Johnnie Walker—it’s a lot of work

If you’ve never attended a Johnnie Walker event, you should if you get the chance. I did over the weekend and while some of the others around me complained a little, it’s a free event and you get a chance to try all five of the core lines. You sign up at the website and you get invites to these events.

Listening to others around me who had attended these events before, this was pretty typical. A small reception with a free drink and a few appetizers followed by a multi-media presentation and the sampling. It’s not a lot of scotch, but you get a taste.

It was interesting to see how they recommended you drink their products and it was interesting to get that chance other than reading it in some brochure. Some of the folks I sat near were confused about the order of the labels, but that was understandable. So here are the notes and what I thought.

Red Label: This was the first Johnnie Walker I ever tried way back in the day, and have to say I wasn’t crazy about it then. What I was told on Friday was that this was designed as a mixing blend, which when you’re 18 you’d probably wouldn’t know anyhow. At the tasting they had a little ginger ale and Coke and you could which to mix it with (and they really wanted you to do that). I’m not a big mixed drink kind of guy (I do have the occasional martini or manhattan, but I don’t usually go out and have a cocktail), but mixed with a little Coke it was fine.

Black Label: This was presented as the closest to the original and as the workhorse. They had us try this one first and it did sent a very good baseline. I prefer my scotch neat, and this was very nice. As we all know, Black is a blend of 40 odd whiskies at a minimum age of 12 years. For my money, I think Black label is the best value dollar for dollar amongst their lines.

Green Label: I hadn’t tried Green before and was curious. They suggested drinking it with an ice cube to slightly chill the scotch. Originally called Pure Malt, this is a blend of 15 year old single malts all with a minimum being 15 years old. As someone who prefers single malts, I was sort of confused by this one. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t distinguish itself either. I found it to be a muddle of familiar tastes and I could identify some of the characteristics of its parents, but felt I wish one of them would have discriminated itself. Not bad, but I would still prefer my Dalwhinnie if I’m going to spend $59 - $62 on a bottle.

Gold Label: They presented this one as the champagne of whisky. They suggested it be frozen for 24 hours prior to drinking and ours was given to us still frosty and cold. Smoother than Black. Maybe not a bad deal at $65 (Broadway Market). A special occasion kind of drink, and definitely one I would dishonor by mixing with something else.

Blue Label: Okay, so this was the reason so many showed up (other than the promise of free booze). We all know about this $30 drink. Their suggestion is to take a sip of ice water before drinking it in order to cool your mouth down a little. The event was my third opportunity to sample Blue Label. It’s good. There’s no arguing that, but my thing has always been, is it $250 a bottle good? In general, I would say “no.” I’ve had a lot of different scotches, blended and single malts, and Blue Label is certainly up there, but again, on a dollar for dollar basis, I think it’s more the prestige rather than the product. You’re spending for the occasion. This isn’t to say that I would ever turn down a drink of this fine blend, but if I’m paying, I’m probably going for a good single malt which is my personal preference anyway.

So, if you get a chance to go to a Johnnie Walker event, by all means do so. It's a wonderful and educational experience. And there is a little bit of free booze to start you off on a Friday night. Plus, I got a lapel pin out of it.