WC Test Drive: Johnnie Walker Blue
Word of advice for those planning an evening of whisky drinking and are not enamored of any particular disposition toward said whisky – choose as wisely as you feel you possibly can when it comes to whisky selections – and in this department, WC will provide some assistance. Never follow up a tasting of Glenmorangie 18-Year-Old Extremely Rare single malt Scotch whisky with Johnnie Walker Blue blended Scotch whisky. There is no comparison and your mouth and other portions of your body and brain will hate you for what you have done to them.
WC’s review of Glenmorangie 18-Year Extremely Rare began with a treatise on how we do not like showboatery and yet expected it in the Glenmorangie due to its “Extremely Rare” label. But showboatery comes in different flavors and that was not one of them. However, Johnnie Walker Blue is all about showboatery – otherwise you would not have all those colors of the rainbow representing various Johnnie Walker types of whisky. Plus, Johnnie Walker is essentially a marketing machine nowadays – probably not a whole bunch more than Glenmorangie – but definitely more pervasive to the point that 7 out of 10 whisky-drinking, Oklahoma frat boy wannabes probably know your average Johnnie Walker brand more than they have even heard of Glenmorangie. The point? The name Johnnie Walker adds at least 20% to the cost of your tipple – and in the case of Johnnie Walker Blue, it is most definitely not worth it.
Johnnie Wlker Blue is harsh and good if you like your mouth organs raked over hot coals and then your head slammed into a brick wall. It is like sitting down to a nice dinner and salivating over your rib eye or surf and turf or whatever you consider to be your favorite meal and then having a person sit down next to you and serenade you with an opera aria at full blast for the next 30 minutes. There are probably many similar words for both overpriced and unsavory that can be found in Roget’s Thesaurus to adequately describe Johnnie Walker Blue but we would rather not be reminded of the bad taste left in our mouth and merely move on to some other legitimately good whiskies.
WC gives Johnnie Walker Blue with a 59 out of 100 score – and would formally like to describe Johnnie Walker as the Fireball of whisky brands.
Johnnie Walker Blue is typically found for $275 per bottle.