Is Johnnie Walker 18 a critics' whisky or a drinkers' whisky?
Here is the odd thing about Johnnie Walker 18. The critics and the drinkers see it differently. On how the critics rate it, it sits in the top 21% of the whiskies at Dan Murphy's. On how broadly everyday drinkers like it, it lands in the bottom 7%. Same bottle, two verdicts. So which one is yours?
Start with what is in the glass. Complex and elegant from the first sip, with a woodsmoke note like a bonfire of green twigs, ashy peat embers and the smell of grain stores. Underneath runs vanilla cream and honey over baked apples, then golden syrup flapjacks, vanilla fudge, candied apricot and orange peel, a little gingerbread and pepper, and a catch of smoke that carries into the finish, where citrus and honeyed grains show up. Classical in style, but easy to get on with.
What to pay. Johnnie Walker 18 is $131 at Dan Murphy's this week. Work it out as a pour at home and it comes to about $5.93 a standard drink, with roughly 22 standard drinks in the bottle. A pint at the pub, about $13 for its two standard drinks, runs about $6.28 a standard drink. So a measure of this on your own bench sits just under a pint out.
1/Johnnie Walker 18 is $131 this week. Price its age, strength, name and style the way the rest of Dan Murphy's is priced and you land near $181. That's about 28% under the going rate for its own features. Worth a quiet look.
2/What makes up that $181? Age carries most of it at 55%. Sherry and dried fruit, 20%. The name on the label, 18%. Strength, 7%. Age alone sets more than half.
3/Here's what the going rate can't see: peat smoke and sea air. That ashy, bonfire-smoke note is where Johnnie Walker 18 is strongest, and none of the features that set the $181 carries a price for it.
4/More isn't always better. Royal Salute 21 is $210 and gives a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker about 91% of what the 18 does. Per standard drink, the 18 is $5.93, under a pint at the pub ($6.28); the 21 is $9.51, over it. Want the 18? Yes. Want more years? The 21.
The bottlesThe Johnnie Walker desk
Also from the Johnnie Walker desk
Johnnie Walker 18: stand-in 1
Fancy a Johnnie Walker 18 but eyeing the price? Chivas Regal 18 gives you about 97% of what you love about it, for 95% of the price, at $125 this week. Nose of vanilla and toffee, soft oak and spice on the finish. More on Johnnie Walker 18 in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: neighbours' price
Who's it for? Anyone chasing woodsmoke and honeyed oats; I'd pour it gladly. Its neighbours' drinkers would pay $120 to $231 for Johnnie Walker 18, each from their own bottle. This week it's $131, inside that range. More in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: per drink
Pour one after dinner, lamps low. Johnnie Walker 18 works out at $5.93 a standard drink, just under a pub pint's $6.28 a standard drink. Woodsmoke off green twigs, honey over baked apples, a catch of smoke into the finish. More in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: tasting
I kept coming back to the orchard fruit on Royal Salute 21. Masses of it, a hint of passion fruit, then a drop of water lets a banana note up. Thick and chewy, a little nut on the finish. $210 at Dan's. More on it in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: stand-in 1
Like Royal Salute 21? Johnnie Walker 18 gives you about 91% of what it does, for 85% of the price. That's $179. Woodsmoke, honey, baked apples. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: neighbours' price
Hand Royal Salute 21 to a Chivas Regal 18 drinker and they'd pay about $99 for it, close to 79% of what their own bottle costs, marking it down mostly for the name on the label. More on where Royal Salute 21 sits with its neighbours in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: per drink
Royal Salute 21 runs about 22 standard drinks a bottle, so a pour at home is $9.51. A pint at the pub sits near $6.28 a standard drink. The 21 lands above that; Chivas 18 slips under at $5.66. What's a fair price for a pour in your own glass? More in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: stand-in 2
Like Royal Salute 21? Chivas Regal 18 gives a Royal Salute 21 drinker about 85% of it, for 60% of the price, at $125. Vanilla, almond slice and toffee on the nose. Malt, dark fudge and raisin, then a warm, long finish. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal 18: tasting
Chivas Regal 18, $125 at Dan Murphy's. I get vanilla, almond slice and toffee on the nose, with a curl of pencil shavings. The palate turns to dark fudge, leather and raisin, then a warm, lengthy finish of oak and chocolate. More on it in this week's piece. Fancy a dram?
