Upon Further Review

So I discovered the other night that the Temple Bar on Mass Ave stocks Green Label and I had wanted to give that one another spin before giving a final opinion. I should say that I came to scotch drinking only a few years ago after passing through a bourbon stage and a rye whiskey stage. If you’ve read my earlier posting about sampling, then you know how I went about finding which scotch I enjoy and that I do enjoy Dalwhinnie single malt.

At the recent Johnnie Walker tasting, I was excited to get a chance to sample the Green Label. I will say that unfortunately the Green Label was my smallest taste and so I felt that I didn’t have enough to make my definitive decisions that night. I’ve visited a few places since then trying to find someone who stocked it in my area and was glad when I stopped into the Temple Bar to find it. At $9 a snort, it wasn’t bad as far as TB’s prices go (I had one of Baker’s for $8.50). I had one on the rocks and then another straight up—I was willing to spend more to make my decision.

While I think that this blend can ease one into single malts, I don’t think it works the other way. Some of the subtleties of the single malt flavor seemed to be blunted. The stronger smokier flavors came through stronger. I enjoyed the nose of Green Label but felt the flavor didn’t quite live up to that promise. In this way, I would have preferred just to have the JW workhorse of Black Label if I were going to have a blended whisky or just a single malt.

At $60 a bottle, I also feel the offering a bit over priced. Its quality is high, but I feel that dollar for dollar there are other scotches that offer more in terms of flavor and layering. I wouldn’t necessarily stock it at home, but if I were in the mood, I wouldn’t blink at paying $9 for a snort at the Temple Bar.

So Upon Further Review, the ruling on the field stands.