There is a certain kind of irony of saying “rare” on your bottle, despite being one of the most well-known and prolifically sold whiskies in existence. It’s kind of the beanie baby situation, except it might be preferable to take a beanie babies innards and distill that into a spirit. If that’s not a large enough spoiler before the the fold – here goes.
This is one of those reviews that we as a site tend to avoid. Mostly because being so well known there’s very little that we can do to dissuade people. The ‘good’ reviews will rise in the search engines and ad revenue. Our site though we don’t care about that, and we know that it makes more sense to review those things that you are undecided about, because let’s face it. If you bought J&B you knew what you were doing, and if you’re a good person you knew it was a mistake.
What they Say: “A blend of the purest old scotch whiskies”
Taste: 3.5 – It’s a mild but otherwise really subpar blended scotch. The kind that makes you go – it was someone’s job to bring whiskies together and this was the best they could do?
Aftertaste: 2.0 –That is certainly a contender for one of the worst scotch aftertastes. It’s downright terrible. The lingering tastes is also bad
Burn/Smooth: 2.0 – It burns, doesn’t go down smooth at all taste wise, and doesn’t even give you a nice lingering warmth.
Aroma: 2.5 – The smell made me slightly burp and gag at the same time. It does however smell like the ‘oh god this is scotch?’ instead of ‘oh, baby this is some scotch’ so minus points there.
Honesty: 7.5 – So they don’t say much. The look and coloring is iconic in the same way a bad city flag is iconic, but there is an elephant in the room. While Red Label gets more traction than this for blended scotch like it or not this is the common man’s choice with being one of the most well-sold whiskies in the world. Add it’s rough edges drinking wise, and the only redemption being coke and while this isn’t snooty, classy, or brutish – it’s common-man-ly.
Mixability: 4.25
W/ Rocks: 2.5 – That brings the aftertaste forward in a big way, which normally would be great. Here? Oh no. No no.
Whiskey and Ginger Ale: 6.0 – Here we see why this is one of the most sold whiskies (at least we hope it’s from bars, and not just hobos) This makes a very passable and decent drink.
Value: 4.0 – That price is, well it’s a few dollars too expensive for something you could get and be better off. (aka Red Label, or Grouse, or Dewar‘s)
Google Shop Average: $23
Website: https://www.jbscotch.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 2.5
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Metric Score: 25.75/70 |+| Metric Average: 3.68 |+| Reviewer Average: 2.5
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Final Thoughts: The point spread is quite severe likely due to an admittance of a high score in honesty. The problem being that while these might be thought of as the working man’s whisky there are cheaper and better options, and while it might be thrifty – it’s no less manly. So we use this last bastion of sanity to tell the common man, our brethren – there is a better world, and at a better price. Screw tradition, and get what you can!
I actually tried this for the first time only a month ago–because it was five bucks cheaper than JWR. An error in judgement, yes indeed–I laughed out lout when I read the last line of the second paragraph.
I was astonished at just *how* bad this whisky tasted…actually, how wretched the whole experience was, from the flaying of the tastebuds on initial impact, to the sour kerosene aftertaste, to the post-KGB interrogation hangover that began to set in before I even had a chance to fall asleep for the night. All that enjoyment on four glasses, neat. That’s a lot of discomfort for $20, so masochists take note.
Next time I saw the devious, shifty-eyed fellow behind the counter of the shop that sold it to me, I used one word to describe J&B: ‘Punishing’. Where’s White Horse when you need a bargain scotch that’ll stand up to sipping?
I didn’t hate it like you seem to, but I completely agree that there is a lot better for a lot cheaper. If someone offers it to me, I will drink it, but not looking to buy it anytime soon.