John Walker & Sons Celebratory Blend

Nose: Apple, pear and malt on the initial nosing, maybe an orange peel aroma as well. The leathery Darjeeling tea and floral sherried oak that is common to all Johnnie Walker blends is present. Ginger, treacle and yeasty wash, and there is an ashy note – not quite peat smoke, more like soot. Complex and interesting for a blended scotch nose. Palate: On the entry there is sweet gristy cereal, malt extract, orchard fruits, thinned honey and red berries. This sweet arrival flows into the development, gradually accumulating more spicy and bitter notes. Cinnamon (both sweet and hot), pepper, a drying flavour like unsweetened cocoa and tannic oak all appear and the ashen note from the nose is present here as well. The texture is excellent, with silky and creamy highlights from the grain whisky component. Finish: Medium. The fruity and malt notes fade quickly (very quickly in fact), but there is a bright, crisp grainy flavour that lingers. The bitter tannic tinge remains until the end and there is a little white pepper and brine in the aftertaste. There is a particular quality to all Johnnie Walker blends that is instantly recognizable, and this certainly has it. It’s very much like a mixture of Red Label, Black Label and Gold Label turned up to 11. I can immediately recognise Cardhu in the blend and I bet there is some Teaninich as well, but that's all I can spot for sure. The hot and bitter notes combined with 51% abv would make it a challenging whisky for a novice, but to anyone with some experience I would think it should be most interesting. It does not taste "hot" as such, but the ethanol concentration amplifies the spice notes and tannins. Certainly anyone who likes Johnnie Walker should try a pour. So, the elephant in the room – is this REALLY what 1860s blended whisky would have tasted like? It is impossible to say for sure as there are no surviving samples of such whisky to analyse. There are recipes and blending records in the Diageo archives but the fundamental problem is that the style of malt and grain whisky that is produced today is very different to that of 150 years ago. The best that a blender can hope to do is make something that is an honest hommage, and approaches what we think it may have been like. On that score it's interesting how much this reminds me of Old Parr blended scotch, another Diageo brand that has a very old-school recipe, and I think that answers the question. Whether or not this is genuinely like something that would have been made in the 1860s it is most definitely a very “old-school” style of blended whisky, and that’s good enough for me. In reality, I'd bet good money that this is more like JW from the 1960s than the 1860s. Where does it sit in the JW lineup? Somewhere between Double Black and the 18 year old. It's more interesting then the lower echelon Red, Black and special finish blends that I've previously rated at less than 3 stars, but not quite up there with Blue Label or the old Platinum 18 that rate 4 or more. I agree with the official Distiller rating of 89, but the official comments leave me scratching my head in confusion. I’m not convinced that he and I have tasted the same whisky. At the usual price of $100 in Australia it is questionable whether this is value for money, however when I bought it on special for $75 I bought 2 bottles, and I’m glad I have one to keep in the short-term stash. “Good, not far short of Very Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)

The Celebratory Blend is one of three special bottlings released by Johnnie Walker, the world's best selling Scotch whisky, for its 200th anniversary. This Scotch Whisky blend is a limited edition created by the aptly-named Jim Beveridge OBE (should be spelled beverage no?) aka the Master Blender for Johnnie Walker. The John Walker & Sons Celebratory Blend is inspired by the launch of Old Highland Whisky, a key moment in the history of the Johnnie Walker brand when first released in the 1860s, and features whiskies from distilleries (supposedly 8 total) that were producing at that time (quite a few in the Diageo family that were around and producing then). The Old Highland Whisky was the first from the company to be created purely for export and also the first to feature the now famous square bottle and slanted label. It helped to catapult Johnnie Walker to become a global brand as it spread around the British Empire and beyond. John Walker opened his grocery shop on King Street, Kilmarnock in 1820 and began blending his own whiskies in the cellar. Interesting fact: John Walker did not drink alcohol. LOL. Classic enabler... The Celebratory Blend's packaging draws inspiration from that original bottling of Old Highland Whisky and also features a fold-out cardboard box that includes the only known photograph of John Walker's grocery store in Kilmarnock. It is also bottled at 51% ABV to mirror the strength that whiskies were sold at during the 1860s to 1890s. A high ABV Johnnie Walker featuring the original distilleries from the 1800s? Sign me up! "The Celebratory Blend is inspired by flavours found in the stocktaking books from Walker's store, which were housed in Diageo's archive. We wanted to use only whiskies that would have been available to the family in the 1860s and to create a sense of the aromas and flavours of the shop." -Jim Beveridge OBE, speaking during the media launch in October 2020. Nose: baking spices, cinnamon, green apple, pear, dried fruit Palate: Sweet at first, very thick for a blend, coating with nice mouthfeel. Spicy next and maybe a tiny wisp of smoke. Vanilla and dried fruits. Finish: Long, wood spice, peppery and wispy smoke Wow, take high abv Johnnie Walker made from modern distilleries that were around in the 1860s and add in a very unique and classy package. This one is a winner. Water brings out the fruit more but it doesn't need it. It is different from all the others I have tried (Blue, Green, Platinum/18, XR). It is like the 18 year ultimate supercharged. When I started drinking, I really looked down on JW for no good reason but I am learning to appreciate good grain and blended whisky. There is a lot of hate for Diageo around marketing, etc. but they have some of my favorite distilleries in their portfolio and I love the JW blended whiskies (and the Green vatted malt). This may be the best value and highest quality blended whisky that I have tried. It's like what Compass Box might do if they had access to the whole Diageo stock. Good on you Diageo! Slàinte.

