In a very basic way things like quality and function is driven by money of course, but the world isn't normally that simple. So I'd say lie.
Regarding Scotch, I don't know. I go to Whisky tasters quite frequently and the blind vote on the last one put the most expensive one (something like $1500 if I remember correctly) second last. And one of my "everyday favourites" (Ancnoc 12yo) is stupid cheap compared to some I don't care for.