Johhnnie Walker

Type	; Scotch whisky
Evidence the alcohol content	; {{{abv}}}
	80
The factory	; Diageo
Country	; Skotlandia
Introduced by	; 1820: Grocery store  1865: Scotch blending
Discontinued	; White Label
Color	; {{{colour}}}
Flavor	; {{{flavour}}}
Variant	; Red Label, Black Label, Swing, Green Label, Gold Label, Blue Label
The product of related	; Ballantine's, Chivas Regal, Cutty Sark, Dewar's, Vat 69

•  JW Black label ,JW dolg label ,JW Red label .

•  JW Black label

 Loved by everyone from Winston Churchill to Leonard Cohen and happily nosed and tasted on New Years morn by yours truly, Johnnie Walker is a real legend of the whisky world. And thus serves as the perfect first dram in this malt mission...

The flurry of flavours enjoyed in every JWBlack can be attributed to the 40 whiskies(35 malt, 5 grain) that are blended to create this beauty. Formerly known as the Extra Special Old Highland Whisky, Johnnie Walker Black delivers every time I have it.

TASTING NOTES:

Sweet, apples and honey, soft brown pears, custardy cream smell, cakey, lively and fresh in the nose. malted barley and a good whisky smell. Not necessarily a peatiness, but a definite burnt or toasty character about it.

Has grainy assertiveness that keeps you on your toes through a development of flavour that lasts at least 20 seconds. Subtle and constantly changing in the mouth. Starts really sweet, but a nice sweet, like kissing rather than talking about kissing. Moves into oaky territory, winey and grapey with leafy breezes of herbal tastes. Slowly developing long finish of smoky clothes sweetened with a body spray of vanilla, apples and honey (pay attention Body Shop!)

Pleasantly sweet for introductions and then takes you on a pleasant ever-developing flavour ride. Long finish.

(When I added water a fishy salty sourness emerged, like real licorice with rotting carcass. NB- do not cut with water, it is at its best at full strength). But absolutely lovely on tons of ice.

SUMMARY:

It all starts with a great tradition. Innovation in blending passed down through generations. Clever opportunism. Marketing genius. Branding and re-branding. Skill to be able to constistenly blend a tasty whisky for over 150 years. Then finally put it in a sexy bottle to decorate our shelf and you have a world-class knock-out dram.

•  JW Blue label

 Like it or not, Johnnie Walker Blue Label means 'the best whisky' in almost every language in the world.

The stuff is legendary by managing to create a mystique through clever(and often misleading) advertising and tight-lipped secrecy regarding the recipe. That being said, I have done my best to gather what I can about the recipe.

So, what is in Johnnie Walker Blue Label? It is said to include some very aged whiskies, including a drop of ancient Royal Lochnagar, sherried Blair Atholl, smoke from Caol Ila, and whiskies from closed distilleries including a 1923 Auctertool. About the recipe, Charlie Maclean told me, "It varies, but there will always be a tiny amount of old Cardhu (maybe only a tea-spoon), almost certainly some Mortlach and Clynelish and Caol Ila or Lagavulin.”
Kevin Erskine at the informative and often hilarious Scotch Blog has addressed some concerns around Diageo and the marketing of Blue here and here, so lets look at something else... PRICE.Is the price justified?

What is interesting is the absolute variety in pricing across the board. I have seen Blue priced anywhere from £60 to £150(currency translated) in varied markets. So is its value just based on market or is there an intrinsic WORTH. If it is the only way to taste, say 1923 Auchtertool, then that must be worth something. But how much? How do we tell?

Lets just say this Auchtertool existed as a bottle on the market, it would be a conervative estimate to assume that it may fetch £30,000(?) as a single rare bottle from a demolished distillery distilled over 80years ago. Now lets say that there is one millilitre of the stuff in every bottle, then that would make it quite a deal to have £400 worth of old whisky for circa £120. But what if it is mixed with shit(not that this is necessarily the case), does it retain its value?

Too dramatic? Funny you shoud say so, cuz some irony lies in the fact that a housing estate currently exists on the site of the old distillery called 'Brookside' (yes like the tv series, a UK soap, RIP 1982-2003).