Chivas Regal 18: stand-in 1
Here's what surprised me: a Chivas Regal 18 drinker gets about 93% of the Chivas Regal 18 from Chivas Regal XV 15, and it's $89 — 71% of the price. Marmalade, almond, cinnamon buns. I've put more on Chivas Regal 18 in this week's piece.
Chivas Regal 18: neighbours' price
Give a Dewar's 18 drinker a Chivas Regal 18, all vanilla, toffee and sweet oak, and they'd pay about 83% of what their own bottle runs, marked down mostly for not being from the Highlands. Smooth and gentle is its lane. More in this week's piece on Chivas Regal 18.
Chivas Regal 18: per drink
Chivas Regal 18 works out at $5.66 a standard drink, a pour at home across about 22 in the bottle. A pint at the pub runs about $6.28 a standard drink. Vanilla, toffee, sweet oak, smooth and gradual. One for the unhurried sipper. More on it in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: tasting
Royal Salute 21 is the one I'd pour when I want maturity without effort: masses of orchard fruit, a hint of passion fruit, oak that's rounded and supple, and a banana note once you add water. Thick and chewy, with a little nut on the finish. At $260, it's in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: stand-in 1
Like Royal Salute 21? For a Royal Salute 21 drinker, Johnnie Walker 18 gives about 90% of what it does, for 69% of the price. It's $179. That woodsmoke and honey stay with me. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: neighbours' price
Ask a Chivas Regal 18 drinker what they'd give for a Royal Salute 21 and it comes in at 79% of their own bottle; across its nearest neighbours, what those drinkers would pay runs from $99 to $162. More on Royal Salute 21 in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: per drink
Royal Salute 21 works out at $11.77 a standard drink, a fair bit more than the $6.28 a pint runs you per drink at the pub. For a pour at home of orchard fruit, a hint of passion fruit and a little nut on the finish, I'd happily sit with it. The full look's in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: price guide
I had a look at the Royal Salute 21 this week. It's $260 at Dan Murphy's, and it usually sells around $260, so a quiet week with nothing much moving. The rest of it — who it stands in for, and what a pour works out to at home — is in this week's piece.
Royal Salute 21: stand-in 2
Like Royal Salute 21? Chivas Regal 18 gets you about 83% of the way there, for 48% of the price. That's $125. Vanilla, almond slice, a little toffee. Good company. The rest on Royal Salute 21 is in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: tasting
Johnnie Walker 18, $179 at Dan Murphy's. Woodsmoke off green twigs, then honey over baked apples, golden syrup flapjacks, a dab of vanilla. Smoke carries into the finish. Classical but easy to like, one for the drinker who wants grandeur without fuss. More in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: stand-in 1
If you lean Johnnie Walker 18, Chivas Regal 18 is one to try: at $125 it gives a Johnnie Walker 18 drinker about 93% of what their bottle does, for 70% of the price, with vanilla, almond slice and toffee of its own. More on the Johnnie Walker 18 in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: neighbours' price
Hand a Chivas Regal 18 drinker a glass of Johnnie Walker 18 and they'd settle at 86% of what their own bottle costs, the mark mostly down to its sherry and dried fruit. More on it in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: per drink
At home my Johnnie Walker 18 comes out at $8.10 a standard pour. That's a touch over a pint at the pub, which runs about $6.28 a drink. Around 22 pours in the bottle. I like knowing what a glass costs before I pour one. More on it in this week's piece.
Johnnie Walker 18: price guide
Poured a glass after the kids were down, back door open to the cool. Johnnie Walker 18 is $179 this week, and that's about where it usually sells, around $179. The lowest I've seen it is $133. More on it in this week's piece.
Per standard drink: the five cheapest blended Scotch whiskies
Grant's Triple Wood 1 litre $1.99, Label 5 Classic Black 1 litre $2.00, McAllister 1.5 litres $2.05, Johnnie Walker Red Label 1 litre $2.06 and 1 more below. The median of the 45 is $2.72.
What you're paying for: Royal Salute 21
What are you paying for in a bottle of Royal Salute 21? Price its age, name, sherry and strength the way the rest of Dan Murphy's whisky is priced, and you land on $260. That's the going rate. This week it sells at $210, about 19% under it.
