The Walking Blend: Assorted Johnnie Walker

It's been a long time since I tried any Johnnie Walker whiskies; the last one I reviewed was the King George V three years ago, so I figure it's about time for some new Walker.  I've always considered JW to be sort of zombie whiskies.  They look and smell like whisky, but they are devoid of any soul.  Let's see if any of these blends survived the zombie apocalypse.


Johnnie Walker Swing, 40% ($75)

JW's Swing comes in a wobbly bottle.  That appears to be the most significant information about it. The nose is nice and malty. The palate is very light with malt notes and just a touch of spice, trailing off with some pepper in the finish.  It is completely inoffensive but not at all interesting, although, did I mention the wobbly bottle?   


Johnnie Walker Platinum, 18 yo., 40% abv ($115)

JW Platinum joined the rainbow in 2013, shortly before the 18 year old JW Gold was discontinued. New color, same age, but double the price.  Sounds Diageolicious!  This has a nice nose with malt, sea air, green grapes and some floral notes.  The palate is malty with some musty notes, like drinking in a damp cellar.  The finish is dry with notes of autumn leaves.  This is decent stuff, but nothing I'd pay three figures for.


The Explorers' Club Series

This is a series of blends released in 2012 for the duty free market.  Last summer, a New York court enjoined Diageo from using the name after the New York Explorers Club filed suit; the parties settled in September so these whiskies will remain available.

All three of the Explorers' club whiskies are no age statement, 40% abv, come in liter bottles and include a stupid story about how they were specially blended to represent the part of the world alluded to in the name...whatever.

The Spice Road ($40)

The nose is soapy and grainy.  The palate is very grain forward, with light grain notes, sort of like an Irish blend. The finish is a bit medicinal.  This one is pretty blah.

The Gold Route ($125)

The nose on this one has more in the way of coastal notes with a slight whiff of peat.  The palate is malty with some seaweed and very slight peat and mineral notes that follow into the finish.  This one is decent and at least has some interesting stuff going on, though so does JW Black and it's a lot cheaper.

The Royal Route ($195)

The final and highest priced member of the Explorers' Club, The Royal Route has some decent peat on the nose along with some wine notes. The palate opens with the peat but then turns malty/soapy and diluted, leaving only a trace of peat on the finish along with a lot of soapiness and a bit of bitterness.

Wow, the Explorers' Club was a big yawn.  The Gold Route was clearly the strongest of the three.  The Royal Route starts strong but then goes steadily downhill.

All of today's JW whiskies are pretty much in line with my opinion of Johnnie Walker products.  None are offensive, some are decent, most are boring and all are overpriced.

All in all, it's still soulless zombie whisky.  If you see a bottle, don't open: dead inside.

Thanks to Tyler Patton for the samples.

Blue in the Face: Johnnie Walker Blue King George V

Several years ago, I reviewed the standard Johnnie Walker color line: Red, Black, Gold, Blue. My conclusion was that while the Blue was the best of the bunch, it was way overpriced. Well at $170 per bottle, the Blue is downright cheap next to its well heeled brother Johnnie Walker Blue King George V which weighs in at $350.

One of the things often touted along with the King George V is that it includes malt from the closed Port Ellen distillery, but that seems less impressive when you think about the fact that there is still plenty of Port Ellen single malt available for substantially less than the George V costs with its undisclosed amount of Port Ellen.

The fact is though, King George V isn't competing for those of us who might buy Port Ellen. This is status whisky, pure and simple. It's for the broker who had a good year or a piece of swag in the awards basket for the Hollywood star. They don't know from Port Ellen, they know from Johnnie Walker Blue.

But how does it taste? Well, thanks to a sample from my pal at Scotch and Ice Cream, I'm able to tell you.

Johnnie Walker Blue King George V, 43% abv ($350).

