Johnny Walker Blue

[TravelingMan82]

I took this photo tonight with my d40 with SB600 and Tamron 28-70 f2.8.

jwblueandffox.jpg

[VR6ofpain]

Nice photo. Do you like Blue Label? I find it very disappointing for the price. In general I find blended Scotch rather borning, but of all the Johnnie Walker products I enjoyed Gold Label. Good bang for the buck.

I would recommend The Macallan 12 year for Scotch. It was my favorite Single Malt for the dollar before I moved onto Bourbon.

Tonight I am drinking Straight Rye Whiskey courtesy of Michter's.

[TravelingMan82]

Nice photo. Do you like Blue Label? I find it very disappointing for the price. In general I find blended Scotch rather borning, but of all the Johnnie Walker products I enjoyed Gold Label. Good bang for the buck.

I would recommend The Macallan 12 year for Scotch. It was my favorite Single Malt for the dollar before I moved onto Bourbon.

Tonight I am drinking Straight Rye Whiskey courtesy of Michter's.

The Blue was a gift from my Kids for Fathers Day. I like it, but I won't buy it.

I really like Dalwhinnie 12 and Lagavulin 16.

[ek.310]

What's the diff between red/gold/blue?? Specifically

[TravelingMan82]

What's the diff between red/gold/blue?? Specifically

Price.

Nah, I'm fairly certain it's just time spent aging.

[sombra]

i actually think jw blue stands head and shoulders above all other blended scotches. but, as with all such things, i suppose YMMV...

[Johnny Dale]

Of the JW's I have found Gold Label the best tasting. However the Black Label is all I can afford.

Red Label = 8 years
Black Label = 12 years
Green Label = 15 years (Single Malt)
Gold Label = 18 years
Blue Label = 21 years

[The Knize]

What's the diff between red/gold/blue?? Specifically

They taste very different to me.

The age differences are as previously noted.

The green is a pure/vatted malt. The others have some grain whisky in the blend.

Personal opinion?:

Red--near garbage

Black--amazingly, consistently excellent for the price; very accessible but still with appeal to the experienced

Green--pretty good, but amazingly less than the sum of its parts, which are some wonderful parts; hard to belive this is 15 yo whisky IMHO

Gold--kind of exotic tasting, "creamy"; not bad, not what I like though; believeable that whisky is 18 yo

Blue--so accessible and smooth as not to be Scotch at all, to me very mild but still has a lot going on; still mad props for an amazing creation

[Torcams]

Nice shot. That Opus X looks real nice...

[VR6ofpain]

Blue Label = 21 years

Technically Johnnie Walker does not specify an age for the Whiskey's in Blue Label. People on the internet guess somewhere between 21 and 25 yrs, but it is all speculation.

I don't believe this really matters though as I found an incredibly good Whiskey that is only 4 years old. It is called Stranahan's. You should try it.

[Mandrake]

I also think is a nice whisky, but not worthy the asking price. Yesterday a friend came home and brought a bottle of Chivas Royal Salute 21 years old, and although it is also a good whisky, again do not think I'll spent the money on that one in particular, I rather go Ardberg, Lagavulin or Talisker....

[English]

I'm sorry to say that many brands of Scottish whiskey are now owned and controlled by big global Companies that have to get a return on there investments. You can tell the brands by seeing which ones now sell a 12 year old, a 15 year old an 18 year old and ofcourse one that has been matured in port barrels or sherry casks or whatever the flavour of the year is. My observation is that the standard bottle from these brands no longer tastes of a quality malt any more, but has been dulled down so that you have to spend more money on one of the more expensive bottles to get the smoothness that you expect.

I don't drink a lot, but I I like to enjoy anything I do drink.

JW black label as an example, used to be labelled as a blend of 100% Scottish malts. I noted on the last bottle I purchased that that label had been removed.
I also noted that the essential peaty flavour which I quite enjoyed in the blend had been dulled down. Today, I don't rate it as a whisky at all. The red label is ofcourse a blended grain whiskey and I agree, it's only good for mixing with something that takes away the flavour.

It's a shame really, because it just means I end up buying anything but Scottish whiskey because it is either overpriced for a smooth spirit or tastes fierce and awful.

[johnniegold]

Well, you all know how I feel about it.

[dpm802]

See what Johnnie Walker has to say about itself, and become a member of The STRIDING MAN Society.

http://us.johnniewalker.com/home.htm?hash=#root

[airplanedoc]

I am generally disapointed with johnnie walker, red thru blue, it just does not have much flavor to me.

