More Diageo Game of Thrones branded whiskies, this time two new Johnnie Walker blends themed aroung the Starks (Ice) and the Targaryens (Fire). I thought it would be fun to see how they did this time around, and decided to review them together since they are something of a “set”, and for kicks see how they were together in a 1:1 ratio, a true song of Ice and Fire. I didn’t find White Walker particularly compelling, nor did I find it to be trash, but I’m hoping these are better. Let’s see how they did.
Minutia: Again they went with a cold recommendation on the Ice version, but mentioned nothing about it being in a freezer, just best served on the rocks. Notes here will be for neat and with a cube, in a glencairn. The primary malt is Clynelish due to its northern location.
Color: Gold straw.
Nose: Light malt, green apple, bit of citrus. Ice: Apple more prominent, the rest less so.
Taste: Slight pepper, similar to nose otherwise. Ice: Syrupy malt.
Finish: Longer than expected, but weak. The flavors are those of the palate. Bit of a bite. Ice: Weakened, bit of vanilla late.
This is light. Very light. If you’ve had other whisky earlier you might not get much out of this. This is not strong enough for ice, though maybe cold stones would be ok since they wouldn’t dilute it further. This will not really be enjoyed by people into whisky, but it wouldn’t be too bad to have if you were drinking while doing something else, such as socializing, and you aren’t looking to pay attention to the whisky. The down side there is if you aren’t paying attention to this, you might not notice it. I think it’s a home run as something to introduce somebody to Scotch/whisky, or even spirits in general, as it is very light in flavor and strength and can help them acclimate to drinking spirits without mixer and not overwhelm with flavors. In terms of other JW labels, this is well above Red, and a fair amount to just a bit shy of Black, depending on your mood.
Score: 71
Johnnie Walker A Song of Fire, Scotland Blended Whisky, 40.8% ABV
Minutia: Tasted neat in a glencairn. The primary malt is Caol Ila for the smoky quality.
Color: Amber.
Nose: VERY subtle smoky spice.
Taste: Malt, strawberry (what?), heat (like a peaty punch, but not tasting like peat).
Finish: Malt, peppery linger.
The smoke from the Caol Ila is in the nose, mostly, and hardly there. The proof is hurting this. It’s present in the form of heat in the palate, but not strong. More flavorful than the other, but still not a ton going on. Even so, I like this more than the Black Label, and at $35 vs the Green Label’s $50, it almost competes with that. Spirit to spirit, it doesn’t stand toe to toe, but being much cheaper, I might actually want to pick up a bottle or two more of this as a flask/camping type whisky.
Score: 75
Johnnie Walker/Me A Song of Ice and Fire, Scotland Blends blended, ostensibly 40.5% ABV
Minutia: The two whiskies reviewed above blended together for fun. 1:1 ratio in a glencairn, neat.
Color: Wheat gold.
Nose: Floral but weak.
Taste: Flowers, cotton candy, banana taffy, butterscotch.
Finish: Banana flavor fades into heat.
The smoke that was there in the Fire is tempered. The new flavors certainly were interesting. Not a regrettable experiment, but not one I feel any draw to repeat.
Score: 72
The different proofs are curious and I wonder if there is a reason like some of the Laphroaig Cairdeas percentages lining up with the year of release, or if they just fit the flavor they wanted better.
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