I recently had the pleasure of attending a Johnnie Walker “House of Walker” tasting event at Constitution Hall. Upon entering we were greeted by “Walker Girls” very attractive young women in short black dresses and high heels, my roommate was quite a fan. We were ushered to iPad stations where we were asked to answer a few quick questions: “How many drinks have you had in the past week?,” “How much of it was Johnnie Walker?,” and “What types of drinks do you consume?” -standard demographic information. Once we finished this we were given golden coins which would be used to gain a free drink in the event hall.

We walked into the hall- black curtains lined the area separating it into a small lounge with couches and a few tables, a bar was set up in the back with a line and iPads showing a menu of three Johnnie Walker cocktails we could order (Red and Ginger, Black label old fashioned, and black on the rocks) my roommate and I both chose the Johnnie Walker Black Label Old Fashioned, which I was not a fan of. The drink was very smokey and sickly sweet. I asked for a little bit of ginger ale to be added to it- which helped immensely, and immediately made me wish I had gone for the Red and Ginger. We then ventured over to the food tables, one tray held fruit and cheese to be mixed with crackers and bread; the other held a vegetable tray including asparagus, potatoes, carrots and tomatoes and a standard ranch dressing. We munched on this for a bit and took in the rest of the area, a waiter eventually came around with a tray of miniature crab cakes which were delicious, but there was only one tray. We were encouraged to tweet about the event or check in on Facebook, and definitely to text our friends about how awesome it was, there was a projection screen set up with the live twitter feed showing all of the #johnnie tagged tweets, which was kind of neat. There was a photo booth set up where the Walker Women would take your picture in front of a backdrop and automatically upload it to Facebook for you. My main complaint about this was that seating and table space was very limited, it was interesting juggling my jacket, my drink and my plate all at the same time.

We were then invited to leave our cocktail and plates behind and move on to the next curtained area where cushioned benches were set up with place settings on long tables in front of them. Each place setting contained two glasses of Johnnie Walker Black, one glass of Red Label and a place for Gold and blue labels, as well as a glass of ice water and a small Johnnie Walker “Walking Man” lapel pin. In the middle of every four places there was also a carafe of water, Orangina, and ginger ale as well as a bowl of ice and tongs. We watched a video presentation on “The Man Who Walked Around the World” which was fast passed, beautifully shot and well put together and was a fantastic introduction to the history of the company. Our Whisky Master Jimmy then took his place at the center of the room; I’m fairly certain Jimmy is Neil Patrick Harris’ long lost brother, they both suit up well and have similar speech and mannerisms. He informed us that as a “Whisky master he gets in trouble at work for NOT drinking” and a little of his background. He told us that we would be using our Mr. Wizard chemistry set of mixology to have a one of a kind tasting experience.

We started with the black label taking a sip and then throwing out the flavors we were hit with, I got a very strong reminder of Mott’s Apple Juice with smokey campfire finishing notes. Compared to the others we tried Black label was the most “fruity” It was also very raw compared to the others, Black made my lips tingle and that delicious warmth to spread across my chest. After our first sip we were invited to put a few drops of water into the glass and see how that changed the taste which acts the same way decanting wine does. This opened up the flavor more and made the finishing notes broader.

Moving onto the Red label we were told that this blend was created to be universally mixable, in America the Red and Ginger is popular but in Europe the “Scottish Mimosa” (Orangina and Red Label) is a big hit. We were invited to mix our own of either of those two options and I chose to mix with Orangina with an ice cube and was immensely pleased. Red Label on its own is malty and spicy and in my tastes a bit more mild.

It was at this point that the walker girls made another appearance, carrying trays of frozen glasses of Gold Label. This Whisky was blended originally for the centennial of Johnnie Walker’s history. This is a celebratory whisky and is very complex. Alone this really wasn’t my favorite, but he intrigued me with the idea of pairing this with a dessert. Taking the Vodka out of the freezer and replacing it with this, having it with a bowl of fresh vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with caramel.

And then we were prepared for blue label, Johnnie Walker’s most exclusive whisky. 1 in 10,000 barrels will be selected as having the characteristics needed for blue label. Many of the distilleries used in this particular brand are from silent distilleries- ones that don’t brew anymore but that casks of their whiskey can still be found. The Johnnie Walker girls brought out small snifters of Blue Label, we sniffed it and took a sip. The mouth feel here was amazing we thought the chilled Gold Label was smooth. This was like butter and liquid velvet. My roommate’s immediate comment “I need to be rich enough to have this every day” I definitely learned that Blue Label is amazing, no “whiskey face” on that one, not even a hint. A delicious smooth blend from start to finish.

We left wearing our Walking Man pins quite pleased with the night. A wonderful presentation and a wonderful sampling of fine scotch.

-Guest Writer MKI (Missy)

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