Review #800: Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Hi everyone,

These hundred whisky reviews that come along every so often feel a little like ‘and now… for my next trick!’ Trying to one up ourselves with rare and/or ridiculous whiskies that will impress all.

Instead of that, for my 800th review I’ve decided to do a whisky that I should have reviewed a long time ago, the classic premium blend: Johnnie Walker Blue Label, touted as one of the most overpriced and perhaps the most disappointing whisky in the world. A dual accolade that has always made me curious. Hosting some high-end London bartenders in Swansea, I thought I might as well…

 

Johnnie Walker Blue Label 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Medium

Nose: Quite full for a blend, malty, spice, oak, elegant fruit, a bit of chocolate, a subtle touch of old peat.

Taste: Soft, vanilla, oak, some very nice fruit, malt, milk chocolate, then some grain building and loses balance. Loses more balance as it develops in the mouth.

Finish: Medium length. Quite good here, less grain, more chocolate, malt and some old peat notes.

Better than I expected this. There’s enough going on and it doesn’t feel to thin or like there’s too much grain whisky, well perhaps in the mid-palate but the nose and finish surprised me, especially with the aged peat notes. Yes, this isn’t worth the money, you can pick up a decent malt that will be infinitely better for half the price.

73/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #667

Whisky Network Review #800

Network Average: 75.1

Best Score: 94

Worst Score: 12

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

Why is this here?