We wanted to post this at the end of the final season, but given how badly that went down we decided to let heads cool. (Get it?) The reason being that we actually want to recommend this to you dear readers, and it’s hard to do that with the amount of vitriol that was swirling around.
Make no mistake – Double Black is still king in Johnnie Walker that you’d actually buy. However given the price of this is likely to go down a bit, we recommend you to pick it up before it’s all gone. If for no other reason that this can make one of the better Rusty Nail’s this site has seen, but also because as a whiskey overall it’s pretty good.
What they Say: “Ice shapes mountains and stops rivers. It’s an unforgiving force that hardens everything it touches. Ice is embodied by House Stark, giving the north strength like no other kingdom. The Stark sigil, a direwolf, bares its fangs and warns that winter is coming. Like an icy northern wind, it howls its verse of a song of ice and fire.
Johnnie Walker A Song of Ice is a blended scotch whiskey inspired by these wild dwellers of the north. Malt from Clynelish, one of Scotland’s most northern distilleries, give the blend a crisp, clean taste. The blend’s delicate flavor is green and grassy, with notes of vanilla and tropical fruit. This blended scotch whiskey is best enjoyed over ice for a cold, smooth finish.”
Taste: 7.0 – You get a bit of that spice from the aroma, with some nice (and admittedly upfront/crisp) taste before it moves on into the aftertaste.
Aftertaste: 6.0 – You get a big gale of smoke on the back end, and it keeps rolling at you. Sadly it feels more smoke than spice or wood.
Burn/Smooth: 5.5 – That slow roll of smoke isn’t something you share with words like ‘goes down easy’ beyond that, it is actually rather smooth and less ‘burn’, but the smoke is still there.
Aroma: 7.5 – That’s powerful but not in a peat or wood sort of way. Both are there as is the spice. It’s based taken as a slow dragged out the smell, but it is delicious.
Honesty: 6.0 – Of course the notes of vanilla and such hurt it. The branding does an equal job of being a sell-out, but also cool, and also garish, but also something you’re glad was done by steady hands instead of a pure cash grab. As well they aren’t ‘best’ on ice. Overall it’s mostly a wash, but ends up slightly positive.
Mixability: 6.5
W/ Rocks: 5.0 – The smoky aftertaste takes on more like peat/wood flavor. Weirdly it’d be fine to say this tastes worse as a colder drink than when it was warmer. With the spice mingled and muted it’s debatable about whether this is better bearing ice’s name, or in it.
Rusty Nail: 8.0 – Let’s see what a bit of Highgarden does this (honey by way of Drambuie). As usual, it’s necessary to adjust to the right ratio per whiskey. Once you do though – the drink is a sensation. The spice hits but only after the wave of honey. The smoke opened up more by the ice comes in after. It’s not an exact ratio, but damn once it’s right it gels perfectly. Looks like one of the Stark boys should have tried to marry Margaery Tyrell instead.
Value: 7.0 – As far as the price it’s less than what you should be able to get Double Black for nowadays (we have it as the same, but it’s gone down a little since then) Of the two we’d always go Double Black. However in a contest of rusty nails – this is the clear winner, and therefore worthy. (As it’s not so bad neat either)
Google Shop Average: $40
Website: http://www.johnniewalker.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 7.5
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Metric Score: 45.5/70 |+| Metric Average: 6.5 |+| Reviewer Average: 7.5
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Final Thoughts: Sure there are some sore spots with that amount of charcoal and smoke going on, but once tempered it can be forged into Lightbringer, and that’s thankfully the last reference to the books we’ll make. In short, though this is a rare edition, and even if it’s to drown out the sorrows thinking of season 8 we say you should go grab a bottle before it too is gone (until the spinoffs of course)
I was given a bottle of this by my niece and very much enjoyed it, but by the time I finished it, it was no longer available. It is not bad with ice, but much better neat. Besides Rob Roys, I don’t mix scotch unless I hate it.