The nose on this has sweet malty notes with pineapple, bing cherries and wet grass. On the palate it is malt forward but there are some slightly grainy notes (I first tasted this blind and was pretty sure it was a blend based on these grainy notes) as well as some corn syrup. Despite the Port Ellen, there was no discernible smoke. The finish is very light and short.

This is fine to drink, but it's nothing at all special. It's the type of profile I would probably really like at a higher proof. As is, it's pleasant and drinkable, but at this price, I could probably think of a few hundred whiskies that would be much better. So I implore you, don't buy this stuff, it's not for you anyway (unless you happen to be a Hollywood star, hedge fund manager or someone else who delights in status symbols.

Whiskey Wednesday: The Best of the Worst - Scotch

We've all had it happen. You want a Scotch, but you're stuck in an airport, a crappy hotel bar, or worst of all, a wedding or a convention's cash bar. You have to decide between one or two blends that are clearly at the bottom of the barley barrel.

Well, given that I've been in this scenario more times than I can remember, I decided to take one for the team and give you the best of the worst, wherein I will review the plonk you are most likely to find in said situations.

It goes without saying that all of these are blends at 40% alcohol. They are ranked from best of the worst to worst of the worst in this blind tasting.


1. Johnnie Walker Red (Owned by Diageo)

I've never been a fan of JW Red, which I previously reviewed with the other Walkers, but face to face with these low-enders, it towered over the competition. It had nice malt on the nose and an even, unoffensive taste, though it was a bit medicinal, in a bad way, on the finish. It was certainly light, but not as light as the other contenders. It was head and shoulders above the others.


2. Dewar's White Label (Bacardi Ltd.)

The Dewar's had a nice malty nose, maybe the best nose of all of these, but the flavor was quite a bit lighter than the JW. There was some malt there, but it was less discernible. It beat out the Chivas by a nose.


3. Chivas Regal 12 years old (Pernod Ricard)

The Chivas had a weak nose but was fairly decent on taste. It was a bit milky, a bit sweet, and there was a pronounced grain flavor.


4. J&B (Diageo)

J&B was light on the nose with some malt. The flavor was bland and watery. Overall, it was boring and indistinct.


5. Cutty Sark (Edrington Group/Berry Brothers & Rudd)

This is hideous stuff. It has a weird perfume fragrance which stomps out any malt, and an unpleasant sweetness. This was by far the worst of the lot. STAY AWAY!


So, just to give you a sense of how these rankings came down. I tasted them blind. Johnnie Walker was the best by far, then Dewar's and Chivas were a fairly close call for second and third. J&B was discernibly worse than the first three and Cutty Sark was an abomination.

Good luck and give my congratulations to the happy couple.

Next Wednesday: We begin a new series of American whiskey reviews.

Whiskey Wednesday: Taste the Rainbow -- Johnnie Walker

When it comes to Scotch, I'm a single malt drinker. I love tasting the different distilleries from different regions and of different ages. But something like 90% of the Scotch that's consumed in the world is blended Scotch, composed of a mixture of single malt whiskey from different distilleries and grain whiskey.

While blenders dominate the market, single malts are chipping away at the higher, premium and super-premium ends. In addition, new blenders, like Compass Box, have come on the market with more refined and creative blends. As a result, some of the bigger blenders have begun to release premium, cask strength and other blends intended to appeal to the single malt crowd.

With this new offensive by blended Scotch, I thought it would be a good time for me to try a few blends, and what better place to start than Johnnie Walker.

One of the foremost blended Scotches in the world, Johnnie Walker is ubiquitous and its color code is well known to drinkers of blended Scotch. In ascending order, Walker offers a basic line of Red, Black, Gold and Blue.

Johnnie Walker is produced by liquor giant Diageo. In making its blends, Diageo has at its disposal an amazing profile of 29 active single malt distilleries, including such luminaries as Lagavulin, Talisker, Caol Ila, Dalwhinnie, Oban, Mortlach and Linkwood as well as the legendary closed distilleries of Brora, Rosebank, Dallas Dhu and Port Ellen among others. There is no other company with as impressive an array of single malts at its disposal, so one would expect a lot from its blends, especially from the higher end of the color spectrum.

