Reply With QuoteOn special offer at Costco at the moment I seem to recall....£100 @ bottle?
Toying with the idea of trying a bottle of JW blue label.
It seems to get pretty good reviews. Would you recommend it?
On special offer at Costco at the moment I seem to recall....£100 @ bottle?
yes its £85 plus vat this monthOriginally Posted by Gareth-W
They also do free samples of it
I did see it in Costco - I think it was £120 per bottle, but I'll stand corrected.
My good wife (an angry Scot), who is the first to admit that she is not a whisky drinker holds Jonnie Blue as her favourite whisky. As such there is some in my booze cabinet. It is leaps and bounds smoother than double black (I keep their gold reserve in the decanter for the odd hot toddy and for cooking and blue it is a league nicer than that also).
It is not at all challenging to drink, just very balanced.
I have a mate who turns his nose up as "it's just a blend, I only drink single malt...". But you often get those types.
That's a cracking price...yes its £85 plus vat this month
They also do free samples of it
have you tried it a few times? If you pass through the Concorde Room at Heathrow T5 it's on offer in plentiful quantities to try! Although unless you already have a flight it probably adds to the cost somewhat..
My palate isn't educated enough to tell the difference. £16 a litre for Bells, Haig and Grouse at Morrisons at the moment and that's good enough for me. If I want something to sip and savour, Glenmorangie or Bain's Cape Mountain hits the spot.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Well seems the good whiskey can detected with an artificial tongue, not sure what good it is in all honesty but thought it was interesting at least.
https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/09/...-fake-whiskey/
Id spend the extra £50 and get Bushmills 21 Year or King Alexander III personally
RIAC
I know what you mean. Have you ever tried Monkey Shoulder?
I bought a bottle for £22 on offer and it's very easy to drink.
Anyone else a fan?
Blue Label is very nice. I'm not sure I'd say its worth the price though.
Go for a Monkey Shoulder, or Jura's Durach's Own, hell of a whiskey. It will take a bit of effort to find what you really like, but there are some very good whiskeys you can get for under £35 a bottle.
Isle of Skye, far better blend than Monkey Shoulder and cheaper.
There is better for that money. Did a blind tasting on the full JW range last year .... the Blue was not my top ranked. To be fair none of them really impressed me, I think at 40% it is underbaked also.
Try the Glenmorangie Signet which is often on offer in the airport if you want something very drinkable but a little different. The product of the Glenmorangies master blenders on and off project to develop a whisky with chocolate undertones.
Old Puteney 21 (there are still some about) , Glenfarclas 17, Glendronach 18 , Bunnahabain 18 .... the list goes on at price point below the blue lablel
Mmmhhhh... my favourite
I temember buying 5 bottles at half price as Tescos cleared the shelf of them... that was a goo day
This for me for that price range for a nice drinkable blend. Absolutely lovely the Signet
I adore whisky, but I'm no expert. "A drinker rather than a thinker" if you will...
My question to the the 'blend' detractors would be, "A blend of what?".. Single malts?
Single malts that, in themselves, aren't distinctive or characterful enough to deserve their own bottling perhaps?
I dunno. I'm guessing, but I always had it my head that the point of a blended whisky was consistency. From one year to the next, a bottle of Grouse tastes the same (bloody good), and there are some very experienced guys who get paid good money to ensure that's the case. Like tea blending, or a Big Mac for that matter. Exactly the same... every time... every year.
In my mind, the appeal of a single malt is that each years bottling is distinctive. I've no doubt however that Glenfiddich et al go to great lengths to ensure consistency, but they're working with a limited palette, purposely, to acheive a house style.
If you take that to its logical conclusion, the ultimate whisky 'ought' to be a blend (and Blue Label might be it), balancing this, that, the other and the 'do you mind if I don't's'.... but... the beauty of a single malt is its uniqueness, the subtlety of change over time... like good wine? It might not be as good... as rounded.. or complete...
But.. it's rare.
In summary, and having enjoyed several drams of my personal favourite, Lagavulin 16, this evening, I can say with a degree of certainty, that I don't know what I'm talking about. But I'm pretty sure many of those who profess that they do, don't.
HAGWE
Gary
Johnnie Walker Green Label just won a very prestgious award, the 2017 World Whiskies Awards, not Blue, and I tend to agree with the assessment. I was so happy to see it back on the shelves at my local spot after such a long absence. Smooth and fragrant, with a rich mouth feel and a long soft finish, good whisky. Blue is just not worth the $$ to me.
Whilst there are blended Malts, generally "blended" means malt whisky blended with cheaper grain whiskies.