Chivas Regal 18: the everyday stand-in for Johnnie Walker 18
I keep coming back to the Chivas Regal 18, $125 at Dan Murphy's. Eighteen years old, bottled at 40%. Vanilla, almond slice and toffee on the nose, then malt, dark fudge, leather and raisin, into a warm, long finish. Colin Scott's blend, and it shows.
A price guide: Chivas Regal 25 and its closest blended Scotch whiskies
A price guide for Chivas Regal 25 and the three blended Scotch whiskies closest to it. What each usually sells around, the range we've seen, and what a pour costs this week. Chivas Regal 25 sits at the top at $646, with Royal Salute 21, Dewar's 18 and Johnnie Walker 18 alongside it. Read the week against the everyday price, not the other way around.
Climbing the Johnnie Walker range
Two rungs this week: Black Label 12 at $58, and the 18 at $179. One is a world-famous blend, poised and balanced, toffee and caramel under a twist of white smoke. The other sits a good way up the ladder. So before you reach for the taller bottle, here's the question worth asking: what does the step up actually get you? Let's walk it.
When the profile model pairs a $53 blend with a $145 malt
Two Scotches at their own floor this week, and the shelf's oddest near-miss. Johnnie Walker Black is $53, Lagavulin 16 is $145 — both plain shelf tickets, neither a members-only deal. Put them together and the pair is the cheapest it has been in the six weeks I have tracked it.
Johnnie Walker's oldest core age, on a member ticket
The oldest age statement in the core Johnnie Walker range is on a members' ticket this week. Johnnie Walker 18 is $133 for My Dan Murphy's members; non-members see $177 on the shelf.
The numbers behind these bottles
| bottle | region | latest ticket | read | window price | CE 360° mean | premium | shelf rank | per std drink | drink rank | content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnnie Walker 18 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky | Islands | $130.99 | observed | $178.99 | $131.20 | 26.7% | #8 of 9 | $5.93 | #9 of 9 | 37 |
| Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old Blended Scotch Whisky | Multi-Regional Blend | $77.99 | observed | $55.97 | $51.56 | 7.9% | #21 of 27 | $2.47 | #11 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 | Multi-Regional Blend | $54.99 | observed | $55.90 | $51.51 | 7.8% | #20 of 27 | $2.44 | #9 of 26 | 4 |
| Johnnie Walker Black Ruby Blended Scotch Whisky | Multi-Regional Blend | $52.50 | observed | $67.99 | $65.51 | 3.6% | #15 of 27 | $2.38 | #6 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Blue Indian Festive Blended Scotch Whisky | Multi-Regional Blend | $286.00 | observed | $286.00 | $267.99 | 6.3% | #19 of 27 | $12.69 | #26 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Blue Label Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | Multi-Regional Blend | $365.99 | observed | $256.19 | $234.85 | 8.3% | #24 of 27 | $10.30 | #24 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Blue Label Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | Multi-Regional Blend | $229.90 | observed | $239.95 | $220.63 | 8.1% | #22 of 27 | $10.41 | #25 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Double Black Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | Multi-Regional Blend | $116.99 | observed | $65.80 | $64.63 | 1.8% | #8 of 27 | $2.98 | #16 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Double Black Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | Islands | $75.99 | observed | $75.99 | $57.18 | 24.8% | #6 of 9 | $3.44 | #2 of 9 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | Multi-Regional Blend | $149.99 | observed | $104.99 | $101.28 | 3.5% | #14 of 27 | $4.75 | #23 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky 700mL | Multi-Regional Blend | $88.80 | observed | $88.75 | $86.16 | 2.9% | #13 of 27 | $4.02 | #21 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Green Label Blended Scotch Whisky | Multi-Regional Blend | $103.99 | observed | $103.00 | $98.92 | 4.0% | #16 of 27 | $4.34 | #22 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Red Label Blended Scotch Whisky 1.125L | Multi-Regional Blend | $78.99 | observed | $49.15 | $48.64 | 1.0% | #4 of 27 | $2.22 | #5 of 26 | 2 |
| Johnnie Walker Red Label Blended Scotch Whisky 1L | Multi-Regional Blend | $64.90 | observed | $46.13 | $45.82 | 0.7% | #3 of 27 | $2.06 | #2 of 26 | 3 |