Have you ever sipped from an $3,500 bottle of Scotch?Last night we went to a private Scotch tasting at the U.S. Department of Commerce building, put on by Johnnie Walker, the internationally-known Scotch purveyors. They hosted about eighty people, and what a show they put on! Once we'd gotten through building security and their check-in process, they held us in the ornate building lobby until the stroke of 6:30, when the doors to the hall opened.
They had the first half of the hall set up as a dark cocktail lounge space with a big Scotch bar at one end and an exhibit of special edition Johnnie Walkers (the bicentennial blend in the Baccarat crystal bottle [pictured, $3,500], the King George V commemorative blend [only $850 per bottle, with Ian below], etc., etc.); tables with parboiled vegetable crudités and bits of cheeses were scattered throughout the room.
At the Scotch bar, we were given our choice of a Johnnie Walker Black and water, a red margarita with Johnnie Walker Red and a splash of cranberry, or what they called a "zinger" that seemed like a ginger ale highball with the Johnnie Walker Red. Finally, they opened the doors to the main part of the room and we were ushered into seating-in-the-round of low white leatherette banquettes surrounded by large wall-sized projection screens.
We sat down to an elaborate set up with sampling glasses, Scottish spring water [to clear the palate], ice bowls, and mixers, plus our special commemorative "Striding Man" lapel pins. Once everyone was accommodated, their master taster came out to the center of the square to start the program, his commentary interspersed with glitzy, high-energy, multi-media presentations on the screens. We heard all about the history of Johnnie Walker and how Scotches are made.
Then it was time to drink. Johnnie Walker comes in five standard grades (plus the commemoratives, but those are rare and we didn't get to taste any of those), all in the iconic square bottles with the labels applied at a precise 24º slant. The Black Label is their premium blended 12-year-old Scotch that's designed to be savored neat, on the rocks, or with water. The Red Label is blended to be used as a mixing Scotch. When we got to the Red sampling, they had us mix our own cocktails with provided mixers, and they pulled a couple of people from the audience to have a little bartending competition with a full selection of mixers. Then we get to the ultra-premiums. They had their Johnnie Walker girls, all attired in black cocktail dresses, bring us frozen glasses of 18-year-old Gold Label to sip and savor. I think of it more as a special occasion or celebration Scotch for Scotch drinkers who'll drink it straight and without any mixers. The Green Label is a 15-year-old blend of all single malt whiskeys (the other Johnnie Walkers are blends of both malt and grain whiskeys) with an earthy smell to it. This was probably my favorite of the labels, but that's probably because back when I used to be a big Scotch drinker, I stuck with single malts. Finally, the girls brought out for us little miniature brandy snifters of Blue Label, the ultra-ultra-ultra premium blended whiskey (no age declaration, but they say it contains 60-year-old single malts). I've never bought a bottle of Blue Label before, but I think it retails at liquor stores for around $200 a bottle, and it's not likely something I'll keep stocked in my bar (however, I more than happy to accept bottles of Blue as a gift!). It's a very, very smooth drink, and it reminded me rather of cognac. I could get used to it.
To see my Flickr photo album from the Scotch tasting, click here.
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