Say a bottle of similarly priced whisky, Talisker 25yo (£105), Glen Moray 30yo(£130), Glengoyne's Peter's Choice, or one of the best whiskies I have ever had, Balblair 38 year old(£140)... how do they compare, or rather, how does JW Blue compare? The quick answer is that it simply would not stand up in that company. Not at all.
(Hey, Diageo, just read profits are up. Good for you. If you want to prove me wrong re. Blue vs. Tali 25 do be in touch for my mailing address. I will gladly do that research)

And many of us rely on taste to determine the worthiness of a given food, wine, or whisky, so is that fair? Surely rarity affects cost (truffles? blue diamonds?), just think of the aaawful Loch Dhu, currently going for a STOOPID amount, or the excellent AND affordable Glenglassaugh releases, 19 and 22yo, and it becomes clear that market demand is ultimately the only way to assess that value.

Perhaps if they did give us SOME clue as to what piece(s) of history we are tasting, a more justified respect may be earned by the product. Or maybe they dont need that kind of respect, they have the steady cash flow of countless Wall Street boys, well-intentioned folk who want to get Dad 'something nice', wealthy Russians, Emirs and sheiks to keep Johnnie Walker Blue's paragon status.

As always, comments welcome and encouraged.

Enough typing, let's drink some.

TASTING NOTES:

This is somehow warming my top lip, not a hard edge to be found, the softest of childrens toys... for adults. It makes me have a vague sense of having to sneeze it is that stimulating, there is a physical impact. Amazing. Honeyed smoke and lamb fat, chicken soup. More smoke acting like the defining colour for every sensation: apple peel, creme brulée, raw potatoes, gin/juniper berries, oak panelling in a friend's basement.

Soft entry, but upon swallowing it explodes with a tingling alcohol sensation that evolves straight past mid palate experience to a finish, which has honey, smoke and wood. I am convinced that there is lots happening but I am numbed by the alcohol and cannot unpack it.
Am I wrong? The pros got more than I seem to be able to...
To be fair to JW Blue, and you, I have to get the opinions of others to see if I am crazy.
Johnnie Walker Blue, meet Kristin and her brother, Espen.

They both agreed the nose was big, beautiful, complex, and very inviting. On the palate, Espen says "steel taste". Kristin is convinced it is "like eating a cloud". I have cut it at this point and find soil, salt and latex, like chewing on a balloon. On the finish, Espen observes that "it stays forever". Kristin smiles, closes her eyes seductively, and only wants more. Cut, I find it much more tolerable in that it has lost its nails. But contrary to what I thought was buried behind the boozy bite, there is not a huge complex array of flavours but rather a concise package of oak, flowers, chocolate and pear or apple. Sexy, seductive, but not worth cheating on a better woman.

SUMMARY:

Kristin's line when we first had this whisky was memorable among our friends. She said, paradoxically, "You can't drink it quickly, but you wish you could drink it all night." I suppose many would like to drink it all night, I simply couldn't afford that, and for the price, I would certainly buy something else. That being said, there is a sexiness about it, it is a sensual drinking experience. It is a whisky that takes time, and benefits from time in the glass.

At a tasting I was hosting, Charlie Maclean told me to suck an ice cube before drinking it and note the silk effect of the spirit as it slides down my throat. Any spirit that benefits from numbing the tongue, even if recommended by a legend, is suspicious in my mind. Nonetheless, the currency this label has around the world as THE status symbol and THE embodiment of "the best whisky" makes it an impressive gift, just one that I would never give. 

•  JW Gold label

 The last of the Johnnie Walker colour hierarchy for me to taste formally on the mission. I promise the delay was not intentional as I had plenty of opportunities to drink the stuff (and man, did I), but not until very recently did I have the chance to taste it in the controlled environment of Dr. Whisky's lab in the controlled method of the Malt Mission.

