that you think it is great? Next.. Thankfully, you are not one of those even though you may have a lot more bottles than most do.

[@meepmeep1313]

'Replace taxation with QE' was basically the central tenet of Liz Truss' disastrous budget of September 2022, so I'm not sure you'll get much purchase with that idea

[@guyharrald2567]

Since watching young Ralfy my eyes have been opened. 46% is the very minimum I now consider. On average I'm now going 50% and beyond because it allows me to explore the incredible differences between neat and increasingly small additions of water. My go to distilleries tend to be Island and Islays.

[@markoneill5110]

Before every Ralfy videos. You Tube makes me watch an advert for Johnnie Walker Blonde

[@adrianphillips8627]

Lol, tax keeps the system working, agree too much tax on whisky 😄 but no more quantative easing please 😅

[@whompbiscuits8930]

Good point, I'm for keeping taxation intact, warts and all, rather than indulge in permanent QE. Largely because QE ends up being a slush fund for banks and multinational corporations.

[@ezequielalgaze4736]

Any day now if you open a channel about politics and economics, here you have a subscriber Ralfie 😊

[@TheGrumpySC0TSMAN]

I have actually the opposite experience in that the larger companies have some of the best flavour and finest single malts than the smaller companies. The only good one I’ve had in all the thousands I’ve spent would be springbank

[@peatbull3426]

Good trolling 😅😅😅🤭 very underrated comment 🥳🥳🥳 diageo is so happy of that 🥂🥂🥂

[@proseforpoets]

Because they took over those distillery what were renowned for the profile, then proceeded to slag on the enterprise.

[@philcopeland7884]

The West Cork "Maritime Range" is bottled at 46%

[@Malt454]

Many people want greater strength because most distilleries aren't delivering affordable complexity (maturity/cask influence) that's worth talking about. The reality is that more and more attention is being paid to whisky that truly merits less and less attention, certainly in terms of the resources devoted to its production. Resources (dunnage space, quality casks) are just being spread too thin by too many players in the game, largely to meet the demand of too many whisky enthusiasts whose competition with each other serves to price the quality that's left out of reach.

[@dram_kruzhok]

Market forces at work. They will end up deciding whether or not there are too many. Prices are the ultimate way of distributing finite resources, especially with non-essential goods like liquor. But higher abv is always better, regardless of the quality. Paying to transport water around the world does not benefit the buyer, nor the environment. We can add our own water.

[@dram_kruzhok]

Also I would add: economics is more like psychology or behavioral science wearing a mask of an exact science. There is an explicit understanding in economics that if buyers willingly purchase a product, then they must like it. I and other Malt Mates might think that people are paying for substandard whiskies, but if they enjoy it, economically speaking they are rewarding the producers with business and causing more production of the same. This cannot be changed, especially by looking down our noses on them. All we can do is get people interested, be enthusiastic and introduce people to better value and better quality. However, since Whisky Loch 2.0 is obviously upon us, market forces will take care of this eventually. All the producers of what I call "blanded Scotch whisky" will have to contend with excess inventory, forcing them to try and pack more flavor into the bottles to lure the buyers back in. Just like back in the original Whisky Loch. Eventually, not immediately.

[@Malt454]

There's just too much whisky being produced with too little time on it, aged in mediocre barrels, full stop. It's certainly a reflection of the market, given how well the whisky industry has brainwashed its customer base with the idea that "age doesn't matter" - to a product that is aged BECAUSE of the difference it makes. The forces of nonsense marketing at work. The result has been the production of an underclass of product, oversold to a customer base that used to be served primarily with blends, but now likes the status of single malts, even indifferent ones - and there's a huge, and growing, supply of those. People can always get enthusiastic about whatever they like, and there's always something "new" to try to keep the whisky "educators" in business, but very little of it is really improved, and many established standard offerings have also been slipping as the pressure on quality oak supplies increases. Higher ABV is only better given the same level of performance; the best whiskies I have aren't just the strongest whiskies I own. Many producers will give you higher ABV over declared time in cask because it's cheaper (particularly if it's a difference of, say, 4 years - a 12 y.o. vs. an NAS 8), but the result isn't always better.

[@dram_kruzhok]

@@Malt454 just like "the cure for high prices is high prices", likewise the cure for "too much whisky produced" (of low quality) will be this glut. "Customers" already are not interested in these substandard malts. "Consumers" will not grow infinitely and will disengage when some other fad develops, or simply will cut back because of financial difficulties. It'll just take time. FWIW I never said that higher abv alone makes a whisky better. I meant for any given whisky of specific age and cask type, undiluted or less diluted version is always better. IMHO age statements will come back if the demand dictates it. And they will come back due to Whisky Loch, as they already have in bourbons and ryes. The very same companies will be trying to lure back their "consumers" by higher age statements. It might be difficult for them to simply cut prices on core expressions, so they might offer limited release with odd age statements, i.e. similar to how Old Pulteney did it. They replaced 17 with 15, 21 with 18, etc. Kept the 12. I'm sure we'll see all kinds of creative approaches. It's going to be a buyer's market. Already starting to be.

[@Mike-vw7ct]

46%? I don’t even consider anything under 50%!

[@krekptitzeloff3294]

thank you mate!

[@Mike-vw7ct]

Great video and sound advice! And, concerning money. A gold coin standard with a 100% reserve requirement would certainly restrain the politicians. Disgusting little trolls that they are.

[@bennyfriis601]

As funny as it is, regarding Guinness it has just been on the news the last few days that Guinness is more popular than ever and it sells out in various bars/pubs across U.K. I don't know, what that tells us - but I know, what I think, I think 😉 I've been disappointed with the 2 cans of Guinness I've had over the last couple of years... VERY disappointed! So much it'll be quite a while before I try having another. Well maybe if I can find the Special Export bottle, I'd like to try that, even though I don't expect too much from that either tbh.

[@peatbull3426]

Thank you diageo and pint at airport £7 🥳🥳🥳

[@bennyfriis601]

@@peatbull3426I feel bad for you, apparently no other options... at all.

[@b1gsteve251]

It means they’re getting themselves pisht, instead of thinking about their crappy regular life 🥃

[@johnburns3703]

Good advice all round

[@DanteRising]

I think there is a sugar tax in the UK?

[@peatbull3426]

Yes, it is.

[@brian6x]

There should be a e-150 tax!

[@johnburns3703]

Consumers?! How about End -Users? or just clients?

[@randomUnhold]

I don't get the whine about cask prices. Its such a small portion of the price of an average 10-12yo whisky.

[@chrislawson5754]

Can I just point out Customs & Excise haven’t existed since 2005

[@brian6x]

1058 not 1085! In the thumbnail too.

[@forlornHope]

Cheers 🥃

[@lucal8758]

Ralfy you can't just print money without producing. You creating inflation. That's simple economics

[@KPBaier]

Hallo Ralfy, müsste das nicht Rezension 1058 heissen?

[@LesleyBerkovitz-w2h]

Thank you so much for this amazing video! I have a quick question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). Could you explain how to move them to Binance?

[@johnburns3703]

Ahem!! I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for modern medication. I would still like to see Big Pharma restrained though.

[@davidc6863]

Dear Ralfy. For some reason, your channel is being doubled into Spanish without a possibility to go to English. Unfortunately this makes it less enjoyable to listen to for some. Hopefully this can be corrected and a choice can be given to your listeners regarding the language they wish to listen to your excellent channel

[@canahmet8214]

Unfortunately, far too much ranting lately.