Is this whisky valuable?

Found a bottle of Johnnie Walker Pure Malt 15yo in my FIL’s cupboard, boxed and unopened.

It has a green label but isn’t called “Green Label” – it’s called Pure Malt.

I looked online but there are so many websites and different names that it’s hard to be sure. I thought STW would probably have a go-to way of finding out.

If I have a spare couple of hours I’ll try to upload a photo.

Personally I’d download a couple of drams and decide from there

https://postimg.cc/n9pkkgFN

maybe one of these links will work

Was this bottle valuable seems like a more sensible question.

I hate the stuff so won’t be drinking it!

I can’t imagine anyone else in the family wanting it either so if there’s a tech billionnaire who wants to spend his stock options on it, then I’m happy to do a trade.

This is it I think £180 wh3n last available

https://www.masterofmalt.com/?q=Johnny%20walker%2015&size=n_30_n

https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/johnnie-walker-green-label-15-year-old-old-bottle-whisky/

Looks like these guys had a bottle  once- they might be able to give you a valuation…

https://glenbotal.co.uk/bottle/johnnie-walker-pure-malt-15-year-old/

It does look like the one priced at £180 in the link to Master of Malt above. I would’nt expect anything like that for the bottle though . Especially not in a private sale. I have been buying whisky from MoM for years and I’ve never really had a “bargain” yet

Pure Malt…..so a blend of malts rather than a single malt.

Sounds a bit uninspiring to be a collectable. But then again collection whisky seems bizarre to me so what do I know.

Personally I’d download a couple of drams and decide from there

Indeed, you need to check the quality of things.

Single malt is just a marketing thing. Many expensive whisky’s are blended to a required taste from a mix of good single malts. Japanese whisky worth thousands is always a blend.

Single malt is just a marketing thing. Many expensive whisky’s are blended to a required taste from a mix of good single malts. Japanese whisky worth thousands is always a blend.

Hmm, punchy.

Care to explain why wines beyond cooking level are from a single vineyard? Surely you could just mix them up to get the taste you want.

All Johnnie Walkers are blends aren’t they? Blue Label changed my mind about blends vs single malts. Black Label is nicer than many single malts at 2x the price and is said to be mainly 12+ year old singles in the mix, but it’s got colouring in it too and I can see why purists aren’t into it. But good scotch is good scotch imho, blended or single.

the Whisky Exchange said they don’t want it, so I guess I’ll just leave it in the cupboard for another 20 years.

i assume FIL was saving it for a special occasion that he sadly mistimed. So why not give it to a close family member of his to have a glass to remember him (I apologise if I’ve wrongly assumed he has passed away) and appreciate the whisky in his absence.

I’d drink it’s not worthwhile shifting for £200 nicker

I’d drink it’s not worthwhile shifting for £200 nicker

Or even the half of that you are likely to get.  I think e-machine has the correct solution

Care to explain why wines beyond cooking level are from a single vineyard? Surely you could just mix them up to get the taste you want.

Some of the world’s best wines are blends…

Black Label has a fair amount of Talisker in it I believe. Personally I’d rather just drink Talisker but each to their own.

I work in a shop that sells lots of whisky – we have 70 different ones to chose from, from £20 to £2,800. We do sell quite a few limited editions/releases, typically from smaller distilleries where there’s maybe to 250 to a thousand bottles per batch. The typical buyers of these aren’t looking to buy Jonnie Walker – we have a 30 year old Glenturret bottled in 2014, but because it’s labelled Famous Grouse, no-one’s interested.

I would pour it over my christmas pud and torch it. Lovely

Ive just removed a few bottles my late father in – law had in his home  which included one of these https://www.thegrandwhiskyauction.com/lot-141657/bells-extra-special-1970s-26-23-fl-ozs/auction-17    Im not that brave

Whisky hammer has it down as last being sold for £55 at auction although theres also a 20CL bottle having been sold for 30. I’d give some other auction sites a check though

Care to explain why wines beyond cooking level are from a single vineyard? Surely you could just mix them up to get the taste you want.

wines with more than one grape are not unusual.  But whisky is not made from grapes, and the flavour doesn’t change with the strain of grain so it’s a bad analogy!  The reality is single malt was a marketing trick (in the 70s?) from the industry to position products that were not that special as “unique”.  They still pull this stunt from time to time – indeed the bottle in the OP was potentially a batch that whist quite palletable didn’t meet the spec for an existing JW product – no problem call it a special edition and have marketing folks make a new label and price it at 50% more!

