Buchanan's is the bottle people ask for without thinking, and there's a reason: it's smooth, everyone recognises the box, and it never embarrasses anybody. But if you've bought the same one for years, there are three ways out and none of them takes you far.
The one you already know
Old Parr 18. If you're from Colombia or Central America nobody needs to introduce it to you - it sits in the same place as Buchanan's 18 and plenty of people prefer it. Ask at the counter rather than the website, because we hold very few and they go quickly.
More years, same idea
Chivas Regal 15 and 18 are blended Scotch just like Buchanan's and from the same family of flavour: soft, sweet, no smoke. The 18 has more body and a longer finish. If you like Buchanan's 18, Chivas 18 is the honest comparison and people split fairly evenly between them.
Another house, same money
Johnnie Walker Black is twelve years old exactly like Buchanan's 12 and costs about the same, but it tastes different: there's a wisp of smoke behind the fruit. Not better, not worse. The 375 is the cheap way to find out whether that smoke is for you.
Or stop drinking whisky
A lot of people drinking Buchanan's over ice with a mixer are after something smooth and slightly sweet, not something Scottish. Hennessy VS does that same job from the other direction - it's made from grapes, not barley, and it brings fruit and vanilla. Poured the same way, at the same table.
The part that never changes
Size. The 1.75 litre pours thirty-nine drinks against sixteen from a 750, and the cost per glass falls by about a third. If people gather at your house, that's the buy, whichever label you settle on.
Beverage World Package Store
6731 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Doraville, GA 30360. (770) 441-0001. Open 10am to 9pm Monday to Wednesday, 10am to 11pm Thursday to Saturday, and 11am to 9pm Sunday. Delivery from $4.99.
On our shelf right now
Prices and stock read from our own inventory when this page was built.