Game of Thrones

by

White Walker By Johnnie Walker Blended Scotch Whisky. Scotland. ABV: 41.7%. Tasted in a very non-wintery locale poolside in the sweltering heat of Phuket, ฿1700 (approx. $75AUD) for a 750mL bottle.

Winter is here…

Coinciding with the final season of the wildly popular Game of Thrones TV show comes this unashamed marketing claptrap from Johnnie Walker and Diageo. But how does it stand up as a whisky?

Yet again the burden falls upon Whisky a Day’s shoulders to step forth beyond the wall, taste another whisky and pass on my musings. In the words of Tyrion Lannister, “that’s what I do – I drink and I know things”.

Colour: Pale gold.

Nose: Soft lemon sponge cake and creamed honey.

Palate: Grassy hay-like notes bouncing off melted butter and soft caramel flavours. Honey and black pepper. A surprisingly fuller body than other Johnnie Walker whiskies or other blended whiskies.

Finish: A pleasing but unusually long finish for your average Johnnie Walker. A sweet, creamy and oaky tang lingers, like you’ve been sucking on the stick of a banana flavoured Paddle Pop ice cream for just a bit too long.

Comments: A clever play on words as a marketing gimmick to capitalise on the Game of Thrones phenomenon? Absolutely. As a whisky though? Surprisingly decent and much bolder in flavour and body than your typical Johnnie Walkers.

The label declares the heart of the White Walker to be single malts from Cardhu and Clynelish. Without knowing the rest of the vatting, I suspect that there might be a lower proportion of grain whisky that’s gone into this blend as it has plenty of oomph flavour-wise, especially at only 41.7% ABV.

When so many other whiskies proudly proclaim to be non-chill filtered, some might say it’s a bold move for a whisky to declare on the back of the bottle that not only is it chill filtered, but “best served cold directly from the freezer”. It’s like the marketing department at Diageo have decided “bugger it, no use hiding the fact our juice is chill filtered, so given the White Walker connotations let’s really own that label!”

The label on the bottle even reveals the surprise text “WINTER IS HERE” when the bottle is put in the freezer.

With the White Walker, there’s no “red wedding” sense of betrayal at a behemoth of a commercial brand like Johnnie Walker having sold out and compromised their product by slapping a Game of Thrones marketing badge on the bottle. It’s a genuinely decent drop, though for flavour reasons I preferred to drink mine at room temperature.