My understanding is single malt is made up from whisky from the same distillery, blended is from several/many distilleries. The latter is how Johnnie Walker made his name, blending whiskys in his grocery shop, although it was his son who turned it into an international business.

Care to explain why wines beyond cooking level are from a single vineyard? Surely you could just mix them up to get the taste you want.

That is how non-vintage champagne (and a lot of expensive wine) is made.

I’ve got a bottle of Macallan 10 yr old Speaker Martin, in a white box. Think Michael Martin signed the box. My nan won it a raffle years ago. I dont think it’s particularly special tasting but had novelty value. There’s a massive range of prices online so I’m never sure whether to hold on to it or sell it.

My main concern is I’ll come home from a night out pissed, and decide to drink it

It’s worth mentioning that a lot of ‘single’ malts can be a blend of one whisky, finished off in a combination of barrels, so along with the traditional oak casks, you can get bourbon, sherry, rum, port and champagne to name but a few, along with peated/unpeated and cask strength. The likes of Jonnie Walker made their money by blending a combination of different whiskies to create a consistent taste, particularly to export markets like India and Japan. Whereas the growth is in smaller scale distilleries who will often do a single cask release, individually numbered and often sold as a premium – Harris Distillery played a blinder with the Hearach, selling out all 8 of the initial batches – with some people buying all 8 at £65 each. Tiree have launched their first release at £200/bottle.

But whisky is not made from grapes, and the flavour doesn’t change with the strain of grain so it’s a bad analogy!

The flavour definitely does change with different strains of grain.  The large producers are just looking for efficiency and maximum yield  but at the craft end some distillers are experimenting with heritage varieties to try and recreate flavours that have been lost. Dornoch are doing some interesting stuff trying to recreate the older highland style and Waterfords whole thing is Terroir.

There certainly is distinctive taste to many single malts  so I would not say the whole thing is a marketing exercise. There’s a fair amount of work put into the various “finishes” but for me the real skill is in judging how long a whisky should be aged for before it is bottled. Given the loss of whisky  to evaporation and absorption by the barrell  a 25 year old would have a lot less spirit to sell than a 10 year old. So the job of tasting the whisky is vital too perhaps it’s the skills of the workers that determine whether a whisky is good or not

The water used will also play a part in flavouring… won’t it?

Care to explain why wines beyond cooking level are from a single vineyard? Surely you could just mix them up to get the taste you want

That’s why wines are variable from year to year. The growing in the vineyard depends on so many factors so you get a great or poor vintage. “Yes, the ’86 is magnificent, but the ’87 is a bit petrolly on the palate”. And a cooking wine tastes the same year on year. Remember though a lot of wines are a mix of grapes so…

Malts are a blend to keep that consistent flavour profile. Otherwise they took would vary depending on smoking and melting process and the age or condition of the aging barrels. In my misspent youth I did various quality control jobs in a lab for United distillers. Phenol levels are particularly hard to balance to give the islay flavours but be low enough to enter to US market.

Thanks for your concern e-machine but I’m happy to report that my FIL is alive and well!

No, he won’t have been keeping it for a special occasion – the bottle was in a flat in Spain that is rarely used and is likely to have been a present many years ago. I’m sure he has no idea it’s there.

There were also some bottles of cognac and a bottle of Johnnie Walker Double Black which sounds really rare and valuable but unfortunately isn’t!

I think we’ll bring it back to the UK when we return from holiday and he can decide if he wants to sell it.

I think we’ll bring it back to the UK when we return from holiday and he can decide if he wants to sell it.

you may find more interest for if – either as a sale or a gift from someone in Spain?  In Scotland there’s no shortage of whisky – in Spain it’s harder to get something unusual…

im suggesting this as my Portugese colleague has taken bottles of whisky to Portugal as gifts where they think he is bringing rare/valuable stuff but it’s just nice and moderately priced.

Yeah good point. Could be useful as a gift for someone here.

Last sold in 2019 at auction for £27.50.  Based on green label 15 still being available and still in production.  At most you’d be looking at £40.

https://www.whiskyhammer.com/item/25617/Johnnie-Walker/Johnnie-Walker—15-Year-Old-Pure-Malt.html

The typical buyers of these aren’t looking to buy Jonnie Walker – we have a 30 year old Glenturret bottled in 2014, but because it’s labelled Famous Grouse, no-one’s interested.

Tell me more. I like Glenturret and it’s my second most local distillery.

Thanks for your concern e-machine but I’m happy to report that my FIL is alive and well!

Good news on that front then.

Maybe a quirky present for a whisky loving family member – or maybe an easy drinker to start appreciating whisky yourself.