Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Purchase Price: $130
Location: Duty Free Shop of Royal Caribbean's Sovereign Of The Seas

I recently purchased a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label while on a cruise to the Bahamas, at $130 it was a "bargain". In most U.S. liquor stores you will find it priced between $180-$220. Even at my local Navy Exchange (tax-free) it costs $170. While I do prefer single malt scotch for the most part, I am not one of the "Single Malt For Life" Gangstas. There are many fine blended scotches, and Johnnie Walker is the best known brand worldwide.

Blue Label is the face of the brand, besides some very expensive ($2000+) collector's editions of Blue Label and the hard to find Johnnie Walker Swing. It is their top of the line whisky.

First their is the presentation of the bottle. Whether you buy Johnnie Red, Black, Green or Gold, you are buying it solely for the contents of the bottle. While the contents of Blue Label are superior, the packaging is a selling point as well.

As you can see in the photo I took above, Blue comes in a silk lined box, with a collector's book that tells you some info about the Walker family history, as well as the bottle you have just purchased. Each bottle is also individually numbered. Mine is Bottle No. LA 245147 JW.

Now onto the good stuff that is inside the bottle.

The first thing I noticed is that Blue has a very unique nose to it, as compared to the rest of the JW family. It has a bittersweet scent, but not an overpowering one. Many scotches will give your nose a bit of a burn if you inhale them very deeply, not so with JW Blue. It is really a nice bouquet. While I'm not yet skilled enough to find all of the different scents, I would describe it as smokey, peaty/salty and as odd as it may sound, a bit fruity. The peat and salt smell is soft and pleasant, for me it brings to mind Bluefishing on Long Island Sound with my grandfather.

JW Blue certainly lets you know when it has arrived, a strong burst of smokiness and a warmth that cant be equalled by the other Walker labels. It is a peaty drink, one that lingers. You will notice the aftertaste hanging around for a while longer than you may be used to with Black or Red label especially. I would say that is a good thing, when a scotch tastes this good I don't mind it reminding me of that fact for a few minutes.

This is one drink you will not want to cut with water, or drink on the rocks. Straight really is the only way to go. Cutting it with a teaspoon of distilled water did not add to it, as it does with some others. It really detracted from the straight side.

Overall I enjoyed JW Blue very much. Would I pay around $200 for a bottle of it? I would, perhaps on an annual basis. This is a whisky I wouldn't want to drink every day, it is really a treat to have the "best" of the blended, once a year is just the right amount for me....and my wallet. But really, while it is a good scotch, there are many more affordable ones I would recommend over it, the thing that adds to Blue Label is that it is actually a conversation piece. The slanted label of the Walker brands are easily recognized even by those who don't drink scotch, and the Blue Label is just rare enough to catch the eye. Good for the drink and good for the look, that's how the good folks in Kilmarnock market it, and they've been succesful for a reason.

Cheers

www.johnniewalker.com

UConn starting off well

So UConn football has started off 2-0, against Duke (awful team but an ACC squad nonetheless) and Maine (a 1-AA team).

Still a 2-0 start is a good one and the new QB, former Community College player of the year Tyler Lorenzen (who is NOT the younger brother of NFL QB and former UK standout Jared Lorenzen) has looked good. The Huskies have had Quarterback issues ever since Dan Orlovsky (now backup to Jon Kitna with the Lions) left following the schools first ever bowl win over Akron a couple years ago.

Photos: Lorenzen breaks runs against Duke and Maine






Lorenzen has thrown the ball well and has also run well in both games. UConn plays Temple next, which is as good as a 1-AA team, but following that, things get tougher with the Pitt, Akron and UVA coming up.

UConn has played Pitt well and won 2 of the last 3 meetings. Akron they haven't played since the 2004 Motor City Bowl. UVA they have never played before, but is not looking very strong so far this season.

It is possible that UConn could start off 6-0 heading into their game with Louisville on October 19th. Could UConn be this year's Rutgers? Possible, but I will start believeing that when they head into the Lousiville game (which is at UConn) with at least a 5-1 record.

Louisville looked vulnerable against Middle Tenn St, and I think UConn has more on offense than MidTenn does. UConn will have everything going for it in that game. It will be at home, on national television (ESPN 8 P.M.), and Lousiville has had a tendency to overlook teams in the past few years. Am I guaranteeing a UConn win? Not at all, but I do think it could be a good game. If, and it is a BIG if, UConn were to pull off a huge upset like that...good things may be ahead.

You may not think much about Uconn Huskies Football right now, but no one thought much about UConn basketball before Jim Calhoun built that program into one of the elite national powers.

What I plan on doing...

Well this is going to be a simple site, focusing on some things which I enjoy, particularly Scotch Whisky, sports and entertainment. I figure it will be a fun and worthwhile timekiller.

I will write reviews of new Scotch that I try and will talk about some of my favorites that I have had. And for those who are just getting into Scotch Whisky or thinking about starting, I will give some of my suggestions, though I'm no pro by any means. With each review, I will place a photo of the bottle I am speaking of, just to show that I did in fact try it haha.

Now a bit about me:

I am a big sports fan. I follow the NFL, MLB, NCAA FB and BB very closely, and used to follow the NHL quite closely to. However since John Stockton and Karl Malone are retired, I couldn't care less about the NBA, with the exception of players from my favorite college team.

My College team is: UConn. Being from CT, I didn't ever really have another choice.

MY MLB team is: The New York Metropolitans. I grew up in Stamford, CT. Which is about a 40 minute drive from Shea Stadium. Mookie Wilson's ground ball and Ray Knight bounding home in '86 are a few memories that are vibrant in m mind, despite the fact that I was only 7 years old.

My NFL team is: The Oakland Raiders, I'm not sure why, I vaguely recall watching them play in the last Super Bowl they won. I also remeber Carl, a friend of my father's, giving me a Raiders hat for my birthday. Were either of these the reasons? Who knows, all I know is I've loved the Silver & Black since I was a lil' fella.

I play XBox 360, on XBox Live my gamertag is The Sailor 43

I am currently serving in the US Navy as a Mass Communications Specialist 1st Class. I have been in for 9 years as of this entry, and I have been stationed in Baltimore, Iceland, Norfolk VA, Sicily and am currently in Jacksonville FL. I have recently extended a year and I am set to move to the island of Crete in the Mediterranean in early 2008.

Other than that, feel free to leave any comments or opinions on what I write if you come across my page.

Eric