headlessparrot's Full Review: Johnnie Walker Green Label Pure Malt 15 Yrs Scotch...
After sampling Johnnie Walker Black Label last week – and being more than pleasantly surprised by the range of flavour that a blend could present at a respectable price – I decided, upon encountering the shelves of the local liquor store, that I would no longer discriminate against certain Scotch whiskies the way I might have done in the past. While I'm still positive that the best whiskies out there are indeed single malts, I realized that there's no sense in disqualifying a drink on reputation alone; a great blend – while perhaps still a peg below a great single malt – can still be a great whisky, and often at a considerably lower price. So, with the celebratory nature of my new job in mind, I made a couple of purchases with this revelation in mind. The first was a sample bottle of Teacher's Highland Cream (a classic, well-respected blend, review forthcoming), and Johnnie Walker Green Label, in a sense the bastard of the Walker family, but also – arguably – their most curious and interesting offering, neither a single malt nor a blended Scotch, but rather a pure (or vatted) malt Scotch whisky, a relative rarity in the world of Scotch, especially outside of European markets (and a term that I will momentarily address).
Johnnie Walker and the striding man logo, of course, need absolutely no introduction, for John Walker & Sons is without a doubt the biggest producer and distributor of Scotch whisky (single malt or blended) in the world, pushing some 120 million bottles of product a year to over 200 countries. That the majority of this product is the company's bottom-end Red Label offering does not say much about the discerning tastes of the world whisky market, but alas, that is not my judgment to make – and far be it from me to criticize those who are out there enjoying their scotch whisky, whatever brand it may be. In any event, Johnnie Walker has a long, storied history as a company that is perhaps as rich as the majority of single malt Scotch producers that are currently operating in Scotland. Beginning life as Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, when John himself began selling whisky in his grocery store in 1820. When he died in 1857, his son Alexander carried on the firm (which had by then moved into wholesale trading), but with far more of a focus on the whisky. By the time Alex passed the brand onto his own son Alexander II, whisky sales had ballooned from 8% of the firm's profit (under the eye of John) to between 90 and 95% - a figure that included blended Scotch, which Alexander began offering in 1865 (Walker's Old Highland, later their White Label, discontinued during World War I) after the repeal of a law that had previously made blending malt and grain whisky illegal.
It was not Johnnie himself, then, who made his whisky a household name, but his son and grandsons, who expanded the brand's line-up of whisky, and introduced the helpful colour names to distinguish the grade of each of the walker brands (although Johnnie Walker Swing, introduced in the 1930s and only available from duty-free stores, is a bit of a curiosity as the only Walker brand without a colour designation). Aside from Swing, the company offers five whiskies that range considerably in both price and quality – the young Red Label, the 12 year old Black Label, the 15 year old Green Label Pure Malt, the 18 year old Gold Label, and the “very old” (containing whiskies as old as 60+ years, though the company keeps these figures quiet because of the constant tweaking that limited quantities of stock have made necessary) Blue Label, often recognized as the Holy Grail of Scotch whiskies. The latter two are fairly recent introductions to the Walker line-up, based on the tasting notes of Alexander Walker II.
Realistically, I could have purchased any of the Johnnie Walker labels save for the Blue, but I chose the Green Label for a number of reasons. Primarily, though, I chose it because it is, unlike its siblings, the only pure malt JW scotch available. While the other Johnnie Walker whiskies (from Red to Blue) are blended Scotch whiskies – containing a mixture of both single malt and single grain whiskies from a variety of distillers, with well over over 60% of the blend often being grain. A single malt scotch, by contrast, is made by just one distillery, with 100% malted barley. This distinction has been – and continues to be – the source of much conflict between whisky drinkers. Blended Scotch whiskies are generally smoother, mellower, less expensive and more consistent, while single malts are usually more intense and flavourful, at the expense of price and a measure of inconsistency. This is where pure malts (alternately known as blended or vatted malts) come on, a lesser-known designation of Scotch whiskies that tows the line between the blend-single malt divide, defiantly choosing not to pick a side. Essentially, a pure malt is just what it sounds like; it is, in a sense, a blend, but unlike a true blend, a pure malt is made from only single malts, without the addition of any grain whisky to round out the result. Theoretically, then, the pure malt offers the best of both worlds – it is comparably priced with a single malt, and offers the taste and intensity of a single malt, but also the consistency offered by the best blends. I say theoretically because pure malts – like their blended cousins – are still often weaker drams that lack the rich character of a good single malt. My limited experience with Johnnie Walker Green Label tells me, though, that this is not the case here – Green Label offers not only a noticeable improvement over the Black Label (though they're different enough that a comparison is difficult), but also, though you'll have to decide yourself if the price is worth it (at approximately $57 Cdn. for 750mL/26oz) , an overall great Scotch that reflects the rich characters of its constituent whiskies without being overpowered by them. Though it still – perhaps even just subconsciously – has the taste of a blend, it's still a great whisky and well worth a try.
