Ali Reynolds is Johnnie Walker’s Whisky Ambassador. He revealed how to identify very expensive, and probably the best, whiskies by just smelling the scotch. Reynolds started out as a bar attendant across the UK for a little over a decade before becoming an ambassador for Johnnie Walker. He said your ability for smell could make a big difference in investing in a good bottle of scotch.
Reynolds became a representative for Johnnie Walker after he won the brand’s cocktail competition in Great Britain in 2015. The position has enabled him to travel globally to educate people on the drink and to help them obtain it easily.
Very Aged Whiskies May Always Smell of Leather or Wood
According to Reynolds, the higher you pay for a bottle of whisky the better it probably is, but that does not mean anyone could not start off from cheaper bottles. For instance, there are whiskies that sell for up to $33,000 per bottle, and there are those that sell for $70, depending on their age, flavours and region of distillation.
He said you can determine the quality and price of a good whisky by smelling one. He warned that some whiskies taste different from their smell. He said a young whisky may give off a faint smell of alcohol, but a better one will have depth of smell for various flavours. Leather or wood flavours can be detected in very aged whiskies. But it is always dicey to judge from the colour of the drink.
The whisky connoisseur advised it is always better to keep your drink far away from direct sunlight purchasing it.
“If it’s in a green or blue glass bottle, it should be fine no matter where, as long as it’s not too warm, because alcohol will evaporate,” he said. “It will lose a lot of the colour and whisky starts to bleach itself.”
Johnnie Walker Is Now Bottling Old Whisky from Ghost Distilleries
Just as good wines are known by regions of distillation, so can whisky be identified by their regions, Reynolds said. There are four main whisky regions in Scotland, and each of these regions has their own distinctive character. Over 130 distilleries producing scotch are out there, but you can stick to a particular region if you like their mix. And if you’re not sure of a whisky brand to drink as a newbie, then you might consider blends with different flavours.
Johnnie Walker’s new Blue Label Ghost and Rare whisky blend comes from old casks owned by old distilleries which are now out of business. Such “ghost distilleries” exist in Scotland, Ireland and Japan among other places.
“The one we’re focused on was in Port Ellen, a revered distillery [which] shut its doors in 1983,” Reynolds said. “They haven’t made a drop since then, but there are amazing liquids sitting in casks still. We’re bottling them [with the new launch], and we wanted to focus on amazing flavours.”