While I had tried the common JW Red and Black before, this was my first go at the much heralded Gold and the legendary Blue. The prices listed below are approximate for a standard 750ml bottle, though they come in various sizes; you can even get a sample pack with 200 ml bottles of all four expressions for about $100. All of the JW colors are 40% alcohol, and only the Black and Gold include age statements.


JW Red ($20)

Red is the lowest end of the spectrum, available at conventions and weddings everywhere. It is the world's best selling Scotch.

Red is light on the nose though it has a pleasant malty aroma. The lightness continues in the flavor, almost to the point of inconsequence on the palate. The first taste is a nice malty flavor, but then it is drown out by an unpleasant finish consisting of soap and straw.


JW Black, 12 years old ($25)

Black is an affordable but slightly higher end brand than the JW Red. You'll find it in first class instead of coach.

A nice smoky aroma, maybe some of that Caol Ila in this one. Once again, though, the taste doesn't live up to the nose. The complex aroma yields to a lightness and a lack of complexity on the palate.


JW Gold, 18 years old ($60)

Gold is the sleeper of JW. Overshadowed by its Blue brother, it labors in relative obscurity but is praised by critics, many of whom think it is the best of the Walkers. One of the chief components is said to be Clynelish, which is a fabulous, uber-malty single malt.

Gold opens with a beautiful aroma of malt and fruit. Again, however, it's light on the palate. I can taste the Clynelish and there is a bit of oak on it. But rather than impressing me, it really made me yearn for the fuller taste of straight Clynelish in all its woody, Highland maltiness touched by smoke. And the Clynelish 14 year old is some $20 cheaper than JW Gold!

Perhaps it is unfair of me to compare a blend to a single malt. Is it the very lightness I find unappealing that the blended Scotch drinker seeks? Am I the wrong audience because I'm used to the bold and distinct flavors of single malts?

In any case, I can only taste what I taste, but if you are primarily a drinker of blends and have an opinion, please drop me a line or leave a comment.


JW Blue ($150)

Few whiskies have developed the mystique that surrounds JW Blue. JW Blue is a Robin Leach whiskey, a whiskey of the rich and famous. It's what you give to the firm's new partner or (in LA speak) the actor your agency has been trying to woo.

While the Blue label means status in some circles, it is routinely trashed among Scotch aficionados as a victory of style over substance and marketing run amok.

When it first came out, Blue claimed to include 60 year old malts, though I haven't seen that claim made recently. Many have noted the inclusion of Cardhu and Royal Lochnagar in the blend as well as the legendary Port Ellen.

Blue has a complex aroma, strong with dried fruit and subtle with malt. The fruit fades in the flavor as the malt takes center stage with some smoke in the distance...silky smooth, balanced to a tee. Nicely done.

Despite the critical acclaim for Gold and disdain for Blue, I have to say, Blue won me over. When I think about Walker, I yearn for the Blue. Mind you, that doesn't mean that Blue (or Gold, for that matter) is worth the big price tag. At $60 I would highly recommend Blue, but at $150, you're paying too much.


The Other Walkers

Aside from the four blends I sampled, JW has several additional expressions. JW Green is a vatted malt, meaning a blend of single malts with no grain whiskey ($50). JW Swing is a blend with a light and sweet flavor profile that differentiates it from the standard Walkers, and it comes in a weeble inspired bottle (it wobbles but it doesn't fall down) ($65).

In addition, there has been an expansion of the Blue label for those who think that the regular Blue is just too darned affordable. The new JW Blue - King George V is allegedly loaded with Port Ellen and goes for over $500 a bottle. The new 200th Anniversary Cask Strength Blue goes for (gasp) $3,000. Needless to say, you won't be seeing any tasting notes here for those whiskies.

Next Wednesday: A Renowned Fowl