Green Label is the newest brother in the Walker line-up, introduced in just 1997 (first released in just Africa, and only recently made available outside of duty-free outlets). It is, no doubt, far more of a niche whisky than its brothers, and only time well tell if it will ever find and be comfortable in that niche – in fact, I would suggest that it's success depends simply on getting people to sample it, since most drinkers (especially those who go out of their way to select Walker blends) will likely have already selected their favourite of the brothers. In any case, Johnnie Walker Green Label consists of approximately fifteen single malt whiskies, all aged for a minimum of fifteen years (the age statement on a blend, of course, must reflect the age of the youngest whisky in the finished product), and is bottled at 43% alcohol by volume (making it the only Walker label not bottled at 40%).
Of the fifteen constituent single malts, four Island and Speyside malts are considered Green Label's 'signature malts,' offering up the primary components that define the overall keynote characteristics of a dram of this fine whisky – most of these signature malts come as no surprise, for they are not only some of the most well-respected whiskies in the world, but they are also core components of many of Johnnie Walker's other bottlings as well. Talisker, according to the company's promotional materials, “introduces a power and character that explodes onto the palate” (Talisker 10 Year Old has of course long been a favourite single malt of mine, and the company has used Talisker's peppery-briney flavour elsewhere, in both their Red and Black Label blends), while Linkwood“provides Green Label with a whole garden of fruit and flower scents;”Cragganmore is “responsible for Green Label's exceptionally malty taste and hints of sweet wood smoke” and finally Caol Ila (also a core constituent of the Black Label) offers “notes of drying sea salt and peat smoke [that] contribute to the natural intensity of Green Label.” Jim Beveridge, the company's Master Blender, explains Green Label as “a really interesting, vibrant whisky. It's what my friends and I turn to after a day walking in the hills, when we want a dram that captures the feeling of being outside.” If this was the goal of Green Label, then it certainly has succeeded, for Green Label is full with a pleasant, outdoors-y, woodsy sort of character that is remarkably pleasing.
Though the aesthetic value of the bottle itself hold virtually no impact on the drink itself, I always appreciate the effort that goes into presenting a good whisky, and Johnnie Walker Green Label is no exception – the standard, beautiful Walker bottle with the slanted label, capped by a cork (unlike the Red and Black Labels), and housed in a nice, earthy-green box that documents both the Walker heritage and the Green Label's flavour profile. It was all I could do to keep myself from pouring a dram at noon, as soon as I'd paid for the bottle and made my way home. A good whisky, as I've said countless times, is best enjoyed neat, with perhaps just a splash or two of cool (not cold) water to capture the whisky's more volatile elements and bring out further depth of flavour. And while Johnnie Walker's website recommends serving Green Label with a single ice cube, I decided to sample my dram the traditional way.
Johnnie Walker Green Label pours into the glass a slightly darker shade than the younger Black Label, somewhere between a shade of deep gold and and light chestnut, bearing a coppery, burnished shade with perhaps just a hint of some sherry casking. Though I've seen far darker whiskies, the colour seems to reflect the minimum fifteen years that went into aging the final product, and the look is quite nice. Even at 43% alcohol by volume, it is also surprisingly viscous and fluid, leaving a surprisingly small amount of lacing or legs on the interior of the glass. What few streaks there are slide back down into the glass at a remarkably slow pace, with an ever-so-thin layer coating parts of the glass just a touch.
