Tastes

The Black Label. One of my favorite shut-your-brain-off drams. Sometimes you just want a dram and not be overwhelmed by taste, texture and hidden profiles, just put your feet up and enjoy. This is the most basic of whiskies that is sippable to me. They say there is peat but I havent found it yet, doesn't matter because it's a beautiful dram for a ridiculous price. You can drink it neat, mix it, use it for a cocktail or whatever, at this pricepoint there is no need to feel guilty about anything.

Easy going entry whisky with some hints of peat and smoke. Fairly smooth, no burn, no complexity, no offending taste. This is a good bottle for starting Scotch drinkers or people who want to start to discover peated whiskies. There is no complexity here, some heavy sweet grain influence and a whiff of peat, perfect to get you started. Experienced peaty drinkers please move along, this one is not for you.

Everyone's favorite bashing object. The Red Label gets a bad reputation and maybe not completely undeserved because it is definitely not the greatest whisky ever. It's an honest bottom shelf Scotch, young, a bit rough round the edges but drinkable nonetheless. It's not gasoline as some would say, it just young, with little malt content. Anything about this whisky says, minimum. Aged for 3 years and a day, lowest acceptable malt content, maturing casks probably on their umpteenth refill, extracting mostly tannins from that oak. The real problem is the price, it gets priced at a premium over other whiskies of this type because of the brand, you pay for the brand, you pay for the bottle, the slanted logo, the availability, the lovely conmercials, the look non whisky drinkers give when you put it in front of them because they think it is the best. You can sip it neat but it's mediocre, it is meant and marketed for mixing. So if it has te be JW pay some more for Black, Gold or Green, and you'll have a much nicer and improved experience.