So my wife and I are in “when the hell is the baby coming?” Mode. The latest sono (yesterday) estimated the baby at almost 9 lbs, and estimated my wife as being 41 weeks pregnant. Now huge babies aren’t typical in our family, as they are in the MaxLd’s family. My personal feeling is that her docs miscalculated her due date. I’ve felt this from the beginning. Oh well.

Anyway

For Fathers’ day, my wife splurged and got me a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label. I was shocked, and grateful, that she’d spend the bucks on alcohol. Blue label typically runs in the $150 to $200 range, so I was quite pleased.

So on Fathers’ day, my dad and I enjoyed this fine blended Scotch. I’ve long believed that stuff that expensive couldn’t be worth it. I can happily say now that I was
wrong.

So here’s my take on Johnnie Walker. I’ll admit at the start that I haven’t tried Green Label. It’s fairly new. Unfortunately, I can’t access the official Johnnie Walker web site, so I’m not linking to their descriptions of the various whiskies’. Here’s a link that should guide you to the official sites, but it’s not working for me at the moment.

Now, Red Label is just nasty and not worth considering. It’s good for mixing, or drinking with liberal ice and water added. But for really enjoying it as scotch, don’t bother.

Black Label is yummy. It’s got kick. A good 12 year old blend. Until recently, it was THE deluxe scotch in the Johnnie Walker stable. Now, with the additional colors, it’s not got the reputation it once had. Still, it pretty much rocks in my humble opinion. It’s smooth, yet it has smoke, a full flavor and enough of an edge to keep it interesting. And it’s affordable, which is a plus. The only negative right now is that I don’t have a bottle of it at home.

Gold label is an 18 year old. It’s completely different. It’s got a texture I haven’t experienced in the whisky world before. It’s a very thick, almost buttery texture, with a butter scotch flavor that is just wonderful. Frozen, this whisky is wonderful with good chocolates. Still, having kept it in the freezer for a while, I’ve taken it out. I prefer whisky neat at room temperature, and this one is no exception. I highly recommend this whisky. It’s about the best price you are gonna find for an 18 year old. Compare it to The Macallan 18 yar old Single Malt, which I’m told was recently selected the best whisky in the world by Whisky Magazine, and you find in Gold Label you can get a great 18 year old whisky for $40 less. Maybe not quite as good as The Macallan 18, but there isn’t much that is.

The Macallan might be the subject of another post at some point. If you haven’t tried it, go out and buy yourself a bottle of the 12 year old today. The Macallan is a wonderful contrast to The Glenlivet. Both are Speyside Single Malts, but radically different in flavor.

But I digress.

The feather in the cap of the Johnnie Walker range, Blue label has no stated age. I’ve heard it’s a 25 year old. Still, it almost seems to miss the point to focus on the age. It’s just a phenomenal whisky. I don’t have the words to describe it.

I recently bought a bottle of Gold Label for a friend as a graduation present for an MBA. He was a Single Malt snob who admits that JW Gold Label is better than most anything he’s had, save The Macallan 18. It might be a nice contrast to taste Blue Label and The Macallan 18 together. To see the best Single Malt and the best Blend side by side. And try JW Black Label and The Macallan 12 together. Two 12 year olds that rock, but are radically different.