A whiskey for a special occasion

raion · October 9 2015 at 3:05AM

Hi, A female friend of mine will be celebrating her graduation and we really want it to be special so the first thing I had in mind is JW blue label. But I never tried it myself so I did some research and was amazed that almost every reviewer calls it over priced, over rated and is just a marketing ploy. So do you guys have any suggestions for other whiskeys with the same price range of JW Blue more or less? BTW my friend is not an experienced whiskey drinker.

Thanks in advance!

horst_s_2 · October 9 2015 at 9:19AM

Hello Raion!

Thank you for the question. And yes - I agree, that the JW-Blue is overpriced. And, it is always a risk to select a single whisky, which might not match the taste. But fortunately whisky is not getting better with extreme prices. It is more the case, that whisky rises in quality up to 50 to 70 US$. More expensive whisky does not taste better. Just different. And this is the chance. Instead of presenting an expensive bottle you can hand out three with the same quality which cover a broad range of different tastes.

Doing this you raise the chances that there is at least one among the bottles, which fits her taste.

I would take three Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, because they deliver more aromas than a blended like the JW-Blue.

1. Unpeated classic casks
Glenfiddich 18 yrs (easy Whisky, no extreme aromas, but old and good)

2. unpeated from fruity intense Sherry casks
Glendronach 15 yrs or 18 yrs (bottles are becoming rare) as an alternative take a Glenfarclas of comparable age or vintage

3. peated and intense
Lagavulin 16 yrs (the absolute classic in terms of strong Scotch Whisky)

Hope that helps. Please be careful not to select bottles with a too high alc. content. Limit yourself to 40 to 46%. Newcomers to whisky might be offended with a too strong alcoholic taste.

raion · October 12 2015 at 2:06PM

Sir Horst,

Thank you very much for the expert recommendation!

Best regards.

"horst_s" wrote:
Hello Raion!

Thank you for the question. And yes - I agree, that the JW-Blue is overpriced. And, it is always a risk to select a single whisky, which might not match the taste. But fortunately whisky is not getting better with extreme prices. It is more the case, that whisky rises in quality up to 50 to 70 US$. More expensive whisky does not taste better. Just different. And this is the chance. Instead of presenting an expensive bottle you can hand out three with the same quality which cover a broad range of different tastes.

Doing this you raise the chances that there is at least one among the bottles, which fits her taste.

I would take three Single Malt Scotch Whiskies, because they deliver more aromas than a blended like the JW-Blue.

1. Unpeated classic casks
Glenfiddich 18 yrs (easy Whisky, no extreme aromas, but old and good)

2. unpeated from fruity intense Sherry casks
Glendronach 15 yrs or 18 yrs (bottles are becoming rare) as an alternative take a Glenfarclas of comparable age or vintage

3. peated and intense
Lagavulin 16 yrs (the absolute classic in terms of strong Scotch Whisky)

Hope that helps. Please be careful not to select bottles with a too high alc. content. Limit yourself to 40 to 46%. Newcomers to whisky might be offended with a too strong alcoholic taste.