Cheers,
Neil.
I personally won't buy anything owned by Diageo; support an independent distillery instead.
Another one for Isle of skye here
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Love the Islay malts but only a small sip and I am up all night with wind and bile, can drink anything else and I'm okay bar whisky
There are some great Indian and Japanese malts out there and of course you have Penderyn.
I'm very fortunate to have contacts who work for diageo who can get me decent bottles of whisky at a more reasonable price. I've tried most of the JW labels including the blue, green, gold etc etc .
Although the Blue is nice, I actually prefer the Gold blend myself and given the price, I'd skip on the Blue, unless you get an opportunity to taste and like it.
I've been a fan of Monkey Shlulder for a while and I agree, it's an "easy" drink. Blue Label for me was underwhelming. The mystique that surrounded it made me imagine it would be like nectar from the gods but in reality it was just another blended whisky.
For reference, my current favourites are Hibiiki and Yamazaki from Japan and Balvennie from my home country.
I have tried JW blue and it's decent.
But the real sweet spot in JW lineup is their Green Label.
That is a fantastic whisky.
Absolutely agree. For £100 a bottle I would have Bly go for a single malt. Glenmorangie 18, Glengoyne 21, Balvenie 17 are three of my favourites around that price range
Absolutely this. It was hard to get a hold of for a spell a year or so back, but now is generally widely available again.
Don't forget Ballantine! It is my go to whisky to get tipsy!
I like Monkey Shoulder (drinking Glenfiddich 12 yr old right now!) MS is really smooth. Japanese whiskies are now really good. My experience is with the usual supermarket ones -- Yamazaki, Hakushu and Hibiki. My favourite is Hibiki, quite dear. The other 2 are available as 700cl bottles but Hibiki is only available as 500ml. Also tried Amrut, nice! I'm Indian, I was quite surprised that it was better than my expectation. My personal favourite is Lagavulin Distiller's Edition.
Educate me kind sir. It is a bit like Swatch and Richemont in watches. Tell me about independent distillers.I personally won't buy anything owned by Diageo; support an independent distillery instead.
Why go for an overpriced blended scotch when there is much more on the market
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I prefer Yamasaki and the peated Amrut malts. Whisky exchange is a good place to shop for some varied malts from around the world. Apparently malts from Canada are also good, but I've not tried them, yet.
Last edited by Andrew S; 11th June 2017 at 09:44.
That's a thought, will need to have a browse!
I've had a few 750ml Hibikis. There's also a limited edition kicking around just now with a nice bottle.
I prefer green label out of all the JW labels. When drinking blended this or Chivas Regal is my preference. Macallan for single malt.
Tried it once and like most Scotch I wasn't impressed, particularly when I found out what it cost. I much preferred the Glenmorangie that I also tried but in truth my taste is very much over the water and my poison of choice is JKamesons.
Rob
It's inevitably a nice whisky, and I've had it a few times, but it's a lot of money for what it is.
A Lagavulin 16 works for me, or a Laphroaig of course.
Where did you get them from??? Last seen in Tesco (500 ml) last year Xmas time. Never seen them in Sainsbury (atleast not he ones I frequent)
The last 750ml bottle I got was from duty free at T5.
Another fan of Monkey Shoulder here - it's a good counter-top whisky to save the better stuff in the cupboard.
I can't remember the last time I drank Blue Label, but I can remember the first. And it's this that I find puzzling. Either it no longer surprises and delights, or the blend itself has changed beyond recognition. I'd wager that it's the latter.
My go to whisky is Ballantine or Chivas. Don't know why never liked Johnnie Walker series!
Can't beat a Laphroaig!
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Hear Hear! The Quarter Cask perhaps?
Cask Strength is my go to!
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Lagavulin for me , but I'll happily chug down most Islay malts.
Blend I tend to go for Jameson's. Other blends are cocktail fodder regardless of price and supposed quality... in my humble opinion.
I recently picked up a bottle of JW Island Green at the JW shop at Schiphol and it's really nice. Highly recommended. I don't normally do blends except when I'm in the pub.
Both are excellent, I always have a bottle of Quarter Cask in the house...
I currently have a bottle of Laphroaig Lore which is exceptional.
For the blends... I've tried the Blue Johnny Walker, nice flavour and very very smooth but not exceptional and not worth the money.
Whisky from elsewhere... the Swedish Mackmyra distillery make some very good whisky, I have the Vinterdröm which spends some time in a rum cask, delicious!
Lore is a blend (allegedly from various casks of 7-21yo whisky).
Haha... good point... it certainly is! Made from a blend of single malts, lots of these around.
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