Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Monkey Shoulder vs Redbreast 12 Year Old
One axis separates these two: sherried, 3 against 6.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Monkey Shoulder | Redbreast 12 Year Old | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended malt | Single pot still |
| Origin | Speyside, Scotland | Ireland |
| Age | No age statement | 12 years |
| Strength | 43% ABV | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Not disclosed | Ex-bourbon, Oloroso sherry |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £30 | £55 |
| Per 10cl | £4.29 | £7.86 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £100 | £196 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Different countries: Monkey Shoulder from Speyside, Scotland, Redbreast 12 Year Old from Ireland.
Monkey Shoulder is a blended malt, Redbreast 12 Year Old a single pot still.
Redbreast 12 Year Old states 12 years; Monkey Shoulder states none.
Redbreast 12 Year Old lists ex-bourbon and oloroso sherry. Monkey Shoulder publishes no cask detail at all.
Neither states chill filtration.
Redbreast 12 Year Old: specifications not yet producer-confirmed.
What the price buys
Redbreast 12 Year Old is £25 dearer a bottle than Monkey Shoulder.
Strength keeps that ordering: £100 a litre of pure alcohol for Monkey Shoulder against £196.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Monkey Shoulder is 4th cheapest and Redbreast 12 Year Old 27th cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Monkey Shoulder | Redbreast 12 Year Old |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 1 | 0 |
| Sweet | 7 | 6 |
| Fruity | 6 | 7 |
| Spicy | 5 | 5 |
| Woody | 4 | 5 |
| Sherried | 3 | 6 |
| Cereal | 6 | 7 |
| Oily | 6 | 7 |
That is the only axis of the eight to reach 3 points. Next widest is peaty, 1 against 0.
Level only on spicy, 5 each.
Each bottle in its own right
Monkey Shoulder
Vanilla, orange and malt, built to survive ice and ginger ale. An honest cocktail malt.
William Grant & Sons does not name the three constituent malts anywhere on its own site — the widely repeated Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie attribution is unofficial. The 43% we list is the producer's US figure; no UK strength is published at all.
Full record →Redbreast 12 Year Old
Thick, oily pot-still spice with sherried fruit. The style Ireland nearly lost.
Single pot still requires a mash of both malted and unmalted barley — an Irish style that came close to extinction.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Monkey Shoulder for cocktails, highball and value, Redbreast 12 Year Old for something different and after dinner.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Monkey Shoulder and Redbreast 12 Year Old: monkeyshoulder.com, redbreastwhiskey.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.