The nose is, at least initially, a little surprising, offering up a fuller nose burn/tingle than the Black Label, something that I wouldn't have expected from an older (and presumably mellower) whisky. However, the nose does open up a bit once the burn mellows out a bit, revealing some very pleasant notes. Dominant is the peat and smoke, which is upfront, but more restrained than in most whiskies I've encountered, perhaps like a bonfire. Faint sherry notes are present, but subdued underneath a more assertive heather honey character (similar to the heather honey note of, say, Highland Park, which may very well be present in the Green Label), and the powerful flavour that the Talisker offers in the blend – a touch of pepper (though not as much as in Talisker's single malt offerings) offset by medicinal tones, such as iodine, tar, and seaweed; almost like a sea-breeze, rich with sea-salt and brine. Fairly heavy malt, for which we can thank the Cragganmore. Some woodiness also, offering up just the slightest scent of vanilla, with maybe also some toffee, rich caramel and a hint of oak. Maybe also some cedar. Some vague, indistinct nuttiness; perhaps some coffee cake and maple syrup. Almost a forest-y sort of Scotch. The floral and fruity esters promised by the finesse of the Linkwood is present, but quite under the radar – citrus fruits, especially orange and tangerine, maybe a distant hint of apricot and baked apples, some far off flowering fields. Some kind of jam or preserve. Leaves, hay, very subtly playing in the back, perhaps dominated just a bit too heavily by the power of the Talisker and Caol Ila. A well-rounded nose, though it admittedly does have that indescribable “feel” of a blend. A splash of water mellows the scent initially, especially the nose prickle, and gives the peat-smoke nose an almost bacon/pork sort of note. Heather honey asserts itself even more strongly as the dominant character, with the sea salt and brine becoming more distant (though the iodine gently continues to linger). Stronger caramel and stronger toffee notes, and more subdued, well-integrated woodiness; more citrus, especially oranges, and perhaps even some ever so slight wisps of vanilla. Maybe even some butterscotch? The vanilla becomes even stronger as the whisky takes fifteen or twenty minutes to further open up. Wow – Johnnie Walker Green Label has a wonderful nose.
The palate, before water, is quite good. An initial touch of alcohol burn on the first sip recedes remarkably quickly and never reasserts itself again (even on later sips). Faintly chewy, but with the feel of almost silk in the mouth, and with just a mild sweetness. Slightly peppery on the tongue (that would be the Talisker's trademark), with some iodine, sea salt and an ocean water brine. Heather honey, with a gentle peat-smoke flavour with tendrils that gently encompass some of the other flavours. The Island tastes (the sea salt, brine, pepper and iodine) drift away toward the finish, revealing further distant floral characters, just too indistinct to grab at. Faint woodiness, especially oak and cedar; cereal grain, and maybe even some distant apples. Finishes quite long, dry, but leaving distant, gentle waves of peat character with a hint of pepper and maybe even some nuts. Heather honey continues to sit in the mouth for upwards of fifteen minutes, accompanied by a distant freshly-mowed grassy field. It seems almost to warm the whole body. A splash of water doesn't do as much for the taste as it does the nose, but still makes things quite nice. The initial palate becomes just a touch more peppery, with the pepper flavour actually ratcheting up a notch after a few seconds on the tongue. It's offset by gentle notes of vanilla and heather honey, and heavy malt, which accent the pepper and the smoky tendrils of peat that accompany it. A very well-balanced whisky, the long finish remains, and continues to warm. This is a superb dram.
I'm not sure if I have anything genuinely bad to say about Johnnie Walker Green Label. So why, you ask, the four star rating, instead of five? This is for two reasons, neither of which makes Green Label any less of a wonderful purchase. The first is that – while it is a notable improvement over the next-of-kin Black Label – I'm not entirely sure if there is a big enough difference between the two to justify a $15 Cdn. price difference (though I think that I could, I've never had to in practice, and so can't say for sure). The second reason, I think, is a bit more important, and that is, while Johnnie Walker Green Label is an excellent pure malt blend of whiskies that offers a rich, satisfying, delicious nose and flavour, it is still less than the sum of its parts – that is to say, if given the choice and price were not an issue, I would regularly select at least two of Green Label's constituent elements (definitely Talisker and Cragganmore, perhaps even Caol Ila – even at younger bottlings) over Green Label itself. That said, Green Label is still a superb whisky and, were I reviewing in a vacuum, it would be well-deserving of the five-star rating – but even as things stand, it is the best Scotch that I have ever assigned a four-star rating, and is perhaps the best that I ever will. Certainly worth a try, even if you've already found your favourite Johnnie Walker label or are a single malt sort of whisky drinker.
Johnnie Walker Green Label is uniquely different. Its fresh and distinctive flavor is created by blending only the finest single malt whiskies, rathe...More at Napacabs.com
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