[saltypete]

Technically Johnnie Walker does not specify an age for the Whiskey's in Blue Label. People on the internet guess somewhere between 21 and 25 yrs, but it is all speculation.

I don't believe this really matters though as I found an incredibly good Whiskey that is only 4 years old. It is called Stranahan's. You should try it.

I have read that the blue label is a blend of 21 year old whisky and 60+ year old whisky from the Walker's aged barrels.

Pete

[English]

You may find this interesting................

Politicians blast Diageo over closure of Johnny Walker plant
Jul 3 2009 Janice Burns
DRINKS giants Diageo were last night accused of killing off Kilmarnock by closing the town's famous Johnnie Walker plant.
A desperate battle is under way to save the 700 jobs at the plant, with politicians and business leaders urging Diageo to back down.
They claimed the closure was the "final nail in the coffin" for the town's 44,000 population.
East Ayrshire Council's depute leader Iain Linton said: "Johnnie Walker will be turning in his grave at the decision to close the plant.
"We won't let Johnnie Walker go without a fight because it is part of our history. This is going to destroy Kilmarnock and devastate thousands of lives."
The founder of the famous brand died in 1857 and is buried in his home town.
Last night, First Minister Alex Salmond attacked Diageo for their lack of warning about the impending closure. of the Kilmarnock plant - and another 200 job losses in Glasgow and Port Glasgow.
He said: "The reality is that the government had seven meetings with Diageo this year.
"At no stage did the company inform either the unions or the government what their plans were. The company have made billions of pounds out of Scotland and they must understand the full economic consequences of their proposals.
"The company has agreed to consider alternative proposals during the consultation process."
The news broke as council chiefs launched a £21million 10-year town centre regeneration project.
Linton added: "The striding man logo of Johnnie Walker and the Kilmarnock name is on every label, on every bottle in every pub in the world - to just walk away from that beggars belief.
"If we had known they were planning to get rid of the home of Johnnie Walker, we would have bent over backwards to help Diageo and save those jobs."
Kilmarnock Football Club have thrown their weight behind a campaign to save the plant from closure in 2011.
Chairman Michael Johnston said: "There has been traditionally strong links between the club and Johnnie Walker. We will be urging Diageo to think again."
Eric Brown, of the British Institute of Innkeepers, and Nanette Bruce, of the Kilmarnock Taxi Owners' Association, said it was the "final nail in the coffin" for the town.
Eric, 66, who owns the Goldberry Arms, said: "Kilmarnock will be a ghost town if the plant closes down. Local businesses struggling with the credit crunch will be forced to close. We have got to fight back."
Nanette, 45, said: "The Taxi Owners' Association will lose thousands of pounds because Johnnie Walker use our taxis for delivery work.
"No one'll have the money to go anywhere. The crime figures will soar because of high unemployment."
Retailers' Association chairman Reg Donald, who owns electrical retailer J H Donald, said: "It will have a devastating effect." East Ayrshire has the fourth highest unemployment rate Scotland at 5.4 per cent.
Yesterday, Scots Labour leader Iain Gray met Diageo, who were one only four Footsie firms see their shares rise, 8p 905p.
He said: "We have urged Diageo to sit down with the GMB and other unions to try to find an alternative solution to the closures."
Diageo said: "We have been absolutely committed to ensuring, whatever the outcome of this review, our employees would be informed by us first. Our people continue to be our priority."

THE LEGEND OF A LABEL
The man who gave his name to the world famous whisky was just 14 when the firm were founded.
Born in 1805, Johnnie Walker was left the princely sum of £417 in his father's will.
And trustees invested the cash in an Italian warehouse, grocery and wine and spirits shop in Kilmarnock High Street.
Within a few years, his Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky was a popular local tipple.
But the real strides forward were taken by John's son Alexander.
With his father in poor health - he finally died in 1857 - Alexander used skills from his former job as a tea blender to create a new whisky, Old Highland Blend.
It eventually became better known as Johnnie Walker Black Label - and turned the company into a household name.

[The Knize]

I do not see any place that says where they would move the production. Scotch making has quite the strong "guild." They cannot move any part of production, bottling, etc., as I recall, outside of Scotland, or they cannot call it Scotch. I assume that all of the malt, etc. must be grown in Scotland, too, but I am less sure about that!

[strat1117]

Nice shot. That Opus X looks real nice...

Nice shot!

[If I recall correctly, this is the darkroom, not the speakeasy. ]