Review: Johnnie Walker Gets the Après Ski Treatment

Blue Label Ice Chalet takes its blend from some of Scotland’s highest (and coldest) distilleries

October 16, 2024 5:56 pm
Priyanka Chopra Jonas sitting near a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet
Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet is a collaboration with the skiwear brand Perfect Moment (Priyanka Chopra Jonas, pictured, is an investor).
Diageo

What we’re drinking: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet 

Where it’s from: Founded in 1820, Johnnie Walker is the world’s best-selling Scotch whisky. This new bottle is a collaboration with the luxury skiwear brand Perfect Moment and the second drop in a series of limited edition whiskies (the Cobalt series). 

Why we’re drinking this: An Après Ski-themed whisky? Sure, why not? We were fans of last year’s Johnnie Walker Blue Label Elusive Umami release — a collaboration between Johnnie Walker Master Blender Emma Walker and Chef Kei Kobayashi (of the three Michelin-star Paris restaurant Kei) — so we were game to try something equally unique from the iconic Scotch blenders. According to the brand, Ice Chalet is inspired by the “blue hour,” or the moment between sunset and twilight on the slopes when skiing is done and everyone starts socializing. 

“Just like Blue Label, we select from over 29 distilleries to create this whisky,” says Walker, who also notes that only one in 10,000 casks meet the requirements to go into the blend (and the brand is working with a cask inventory of 11 million). “They’re rare and precious whiskies but brought together in a slightly different way.” 

Johnnie Walker Just Released a Blue Label Umami Whisky
It’s a collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Kei Kobayashi

To channel the après ski vibe, Walker chose whiskies sourced from some of Scotland’s highest distilleries and coldest winters, including Dalwhinnie, Clynelish and Brora. 

“If Blue Label is a little bit more autumnal, I think this bottle does speak more to winter,” says Walker. “There’s a cold freshness with a richness coming through. And when it’s that cold at the distillery, you’re getting a slightly different distillation and condensation process going on. It makes the flavors a bit sharper and more precise.” 

To that end, the brand recommends keeping the bottle in the freezer and pouring the liquid over ice, which is not the typical Scotch drinking process. But as Walker suggests, the combination of ice and cold really lets the fruit notes shine here.

Let’s take our skis off and have a sip, shall we? (Note: We were not actually wearing skis.)

How it tastes: Coming in at 43% ABV, Ice Chalet offers notes of spiced apple, Christmas cake, white pepper, cloves and tropical fruit with a hint of salinity and gentle smoke. It’s quite rich and creamy at room temperature, but I slightly prefer it over ice, where the flavors are indeed a bit sharper.

The brand suggests it’s great in a Manhattan or a highball, but at its current price (see below), I’d suggest just drinking it on one big ice cube. 

Johnnie Walker Black Label Squid Game Edition
Johnnie Walker Black Label Squid Game Edition
Diageo

Fun fact: In other fun promotions, Johnnie Walker recently teamed up with Netflix to launch Johnnie Walker Black Label Squid Game Edition, a series of 456 limited-edition bottle designs that pays homage to the number of players in the series. The bottle design features the Johnnie Walker Striding Man donned in the Squid Game player tracksuit with a label in a custom fabric pattern varnish that simulates the texture of the green tracksuit.

Where to buy: Johnnie Walker Blue Label Ice Chalet is available in limited quantities this month for a suggested retail price of $420. In a fun touch, the bottle comes with a reversible crossbody bag designed by Perfect Moment. That brand will also launch a capsule skiwear collection inspired by the whisky collaboration, and Johnnie Walker will host a series of luxury “Blue Hour” experiences at popular ski destinations such as Deer Valley (Utah) and Niseko (Japan).

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