J&B Rare Blended Scotch

Avoid it.

Nothing particularly special nor complicated, but it’ll get the job done.

A dram in honor of Burns Night '21. Justerini has been carrying Brooks for years and I'm not afraid to say it! Pours a pale old gold color. A little leggy, but respectfully so. The nose is butterscotch and coffee creamer. I'm getting very mild barrel tannins; something approximating sherried wood. Cabbage and sulfurics. There is a tiny bit of peated smoke, which is surprising; earthy potting soil. The flavor is a burst of butterscotch, red apple skins, butter and cream, immediately followed by tobacco ash and smoke at the swallow, almost like when you accidentally took a swig of a bottle with cigarette ashes in it. (But not in a bad way.) More of the barrel stuff that's half-puckery, half-sherry sweetness. There is a real perfume-like flavor in the middle of the palate. The finish is like sipping a bottle of perfume, along with that sherry afterglow. A very distinctive cigarette/tobacco end that reminds me of Sundays at my grandpa's. (He had both cigarettes and J&B in the cupboard.) A curious white plastic at the tail end. I can only imagine that this was the very first Scotch for countless young men and women, and while this one isn't complex or particularly outstanding, it'll do in a pinch when you need to mix in something a little smoky but don't want to use anything from your single malt stash.