I would like to apologize to our faithful readers and hope that not many of you have abandoned ship. I had plenty of reviews written and planned to have them posted over the last couple weeks, but circumstances beyond my control (namely a computer meltdown and subsequent work backup) made Leaf Enthusiast tasks take a back seat. I’m working to get everything caught up and stay that way. Thanks for sticking around.
- $34.99, 750mL bottle
- Purchased at Total Wine, Brea, CA
Background
I don’t keep up with Johnnie Walker products very closely, mostly because I am a “Bourbon guy” for the most part, enjoying some very specific Scotch whiskies…usually ones that come from Islay. Nevertheless, I heard “Jane Walker” mentioned by someone and thought immediately that it was a marketing gimmick just based on the name. Reading this made me even more dubious:
“Jane Walker by Johnnie Walker is a celebration of the pioneering women who stretched boundaries throughout the history of Johnnie Walker, and the whisky is an excellent example of the depth of flavor and innovative blends we can create from our incredible reserves,” said Master Blender Emma Walker.
I guess I just don’t feel the need for gender-identification in my whiskey (or whisky). Then I read some of the other marketing notes…Emma Walker used whisky from Cardhu, a nearly 200-year-old distillery in Speyside that grew under the leadership of Elizabeth Cumming before being purchased by the Walker family. Like other Johnnie Walker varieties, it is a blend…although blended Scotch shouldn’t automatically be a negative.
I tried Jane Walker first in Chattanooga, when a friend bought a bottle; then I bought a bottle when I arrived in California. That bottled was passed around to several people on the first evening, then I spent the rest of the week sipping from it.
Notes
The color in the bottle is a slightly less than medium amber, which is a little darker than I would normally expect from a Walker Scotch. Giving the whisky a sniff, I got a strong vanilla note…much stronger than anything I can remember on a Scotch and much more reminiscent of Bourbon. Following that was a nice apple sweetness teasing my nose.
I took a sip and found it very smooth and mellow, with hints of sweetness. There was a little spiciness, but the ripe fruit notes were very much on my mind, as was the very slight dark chocolate note near the finish. Yes, it was on the marketing materials, too, but it really was there.
I paired this Scotch with several cigars over the time I originally tried it in Chattanooga, to spending several days with a bottle of it in California. Because of the sweetness in the blend, I found it to naturally pair pretty well with any good Nicaraguan or Dominican cigar, acting almost like a Bourbon would, really. This is a Scotch I will come back to time-and-time again…especially for the price.
