Game of Thrones Whisky on Amazon

[Westeros]

After the release of the Johnnie Walker White Walker limited edition blended whisky, HBO and DIAGEO have teamed up to now release their limited edition collection of classic single malt whiskys with Game of Thrones-inspired dress. These whiskys are now available for pre-order on Amazon in select EU countries (presently that seems to mean the UK, Italy, and Germany) as well as Malts.com.

We’ll link them all below:

• Game of Thrones House Stark – Dalwhinnie Winter’s Frost; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 43%
• Game of Thrones House Tully – Singleton of Glendullan Select; SRP: £38 for 700cl; ABV 40%
• Game of Thrones House Targaryen – Cardhu Gold Reserve; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 40%
• Game of Thrones House Lannister – Lagavulin 9 Year Old; SRP: £65 700cl; ABV 46%
• Game of Thrones The Night’s Watch – Oban Bay Reserve; SRP: £65 for 700cl; ABV 43%
• Game of Thrones House Greyjoy – Talisker Select Reserve; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 45.8%
• Game of Thrones House Baratheon – Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old; SRP: £38 for 700cl; ABV 40%
• Game of Thrones House Tyrell – Clynelish Reserve; SRP: £48 for 700cl; ABV 51.2%

We’re not whisky enthusiasts, but DIAGEO and HBO seem to have put some real thought into this selection, matching up houses (and the Night’s Watch) with whiskys that have some matching quality. For example, the Cardhu Gold Reserve is associated with House Targaryen and Daenerys because of the fact that that distillery was founded by two women, and the Oban was selected to represent the Night’s Watch because the distillery sits beneath a cliff much as Castle Black sits beneath the Wall. Clever.

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[hauberk]

Has anyone tried these?  I got a bottle of the House Tully and the White Walker.  So far only had the Walker - it's decent neat and with ice.  I was a little disappointed with the special surprise when the bottle is tossed in the freezer.

[Dolorous Gabe]

They're all at least £10 more expensive than they should be, some £20.

The only ones I'd be genuinely interested in trying are the Lagavulin, the Clynelish and the Talisker, partially because I'm a fan of their main expressions but also because the ABV confirms they haven't been fully chill-filtered. But I do struggle to see why I should pay more for a 9yo Lagavulin expression than their 16yo, or a NAS (no-age-statement) expression Clynelish or Talisker than their respective 14yo and 10yo.

Oban is a decent whisky but its flagship 14 year old is around £45 and for the quality I find that a little too much, so I really don't fancy forking out £65 for this NAS expression.

Dalwhinnie already has an expression called Winter's Gold which can often be found on offer in the £25 range. I do wonder just how different this expression will be from that one, with a premium added to its price tag.

But of course these will sell out, so one has to be impressed by Diageo's marketing strategy here.

Also, the reasoning for the Targaryen-Cardhu link is sort of reasonable (although Martell would have been a better match on these grounds, book-wise obviously) but the taste profile doesn't come close to matching up. A friendly, sweet and approachable Speyside just doesn't scream Targaryen to me. Diageo owns Caol Ila, so an even peatier, smokier version of Caol Ila would have been a better match up on taste profile.

Oh well, those are my thoughts on the matter.

[Ran]

Good thoughts. I think the premium is just the fact that it's a "limited" collection with that GoT dress. This is aimed at the collector and fan more than the connoisseur, and for the connoisseur I suppose it's more the novelty than anything.

[Dolorous Gabe]

That is true, I guess there is potential for the full set to be worth a lot more than £400 in years to come.

[briantw]

I was in South Carolina for work last week and stopped by a liquor store there and saw they had White Walker so I grabbed a bottle.  I like it.  It's quite a bit different from Walker Black.  It has a similar peat flavor, but it finishes much sweeter, with notes of vanilla and caramel.  It starts off with that smokey burn and then finishes sweet, which makes it a real easy drinker.  Given the sweetness, it seems like it'd be a good post-dinner choice.

I agree with whoever said the "surprise" when you freeze it is lame.  All that happens is that the words "WINTER IS HERE" appear on the side.  I honestly don't think I wouldn't have noticed they weren't always there had I not been specifically instructed by the bottle to look for something.