Whiskey Review: J&B Reserve 15 Year Old Scotch

Justerini and Brooks, with their iconic green bottle and yellow label, are one of the world's most readily identifiable labels of mass-market scotch. The big red letters "J&B" are at least as famous as the top-hatted stroller of Johnny Walker. Unlike Johnny Walker, which has had high-end scotch labels on the market for decades, J&B's Reserve 15 Year Old Scotch is a recent entry into the world of quality whiskey. Unfortunately, it is an entry that largely falls flat.

Packaging
The disappointment is perhaps best symbolized by the bottle. Perhaps the contrast with the green bottle of normal J&B scotch, the 15 year label is in a brown bottle. However, the bottle is quite ordinary, and the cap is not cork or even screw-on metal, but cheap plastic. Although touches like (or the lack of them) that have no direct impact on the quality of the scotch, packaging in many ways is emblematic of the care taken in making and selling the scotch. Balvenie, for example, would never be caught presenting a new label of supposedly superior scotch in package decidedly inferior to its mainstream product.

The Scotch
J&B Reserve 15 Year Old Scotch has somewhat salty nose with a hint of peat. The smoky peat comes on more strongly on the palate. The flavor is light, with a candy-like, cinnamon-sweet quality. It finishes with a salty-pepper twang that is not altogether smooth, and the smoky peat does not stay long on the palate.

That may sound impressive, but only if you have never tasted J&B's standard scotch. In truth, the two are very similar, and the only marked difference between the two labels is the somewhat stronger flavor of peat that the Reserve 15 Year scotch puts on the palate. For a scotch that is purported as a "reserve" aged for 15 years, J&B's offering presents a disappointing lack of sophistication.

Price Tag
J&B Reserve 15 Year Old Scotch typically retails for twice the price of J&B's normal product, although it has been misrepresented on E-Bay and other online auction vendors as a "rare" and "hard-to-find" bottle of fine scotch and priced at closer to $200. The truth is that J&B Reserve is not worth $40, let alone $200. Make no mistake, it is an improvement on J&B's main label product. However, it is not enough of an improvement to merit the price tag. For the same amount of money, better bottles of scotch and infinitely superior bottles of bourbon whiskey are on the market.

Sources: Personal Experience