According to multiple outlets, Diageo has officially announced their 2023 special releases. Long time single malt enthusiasts will no doubt have noticed that the range has evolved considerably over the years, with increasing emphasis on vibrant labels, familiar distilleries, and lower age statements.

The fine folk at Whisky Advocate have a nice rundown of the range that you can see here.

Here’s what we’re looking at this year:

First, the obligatory no-age statement Mortlach, dubbed “The Katana’s Edge”. It has been matured in a mixture of pinot noir and Japanese whisky casks (hence the name), and will be bottled at a respectable 58.0% abv for a not-so-respectable $280 a bottle.

Next up, we also have a NAS Talisker, dubbed “The Wild Explorer”. It has been finished in a wild array of various port casks, will weigh in at 59.7% abv, and will command a marginally more reasonable $135.

We finally get to an age statement with a 10 year old Clynelish, nicknamed “The Jazz Crescendo,” and jazzily matured in first-fill bourbon casks. Bottled at 57.5% abv, this one will set you back $200.

Another age statement, with an 11 year old Oban, dubbed “The Soul of Calypso” thanks to finishing in pot still rum casks. Bottled at 58.0% abv, it will cost a mere $140.

Mysteriously nicknamed “The Ink of Legends,” we also get a 12 year old Lagavulin weighing in at 56.4% abv. It’s been finished in Don Julio anejo tequila casks, and will cost $170.

We finally get to the most interesting thing in the range, a 12 year old from Diageo’s super distillery at Roseisle, on Speyside. This marks the first whisky–official, or to my knowledge, otherwise–that has been released under the Roseisle name. The distillery was built in 2010 to take pressure off Diageo’s many other malt distilleries while keeping up fillings for blends. This inaugural 12 year old expression has been matured in first-fill and refill casks, will be bottled at 56.5% abv, and will cost $150 per bottle.

Another peculiar nickname, “The Silken Gown,” applies to a 14 year old entry from The Singleton of Glendullan. Finished in Chardonnay de Bourgogne casks, it will be 55.0% abv, and a relative bargain at $135.

The final entry in the range is a venerable Glenkinchie, dubbed “The Floral Treasure” and aged for 27 years and matured in a smorgasbord of traditional casks (refill American and European barrels and butts). It is bottled at 58.3% abv, and will cost $400, although given the great age, that doesn’t seem outrageous.

Where, might you ask, are the Port Ellens and the Broras? Where are the one-offs from Diageo distilleries that no one outside the enthusiast community has ever heard of, like Teaninich and Mannochmore? Such bottlings, it would seem, are no longer the provenance of the Special Releases. Rather, they appear in a new, ultra premium range called “Prima and Ultima,” which is now in its fourth iteration.

This year’s Prima and Ultima offerings include a 46 year old Talisker, a Clynelish from 1996, a Lagavulin from 1997, a 1978 Port Ellen, a 1977 Brora, a 1996 Oban, a 1985 Dufftown (Singleton of), and finally, a Pittyvaich from 1992, shortly before the distillery closed for good. What, might you ask, do they cost?

As far as I’m aware, the Prima and Ultima range are only retailed in full sets, although I imagine individual bottles show up from time to time at auction. This year’s batch go for a whopping $57,000, although given the rarity of some of the spirit, the price isn’t as shocking as it could–and probably should–be.

So…What to make of all this?

Diageo has become something of a punching bag in the enthusiast community over recent years. People bag on them for their past-looking presentations (outside of special releases like those discussed above, almost all of their official bottlings come in at 43% abv, with a handful of exceptions above and, alas, below that; none of their official bottlings specify practices around chillfiltration or coloring). People bag on them for their prices: almost every core expression from Diageo has seen at least a 50% hike in price in the last several years, and quite a few have doubled or more in price. People bag on them for the Special Releases, which get more and more expensive, and less and less obviously “special” with every passing year.

I’ve tended to be less harsh on Diageo than some. The fact is, you can get official bottlings from almost every distillery they own, and they tend to be fairly widely available, which is a lot more than you can say for their nearest competitor, Pernod Ricard. More than that, they just plain have a ton of really interesting distilleries under their management.

That said, I’m finding it harder and harder to defend them, and this year’s Special Releases are a good indication of why. $200 for a no-age statement Mortlach is frankly insulting. The same goes for a 10 year old Clynelish, whose greatest distinction is being matured in first-fill bourbon casks. It’s also obnoxious the extent to which they have leapt on the finishing bandwagon. One cask finish out of left field could be interesting. Having four outre finishes in a range of eight whiskies–and that’s giving them the benefit of the doubt on the rum finish–is too much. In short, these whiskies–with the possible exception of the 27 year old Glenkinchie–are egregiously overpriced, and over gimmicked, with head-scratching finishes and flashy aesthetics substituting for age statement in justifying stratospheric pricing. This range gets a big thumbs down from me, although I might spring for the Roseisle just so I can say I’ve had a whisky from Roseisle.

With the industry in boom times, I doubt very much that Diageo is looking for advice on how to run their business. But here’s the deal: enthusiasts are not only your bread and butter consumers, they also help drive the hype train that keeps trendsetters engaged. A lot of the people who have the means to buy stuff like this are mercenary in their attentions, and without the hype churning up from YouTube channels and websites like this one, their attention will flit on to expensive watches, artisan kombuchas, and whatever the next big thing that gets the internet abuzz. If companies like Diageo keep undercutting their core consumers with overpriced, overhyped products, the hype will dry up and the people who are actually buying whiskies like this–the ones mainly in it all for the bling–will migrate to whatever the new hyped up thing is.