Landing Gear

May I suggest that you buy the four bottle package of 175 ml bottles, one each of Red, Black, Gold and Blue Labels and taste? That's worth more than any words anyone can write here. If you like the more expensive ones, great. If not, also great. You've then saved a lot of money.

number_6

The fact that you've noticed the similarlity of JW Red and Glenlivet is a good sign (that you care about scotch and have the palate for it). The various JW blends increase in cost for a simple reason: supply and demand (and evaporation rate!). The more expensive blends use more expensive scotch, of increasing age. Blue includes a lot of searching and travel cost as it is made of "stray" barrels that were left behind in distilleries and warehouses, often forgotten about or lacking documentation (so they cannot be sold as a specific whiskey, even though they are). JW buys these odd barrels, sometimes quite old (50+ years can happen) and then blends them to get a surprisingly consistent taste. There are a lot of overtones that Blue has which JW Red/Black/Gold/Green do not.

Is the price worth it? My rule of thumb is that at a certain point, the cost doubles for every 10% improvement in quality. So you pay a lot for small but noticable improvements in flavour.

FT relevance: JW Blue is served by BA in F (in the air) and on the ground in some BA F lounges (mostly in LHR).

stl2112

That being said, the guy had very positive feedback and I wouldn't have had a problem buying 1 bottle for a "trial run". The legal issues would seem to be on the seller and Ebay, not the consumer, some of which don't know what "duty free" means (also, not all of his listings had the bit about being a manager at a duty free shop).

Landing Gear

Let me clarify my points. I agree with you that the legal issues are not the buyer's.

If the booze is from a duty free shop then that means that no federal or state taxes were paid. I suspect, without research, that it is against the law to sell such booze IN THE UNITED STATES.

I don't believe it is against the law to buy it, but who knows?

I am not an ebay user but I have heard that it is possible to boost the positive feedback ratings of sellers. Have you heard anything about this?

kgoyal

Looked at the Duty Free in New Delhi the price was $140 for 750 mL, but that also included a free 750 mL bottle of Black Label.

stl2112

Agree, and yes, it is absolutely possible to boost your own feedback rating. However, while looking through his recent feedback (which includes links to the item sold), it was from bidders with their own high feedback and was for the same types of alcohol. Based on my Ebay experience, this seemed like a relatively safe bet. The reason he is no longer setting up shop on Ebay probably has more to do with the legal issues you mentioned than any non-delivery issues.

DavidHatt

Hello FTers,

Here's the information I have for JW Blue:

Ushuaia, (USH), Argentina -- 359 Argentine pesos $117 for 750 ml

Santiago (SCL), Chile: $165 for 1 liter.

As of yesterday when I was there.

David

kennethfine

What a great answer, thank you so very much. FT proves its valor yet again.

Scotch is my favorite of favorite drinks, and I've had many years of practice with it. I still only rarely find "expensive" whiskies that are better than mass-market Glenlivet or Laphoroig, but that is probably because my definition of "expensive" is laughable.

Since I am clearly talking to an aficianado, may I ask your recommendations for the higher-end stuff? Always on the hunt for great scotch.

Obligatory FT tie-in: one of the joys of my $309 LAX-SNN November fare was discovering that in wee Ireland, whiskeys are generally quite affordable in bars -- $3-$5. They have excellent irish whiskies "on tap" there.

For those that find their way into the Aer Lingus lounge, they also have all-you-can-drink inverted bottles of whiskey at SNN. Though I didn't care for any whiskey at 8 a.m., that didn't keep my travel companion from going crazy until the ladies in green cut him off.

Cheers,
-KF

Moving Chicane

July 31, 2009 @ YVR Duty Free stores (Canada -> US):\
JW Blue label 750ml in box for $199 Canadian (~$193 US). Too much.

TimUT78

JL F lounge in NRT opens a bottle of Blue Label I think they put it out at 15:00 along with the other good stuff. I definitely helped myself to a glassful.

brp

They also had this at the BA F lounge at LGW. Also took advantage of a taste back when AA flew to/from LGW.

Cheers.

Animgif

Hopefully they'll have some out in the Concorde Room next month.

broadwayblue

Interesting timing on the re-emergence of this thread. Just saw this deal for JW Blue on one of the deal forums. Thought I'd pass it along. While nearly $150/750ml bottle isn't cheap, it's still at least 25% less than the price here in NYC.

Johnnie Walker Blue for $129.99 + ~ $18 shipping.

Seated in First

If you don't see it out ask the bartender. They quite often keep the Blue under the bar.

I was surprised to see JW Blue in the SJU Admirals Club! $15 a pop, as the price of shots go for JW Blue that's very reasonable. Personally I prefer the Gold.

panjabi

All,

If you are interested in buying sub $130 Blue Label (750ml) no need to go further than DFW.

There are many REGULAR spirits stores that are selling it for $120-$129. Majestic ran a promotion last month where it was $120.

Beverage Depot dot Biz (off I-35) is selling it for $124.99.

You can call ahead and then buy as many as you want.

When the Majestic $120 a bottle promotion ran last month, I saw a guy walk in right ahead of me and buy an ENTIRE CASE. I kid you not.

My friend and I were shocked and we asked him if he was a restaurant owner. He said, No, it was for his personal collection!!!


Thanks!

Panjabi