Jonny Walker Blue label

In the good ole dot com boom, Webvan put the Blue Label on their website for something like $20 or $30. It took them a few hours to find out about the mistake. I don't know if they delivered the orders at the wrong price....

If you're going to pay this sort of money for a blended, then I would recommend splashing out on a single malt.
I've never tried Blue Label but I've yet to try a blend that bettered a single malt.

Yes.

Very good.

There's supposed to be a *Gold Label* but I haven't tried one.

Here is tasting notes for it from the Scotch Whisky Distillers site

Medium-bodied with elegant floral and high-toned peaty flavours.

I haven't tasted it but will get around to it.

Now I don't want anyone to start weeping but there has been a shortage of certain Malts and blended Whiskies this year and this seems likely to get worse in years to come. I sense a price rise coming on from the distillers.

I have the very eonerrous task of making a Whisky based product using Single Malts with the alcohol left in and it seems the Chinese have taken a liking to my national tipple. This in turn has cause a large upsurge in whisky sales which has lead some distillers to run out of certain malts. However before I go any further I cannot emphasise enough how hard it was to taste all those single malts just to see which one was best for using in my product. Hic!! So because they had started to run out of certain Malts I had to sample more whiskies (just to refresh my memory) to se what one I could use instead Hic!!!

Apparently it used to be that the Chines preferred Brandy as they considered it warmed their bones. Whereas Whisky was a cold drink and made their bones colder, seems to have all changed. By the way the cheapest place to buy Brandy at one time was China. Think I paid about £10 for a bottle of Martell XO and no it wasn't fake.

One other thing I am curious about is has anyone in this illustrious forum ever tasted "Auld Alliance". I once got a bottle sent to me about 20 years ago from Grants and it contained a mixture of Single Malt and Armangnac. Did the only decent thing and drunk it Hic!! so I could fill in their tasting notes and return them.

However it never came on the market and guess how much it would have been worth if I had held on to the bottle. Yes I could just see me retiring to the South of France on the proceeds.

Ach well nevermind as another Distillery has come out of mothballs to help cope with the demand.

There is also an limited edition blue label, only 2000 made, but the price was way way too expensive to even consider.
For me anyway -

My Old Man proudly boasted of his newly aquired JW Blue Label on his return from a cruise. It was ceremoniously opened and poured and, unfortunately, not enjoyed in the slightest by me.
My palate has enjoyed far cheaper single malts and also some blended whiskies much more.
Maybe that says more about my credentials as a whiskey taster than it does about the Johnny Walker but it was probably my first and last encounter with the stuff. I certainly wouldn't pay to drink it anyway!
regards,
Steve O.

Hi Right Wing,

I agree that JW Blue label is exceptional, very smooth.

I always keep a bottle in stock and have a tot on special occasions. If there is no special occasion then I make one by having a tot!

Kuma Blue is above gold in the JW ranking. Red, Black, Green, Gold, Blue if I remember correctly.

I did have the chance to acquire a bottle of the limited edition Blue but at €3000 it was to 'strong' for me!

I used to sample a little blue label of a friday night, as it was tres cheap in the staff bar. it's good as blends go, but more of a distant memory now.

I generally prefer single malts to blends; not to say that one's better than the other. J&B do a blend called "ultima" or similar - it's well worth a try.

I still have a bottle of Gold, happened to enjoy a little on Saturday night. impressions were 'very caramelly', and easy to enjoy. Red, Black - no thanks. IIRC the Green is not a blend?

It's all about finding what you like. If it's a blend - what of it? You could then add the riedel glass to the mix (I've not had the opportunity) - then how's this stuff taste?

cheers

quote:

Kuma Blue is above gold in the JW ranking. Red, Black, Green, Gold, Blue if I remember correctly.

Really?
I have to ask my *Scotch drinking* friend again!

What's above the Blue then?

So far out of JW, the Blue is it and don't really care much for the rest. ( black was okey. Red just horrible ) :\

JM Red label was the most popular Whisky during the 60's. Why I never knew as I always thought it was gut rot stuff. Now where is that bottle of Caol Ila.

Living on Taiwan 35 years ago, a friend bought a bottle of 'Mars' 'Scotch' at the monopoly store.

Boy, it tasted good - smoky, peaty. We both wondered if it was a single malt.

Checking the label, we saw a lot about Scotch, the importance of the barrels, the craftsmanship, etc. Oh - in very small letters it said 'Product of Okinawa'. Apparently the Teahouse of the August Moon may not have been fictional.

Phil

Japan is a highly regarded malt whisky producing country. I have never tried it but I would be very curious to give it a go.

quote:

Originally posted by Malky:
Japan is a highly regarded malt whisky producing country. I have never tried it but I would be very curious to give it a go.

Unfortunately it won't taste like scotch as its not made using burn water.
Regards
Chris N

"... its, .... suntory time".

quote:

Originally posted by Analogue:
Unfortunately it won't taste like scotch as its not made using burn water.

Interesting debate. I've just read Andrew Jefford's 'Peat smoke and Spirit'. He reckons most of the distillers he spoke to discount the concept of 'terrois' when applied to whisky. Apparently, the water is negligible to the taste. It's the actual variants in distillation techniques that account for the difference between, say a Glenfiddich and a Laphroaig.
The industry, however, is happy to live with 'terrois' as a romantic (and commercial) attraction.

Johnny Walker is ok nothing special.

One of the defining malts of Johnny Walker if my memory serves me correct is Cardhu, which is better than any Johnny Walker Blended I've drunk.

Whyte and Mackay Special Reserve and Famous Grouse are better blended whiskies in my experience.

Even better try a single malt.

For smoothness try
Oban
Dalwhinnie

quote:

Interesting debate. I've just read Andrew Jefford's 'Peat smoke and Spirit'. He reckons most of the distillers he spoke to discount the concept of 'terrois' when applied to whisky. Apparently, the water is negligible to the taste. It's the actual variants in distillation techniques that account for the difference between, say a Glenfiddich and a Laphroaig.
The industry, however, is happy to live with 'terrois' as a romantic (and commercial) attraction.

Bowmore shipped old stills, tuns etc to Canada and created a distillery. They used everything as they would at Islay apart from the water and warehousing conditions for the casks.

Guess what? Whisky was good but very different from that created on Islay.

quote:

Originally posted by Rico:
"... its, .... suntory time".

Doing three fingers with a rock. Right now.
Yum