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Johnnie Walker Green Label 15 Year Old

Walk, no need to run.

0 884

@NozinanReview by @Nozinan

24th Dec 2015

0

  • Nose
    21
  • Taste
    20
  • Finish
    21
  • Balance
    22
  • Overall
    84

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

My brother in law got this a few years ago. Open 1-3 years. Likely ungassed. Poured about 15 minutes. 15-20 cc with 4 drops water.

Nose:

Green fruits, maybe some Granny Smith apples. Vanilla, red Jube-jubes or more like red licorice nibs. Pleasant. 21/25

Taste:

Some alcohol, vanilla, caramel. A bit of smoke. Sweet on arrival with some drying in the development and turning sour toward the end. A bit thin, likely from dilution and chill filtration before bottling. 20/25

Finish:

Short. Dry, astringent, some sour citrusy note. Pleasant but doesn't last long. 21/25

Balance:

This a predictably balanced whisky...that's what JW is all about. Flavours do work well together. 22/25


This is pleasant. It's not a mind-blowing dram, but a nice, uncomplicated, "smooth" whisky that would work well sitting and chatting with a friend or two, unhurried, where the focus is the conversation and the whisky is a side-issue.

Not sure where you can get it now. This is a cork top and I think it comes from the time before it was discontinued, not the 10 year anniversary bottling. Online I read bottles are around $60 cad but I haven't seen it anywhere in Canada.

I have a travel retail 1L bottle of it from around 2011. If I didn't I would probably buy it at that price as a historical item. I wouldn't buy it to open at any price because it would take up room and may be opened once every 2 years. There are too many single malts or blended whiskies at that price range I would simply reach for first, so I'd never get to it.

Now that I rarely drink Diet Coke, it's not fair to ask which I would rather drink. Suffice it to say, if offered a drink and this was one of the choices among a number of entry level malts or the only choice, I can see myself having a dram. It's been too long since I tasted the Blue to say which I prefer, but my faulty memory suggests this one.

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8 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

@Nozinan, thanks for a very nice review.

My experience with Johnnie Walker Green Label has been that it is a whisky which is much better with a freshly opened bottle than a long opened one. After my bottle was open about 18 months the flavours drifted a direction I didn't like so much. Some of the better flavours were lost, and some tart edges developed in other places.

8 years ago 0

Wood commented

I tried this, and as a blend, I really liked it. However maybe my experience was different because I was not expecting the same quality as a single malt un-dilution and non-chill filtrated 'before bottling'. Just wondering is this more of a malt mark or a blend mark? Do reviews on this website generally make a distinction based on each type of whisky…I find the relative ratings by the beloved and respected Rafly to be quite helpful in this manner. Thanks, Wood

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

Good question. I think, as we've recently seen to much of in the discussion of another review, that there is no standardization in how reviews are scored here in Connosr.

But I would argue that it's tough to standardize whisky reviews. Palate development over time, whisky changes after opening, inter-observer variation, batch variation, diet...glass used, these all play a role...and more.

I would respectfully suggest that although Ralfy ho,dos up the word Malt or Blend or both doesn't mean he categorizes the marks he gives. There appears in fact to be no rhyme or reason.

There is a wine columnist in the Globe and Mail, who doesn't necessarily like the same things I do but he is consistent in his writing so I can predict what I will like (sadly he's not that way with spirits). I am not sure I can say that for Ralfy. A man who gives the same mark to lagavulin 16 ang Glen Breton 10.... Oy!

8 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

Wood, if you're open to suggestions for your own reviews, I'd say to ignore the distinction between whisky types when you give a score. That is to say, don't "grade on the curve."

The alternative, I think, would be to say "well, this blend is crappy, but I expect a blend to be crappy, so it's pretty decent as far as blends go. 85!"

It's much more meaningful to say "This is a really good whisky. 85. Oh, and it's a blend!"

Off-subject parallel: I don't think price should figure into scores either.

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

@OlJas

Well put. I agree that price should not be a factor. But It's ok to say this is an 85 whisky and "Hey! it only cost $30".

8 years ago 0

Wood commented

You both have good points. And I appreciate your pursuit of some degree of objectivity (which some à la Foucault, will of course think is hopeless). Once too many subjective circumstantial factors are taken into consideration when giving marks grading becomes too personalized, and ultimately, completely useless for others. I don’t think I will be making any reviews anytime soon however, I have difficulty getting more than 4 descriptive proprieties when tasting and nosing, even after about 3 years of practice. I do enjoy the labour done by the veterans of this cite however, and am an active reader of your work.

8 years ago 0

@Nozinan
Nozinan commented

@Wood

There is a time and a place to pick apart whiskies for a review.

There is also a time and a place to sit back and enjoy the dram in its wholeness, to enjoy the moment without analysing it.

Some people do all of one, some do all of the other, and many do something in between. None of them are wrong and all of them are right.

But tangential to this, if you can find 4 descriptors in tasting or nosing (or sometimes both) you're doing well. I often can't get more than that. And it's ok to review from a holistic viewpoint as well.

Feel free to participate in whatever way you like, but please participate. It's good to have you joining us. Nova Scotia is where I found a legendary bottle of A'Bunadh batch 28 when I wasn't even looking for it.

8 years ago 0

@Ol_Jas
Ol_Jas commented

And for what it's worth, I as a reader much prefer what Nozinan calls the "holistic" style review.

I don't get too excited about that "almost hint of lemongrass" or whatever the reviewer found deep in the nose after 45 minutes. But, tell me how Laphroaig blew smoke out of your ears and repelled your wife for the next five days, and I'm there.

8 years ago 0

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