I do find it hilarious to see new (and old, for that matter) whisky websites tasting and rating whiskies they tried at a distillery, or outside at Feis Isle, after 3 glasses of wine at their uncle's place for dinner, or after 15 other malts at DrunkFEST Chicago, or... Not exactly fair, nor representative of the true flavours of the whisky. Sure, no matter how or when you drink the stuff your impressions will be wholly subjective and by no means absolute (hate to disappoint some of you aspiring MJs and misguided JMs), but at least attempt to have some semblance of control otherwise your authority is nullified immediately and your notes are of no use to anyone but yourself. Maltsterbating, I suppose. By this I mean that WHEN and IN WHAT TYPE OF GLASS are probably the only elements of tasting, of being impressed upon by a malt whisky, that you can control. Without some consistency in the tasting ritual, ESPECIALLY if you are going to have the arrogance to criticise and rate and give scores, you are doing nothing more than jerking off into the toilet. Useless.

Some surfing alerted me to the presence of much misinformation about Johnnie Walker Gold so let me verify that this is a BLENDED whisky: it is made up of 15 or more single malt whiskies mixed with grain whiskies. This does not make it "better" or "worse", it is just different than a single malt or a blended malt whisky. Although the Walker's were grocers in Kilmarnock from 1820, it was in the 1850s that they became whisky blenders and today the name Johnny Walker is synonomous with quality blended Scotch whisky.

• Red label

 johnnie walker is a company that produce all kinds of whisky . founded in 1820 . this company generally produce a sluice of a spirituous liquor . headquartered in scotland . becomes sponsor official mclaren team since 2005 .

•  Green label

	Another from the famous Johnnie Walker dynasty. The hierarchy of the Johhnie Walker family goes Red, Black, Green, Gold, Blue. This malt mission began with Johnnie Walker Black Label and this week will see three others: Red yesterday, Green today... Which will be tasted tomorrow? oooooo.... So I explained the history of the company under the Red Label, and I am sure you can hear that tune, "one of these things is not like the other, one of these just doesnt belong..." JW Green Label is a Blended Malt, or to be less confusing, I prefer the term VATTED malt making it NOT a 'blended whisky' like Grouse, or Teachers or JW Red. Ok, quickly... Single Malt whiskies are 'single' cuz they are made from one particular grain(malted barley) and from one particular distillery (say, Springbank). They are made in copper pot stills. Single Grain Whiskies are whiskies made from barley and/or maize, and/or wheat and made in big Column stills, Coffey Stills, or Continuous Stills. Blended whiskies are made from one or more different single malts mixed together with one or more Grain whiskies. Vatted Malt, Pure Malt or Blended Malt Whiskies are made from one or more different single malts vatted/blended together. This whisky contains about 15 different single malts, but only four are mentioned on the package: Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore, Caol Ila. TASTING NOTES: Heavy, dense air about it, smells move from low to high, if you know what I mean. From a bottom of oak and humid sea air, whole peppercorns, malt, pecans, pears, to honey on top. Very impressive, confident. Pungent and powerful, but a real ensemble, tough to pick out individual flavours. Some apple and toffee cake, some vapours of cherry wood smoke. Then things kick into bitterness. Big alcohol impression, too, that the experience doesnt recover from. Hard. May benefit from a bunch of ice. Or a shitty mood. WITH ICE: Gorgeous sherry sweetness on the nose, big heathery smoke and the bitterness completely goes away. Still not exactly my thing, but I think that ice makes nice. Eureka! SUMMARY: Loved the nose, big and exciting, lots of character. enjoyed the sort of waxy mouthfeel. But beyond that this dram lost its appeal. Spirit heat and bitterness spoil the possibility for flavour development. Perhaps it is just a moody dram and I just aint in the right mood. Will try with ice later. When I tried with ice I realised this must be the way this dram is intended to be consumed. Probably great for a Rusty Nail.
	Johnnie Walker merupakan sebuah perusahaan yang menghasilkan berbagai macam whisky. Didirikan pada tahun 1820. Perusahaan ini umumnya menghasilkan macam-macam minuman alkohol. Bermarkas di Skotlandia. Menjadi sponsor resmi tim McLaren sejak tahun 2005.
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