Johnnie Walker Blue Label - Review
Age: No age statement
Barrel type: Mixed
Region: Mixed - Islay, Islands, Highlands, Speyside
ABV: 40%
Price: $200
Additional Details: Chill filtered, color added
Johnnie Walker is the world's best selling scotch, and probably the scotch industry's most recognizable brand by far. As pretty much everyone who's had a drink in a bar is aware, the iconic Diageo brand consists of blends named after their colored labels. Each blend represents a particular style or price point, and is composed of a variety of the company's single malt distilleries. Blue Label is their flagship, high-end line, and has carved out a niche for itself as a celebratory gift scotch. Royal Lochnagar is a primary component of this blend, just as Caol Ila and Talisker's smokier malts are the main constituents of Johnnie Walker Black and Double Black Label.
This bottle belongs to my father-in-law and dates back to the early 2000s. He originally bought this bottle intending to open it to celebrate my wife's college graduation. But that passed, and the bottle remained unopened. Then the plan shifted to celebrating her law school graduation--which also passed, without any Blue Label. This bottle somehow made it through those significant life events and our wedding, which to be fair happened out of state for him. Finally, when we moved back to Miami this year, he opened it upon our arrival.
Appearance: Johnnie Walker certainly doesn't hurt for presentation, and this scotch feels like a luxury product through and through. The box is a two-part affair, with an outer box revealing an inner one with a satin-lined compartment housing the bottle itself. The design is excellent, and there's a reason why the slanted, colored labels of Johnnie Walker are among the most recognizable in the entire spirits industry.
The inner cover of the inside box contains some carefully crafted, but largely meaningless, marketing speak:
"Johnnie Walker Blue Label scotch whiskey has been created by our master blender in the style pioneered by John and Alexander Walker to evoke the authentic, powerful character and flavour of a traditional 19th Century blend. It is an exclusive, hand crafted masterpiece that was only the rarest and finest of our huge reserves of aged whisky. Produced in strictly limited quantities, it represents out greatest achievement in blending excellence."
The scotch itself is a coppery, antique hardwood color, and has a relatively watery (rather than oily) texture.
Nose: Blue Label has a nose that recalls certain other luxury items like cigars and perfume. It's not like a single malt where certain characteristics jostle their way to the front, but falls within the classic jack-of-all-trades school of blending. I detect an oily smoke, dates and raisins, kiln-dried, unpolished wood, and roses. Based on those scents, I expect there's a combination of peaty Islay scotches (Caol Ila), sherry-aged Speysides, and that floral Royal Lochnagar. The cedar wood scents hint at the presence of a good proportion of higher-aged whisky in the blend, so it's not just all marketing here.
Palate: Light, sweet, and smooth is the target that Johnnie Walker aims to hit, and they hit it. The entry is sweet cream at first, followed by apples and orchard fruit, then some soft wisps of hookah smoke. The overall flavors do not stand out enough to be challenging, and the overall aspiration seems to be to impress people with how smooth and easy-drinking this blend is rather than how much complexity it has.
Finish: The finish follows through on many of those notes, as I get something reminiscent of cookies-and-cream ice cream, apple skin, honey-coated cereal grains, and the faintest trace of oak spice. Again, the goal doesn't seem to be complexity but rather as smooth an experience as one can create in a scotch, which also explains why Blue Label is bottled at a weak 40% ABV.
Value for Money and Final Impressions: Well, do you want to drink it or gift it? As a gift, its symbolic value is akin to gifting someone a Rolex -- it's widely recognized and will be appreciated more than a bottle of Ardbeg Airigh Naim Beist. What the hell is that, anyways, right?
If buying something for yourself, I'd recommend looking elsewhere for value. Blue Label's a very nice scotch, but I'd grade it in the B+ range even at $60-80, my value sweet spot. Any more than that, and I'd be left wondering why I'm paying for the bare minimum ABV. The fact that, to actually own it, I'd have to pony up an extra $120 or so . . . that's going to cost Johnnie Walker one partial letter grade. No worries, I'm sure they're going to do just fine without my ringing endorsement.
Rating: B