Rating: 14/23 I've heard that this is a surprisingly very good Johnnie Walker release. I'm looking forward to trying it out. N: Big, underaged alcohol meatiness with white pepper, oil, a dusting of baking spices, a bit of orange juice, hints of malt, and the faintest sulphur and grain. There's a bit of a grain whisky bite to it as well. I'm very unimpressed by this nose. It smells just a few years old without being very interesting or decadent. After several minutes in my glass, the meatiness and sulphur mostly dissipate, but there's still a little bit of the meatiness. P: Ah, now this is much better! There is definitely a strong alcohol bite, but at 51% ABV, I can forgive that. There's none of the meaty or sulphur flavors. Well, maybe just the faintest bit. It's a decadent nectar sweetness at first, bringing in the richness of the malt and the cleanness of the grain, along with subtle vanilla and references to orange (not orange juice). There's a peppery burn that has just a bit of black pepper flavor, keeping it from being just straight burn. This isn't all that complex, but it's decadent and easy to sip. I mainly just wish it didn't burn so much. It isn't quite harsh though, which is a big win. F: The richness and restrained bitterness of the malt come out more as the sweetness fades. The peppery burn lingers, with just that mild touch of black pepper flavor. There's a thin slice of orange: fruit, pith, rind, and skin. It burns somewhat more than I'd like, but this is an enjoyable finish. - Conclusion - Monkey Shoulder (14/23) has more going on, but its lighter flavor really lets the clean alcohol show through more. The two are pretty competitive. Cadenhead's Deanston 19 (1994) (15/23) is richer and more interesting than this is, though it requires a precise amount of water to make that happen. My overall impression is that this is pretty close to the Monkey Shoulder and definitely not as good as the Deanston, so I'm going with a 14. It's not a bad rating, but I was expecting to give it at least a 15 based on what I'd read. I could even believe that Monkey Shoulder is better than this, though a tad of water does improve this (not to the level of the Deanston), so I'm inclined to say that they're both 14s. The burn on this is actually even comparable to that of the Deanston, which is fairly intense. They're both on the proofy side, but the deanston is a whopping 5.4% ABV higher at 56.4%. Side by side, it's apparent that this just isn't as good. It's either a 13 or a 14. As a last-minute sanity check, McIvor 17 (16/23) is decidedly better than this. It doesn't really seem more than two points better though, which adds support to this being a 14. It's on the low side though. I think that the Monkey Shoulder is a touch better because it doesn't burn In a final side-by-side, the alcohol in the Monkey Shoulder does stand out more, so I'm giving this a 14. Thanks to @soonershrink for the pour of this!

N: Berries, peaches, cereal grain. Pretty boozy. Opens up after a few minutes with dried berries and red fruit, chalk, and maybe a dash of sea air and brine. Peach notes shift toward a nice barbecued peach brushed with melted brown sugar. The cereal grains come back with a candied sweetness that borders on kids' cereal, but never quite turns that corner and manages to stay grown up. Much later, I notice some rye notes - mint, menthol, green rye. P: Rich, chalky, mineral cereal grains. Dried red fruit, prunes, and raisins. Tons of baking spice and pepper heat. Texture and mouthfeel is almost chewy. Some vanilla and light almond extract in the middle with a cookie flour backbone. Finish is more baking spice, wafer cookie, and lots of chili pepper and boozy heat. I've always wanted a higher proof Johnnie and finally here it is. But this is also the least Johnnie Johnnie I've had yet. I mean, is there even any Cardhu in this? It feels like a higher grain content than most JW offerings. On the whole, I enjoyed this as a one-off, but I'm not going to miss it when it's gone. Would love to see/try a regular release of Blue at cask strength. JW/Diageo is leaving money on the table by not offering that. _______ Please come join a lively new spirits related discussion happening in real time amongst a bunch of regular Distiller reviewers: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu.

Open 5 weeks Nose - Orange spiced chai tea jumps out of the glass immediately, hints of cinnamon apples, honeysuckle nectar, butterscotch, breakfast cereal, and noticeable ethanol punch. Palate - After that nose it is surprisingly light on the tongue at first. Canned apples and pears, floral honey, golden raisins, shortbread, black pepper, hint of citrus rind. Medium-long finish with bitter wood and ethanol, then followed by delicate apple and honey notes as it fades. I wanted to buy something special for NYE that my brother would equally enjoy. This seemed like a good choice at least in name only. Although considerably more expensive than most Johnnie Walkers or highland malts, there is a lot going on here at considerably higher proof. This is the best JW I've had, but I haven't had Green or Gold yet so one day I may change my mind. If you like highland malt, this is a definite buy and the type of special release I'd like to see more of from JW. It's frankly amazing that JW priced this so cheap.

N: juicy ripe fruits, apple, pear, honey, sherry, cherry, citrusy grilled orange slices, baking spices. After 10-15 minutes of letting it open up, dried fruits start popping through, brown sugar syrup, granola cereal notes, floral notes of rose and carnation but very subtle, old leathery notes, peat is hard to pick out initially but it’s there. P: wonderful orchard fruits, brown sugar, malted cereal, a quick pop of citrus and baking spices that leads into a light brine and is immediately followed up with a smoked peppery char that builds as if you just slowly turned up the volume, finish is medium to long dominated by the smoked peppery char and fades to the briny sea air, a little sweet richness creeps back in as well. The 51% surely helps keep that edge. It is most definitely a JW, all the characteristics are there, but it is quite well balanced. This is an excellent contribution by JW that I’d purchase again if I could find it.