John Barr Blended Scotch Reserve Blend

As I continue my journey to find a tasty low-cost scotch I found john Barr on my list of things to try. I like RTheriot and Tango's review as far as the flavors. In the glass, it has a nice light amber hue and it coats the sides nicely. The nose has some sweetness and with smoke and a hint of charcoal on it. The first taste is standard blended scotch to me with some sweetness along with a more medicinal taste which is Iodine I am assuming and a bit of smokiness. The flavors do linger a bit more than I expected and with a bit of ice the flavors smoothed out very nicely. The finish lingered a bit with the peat/iodine being replaced with sweetness. So all in all it is not a bad scotch for the price I got it for $19 on sale and for that I am not upset at it. The scotch does make a really good High Ball and that is the only drink I have made with it. The more I drink scotch the more I wonder if I will ever really like it as much as I enjoy bourbon. I have found a few that are very pleasant to drink and the flavor is fruity and light like Glenmorangie 10yr or McClelland's Highlands Single Malt and I will continue to look until I can't drink anymore. I still consider myself a bourbon man but the other whiskey's do have a certain appeal to them. Enjoy!

Given the ridiculous price, I'm very happy with this blend as a daily drinker. I find it so close to the pricier Te Bheag that I stopped buying the latter. The nose has the same dirty feeling as the Te Bheag, there is definitely peat somewhere in the blend. Toffee is dominant with maybe a slight brininess. From the nose I would guess bourbon barrels were mainly used. A bit of oak is present as well. The palate is rather dark, the light peat and toffee are still there. While not being an explosion of flavours, it is juste enough for a daily drinker. Dried orange and christmans spices come to mind. On the scale of sweetness it is rather on the dry side. Definitely a value buy.

Honey-colored orange decent Gecko-foot legs. Redolent of Butterscotch and sea salt in the nose; just a mild hint of barrel char and sherry sweetness, but it's enough to balance out the sweetness. A dry nuttiness and some buttery shortbread. White pepper and toffee. It's a very buttery flavor: Butterscotch, shortbread, with more brine and toffee. It has a slick, buttery feel. The finish pivots over to barrel tannins and sherry richness. I am starting to find the chocolate notes in the finish of these also, which here manifests itself as bitter semi-sweet chocolate chips. This is a very solid value for $30.

My father-in-law gave this to me, maybe as a repackaged gift, I’m not sure, but I’m glad he did because it’d fairly good. As other people have pointed out, it's pretty comparable to Johnny Walker Black— being the European equivolant after JW was banned for a bit in the 70s. I see it as Pepsi to JWB’s Coke. Personally, I prefer JWB, but I won’t complain having a glass of this. If anything, it might be better than JW Red. The first thing you’re hit with it the smokiness, then followed by how smooth it is. That said, it’s certainly more of a on the rocks drink than a sweet cocktail drink; some can work, though.

If Jim Beam attempted to make a Highland scotch, it might taste like this. That's not a bad thing: It's got a little attitude even if it backs away from the fight, has a vaguely leathery/rubberband-y chalk outline of peat around an oily, sugary/caramel core, and with a distinctly tea-like aftertaste. Imagine a step up from a Johnny Walker Red and a very slightly muddier/duller Johnny Walker 12, which is all to say this tastes like a good Scotch that's been sitting around a glass with an ice cube a little too long. What's the notch just above "drinkable in a pinch"? That's our little friend here.

Rich amber golden coloration. The nose is quite fruity, moving toward blood orange blended with a soft peat. Very thin mouthfeel, lightly but persistently oily. Peat smoke is much more full on the pállate than the nose. Aftertaste is thin and a bit acrid, furniture polish-like in its varnish quality. A fair expression of a budget blended Scotch. While you may be able to find some bottlings with more flavor at this level, you could certainly do far worse than John Barr.