Whisky : Johnnie Walker Blue Label The Casks Edition

Country/Region : Scotland/Blend

ABV : 55.8%

Cask : Oak

Nose : Pastries, dried fruit, and spice.  The aroma recalled sweet graham crackers and whole wheat pie crust with a subtle salt, honey, and a bouquet of dried florals.  Dried lemon peel and bergamot collided with old wood and waxy notes to remind me of crayons.  Sweet and savory spice with notes of cinnamon, fenugreek, and cardamon.

Palate :  Medium to heavy body with notes of spice, malt, and subtle fruit.  Whole wheat cinnamon cardamon rolls came to mind right away with brown sugar, salt, and a mild dry walnut.  Bitter orange and bergamot provided a contrast to notes of fenugreek, cinnamon bark, and earthy turmeric.  Pressed flowers and a bitter-sweet herbal note hung on the back palate.

Finish : Medium length with subtle salt and notes of dry crumbly coffee cake.

Score : 6

Mental Image : Sweet and Savory Pastries

Notes :  Not bad, but not great— I was really hoping for a bit more.  The slight bitterness and herbal notes toward the end did not titillate me.  While this was a fine blend— full of the classic old wood and graham cracker notes I associate with the Blue Label— it really did not have anything that stuck out to me and left me craving more.

Much like the standard Blue Label, this suffers from a less than advantageous price to quality ratio.  Even though I would rate this slightly higher, it actually comes in a bit worse when you consider the price premium over the normal Blue Label— though as prices vary greatly across the globe, your mileage may vary.  

Overall, I think blends are incredibly tricky to balance and create.  There are many considerations that go into them and anyone who plays at home blending (I know I do) knows that striking a balance between flavor elements can be very difficult.  The difficulty rating increases when you start looking to craft a blend that you can produce over and over again— you need to manage the components based on what you currently have available as well as what you will have available in the near and medium-term.  That is a lot to think about.  

Considering the attention to detail that is required to craft such a blend, I really wish that Johnnie Walker included more details about the components and thought processes behind the blend.  Reading the story of creating the blend or knowing its components will not magically improve the quality of it, but it would give more opportunity to appreciate the craftsmanship, the constraints, and the goals of the blender.

I know in the past these details were not important for most consumers— even today many might not even think to ask— but marketing trends show that millennial consumers are motivated by “experiences” and this has bled into other age brackets as well.  I think a whisky that tells a story and opens up a peek into the process of creation, the how and why a blend is constructed as it is, would better satisfy that need for an experience.  It gives one more to think about while enjoying the whisky and perhaps knowing the expertise and craftsmanship that went into a blend, a consumer will feel much better about the money they spent.  I know I would.

TL;DR — I wish they gave a breakdown of components so I could better appreciate the balancing act taking place in the blend.

Image Credit : Just-Whisky