Miniatures - Better than regular bottles?

DaFin

Hi whisky community,

I learned from Mr. Luening videos that the content of miniature bottles are the same as in regular bottles (0,7l - 1l), but some miniatures I have tried the taste was quite better (stronger flavors) than on big bottles. Maybe it's just a subjective feeling, maybe it's a bit of conspiranoia (brands trying to gain customers in the miniature entry point), but I want to know your experiences with miniatures.

In other hand, I tried some miniature bottles bottled some years ago that have lost power due to poor screw caps. So now I check for the bottling data printed (some brands print it, some not).

By the way, I think that miniatures are an excellent way to taste new whiskies without spending many money. Unfortunately, in Spain it's quite hard to find miniatures in local stores and even spanish online shops (with affordable shipping).

horst_s_2

I learned over the years how the different bottlings are selected.

If you have a never ending bottle available over decades (e.g. Glenfarclas 15yrs, Glenlivet 18yrs) then there is a receipt with which the batch is produced (e.g. 20% 1st Fill Sherry casks, 30% Refill-Ex-Bourbon casks, ...)

An then there are these special editions. They are created once with available casks (e.g. Glendronach 16yrs Platinum, Tomatin Legacy). But if these bottles become a huge success, then the company tries to repeat the bottling with the then available casks. And this might not result in the same taste.

In particular I think that the first bottlings are the better ones, because people try to produce the best expression possible. And, if marketeers decide that miniature shall be available, then they are filled in big numbers from this first batch.