Jane Walker - 12 Year old Scotch (JW Black) -- Limited Edition

Review of Jane Walker Series - Johnnie Walker Black Label

I recently picked up the Limited Edition Jane Walker Series of Johnnie Walker Black Label. Interestingly, it retailed for less than the regular Johnnie Walker Black, which was part of the reason I decided to purchase it. From what I understand, it’s the same blend as the classic Black Label but presented in different packaging.

Sales and Availability

Johnnie Walker is a giant in the whisky market, selling about 230 million bottles of Black Label annually. In contrast, the Jane Walker variant has a limited run of approximately 250,000 bottles. I was surprised to see that my local liquor store still had quite a few left, indicating that they produced more than enough to meet demand.

Purchase Motivation

Honestly, I bought it primarily because I enjoy Johnnie Walker Black, and this variant was selling for $4 less than the standard bottle. I appreciate the brand's effort to highlight women in whisky, but I can’t help but agree with some of the critiques I’ve read. Simply changing the logo and putting a new name on the same blend doesn’t strike me as particularly impressive marketing.

Marketing Strategy

It's surprising that Diageo, the parent company, would make such a misstep in their marketing approach. Given their extensive portfolio of popular vodkas, they should understand the importance of branding. They could have borrowed effective marketing strategies from their vodka lines and adapted them to the Scotch category, but that doesn’t seem to have happened here.

Future Considerations

For now, I plan to keep purchasing Jane Walker as long as it's available, especially since the price is almost comparable to Red Label. However, I hope future Limited Editions will focus on unique themes or collaborations, like the Blade Runner partnership, rather than simply repackaging existing products.

Overall, while I appreciate the intent behind the Jane Walker Series, I believe there's room for improvement in how they approach limited editions in the future.

Update - 10/31/24 - Resale hitting $300

Should have known due to it being a limited release of 250k bottles prices would only go up. Fortunately, I kept a brand new unopened bottle and it’s now worth 10x more than I paid for it.

My guess at this rate it’ll continue to appreciate in value 13-15% annually and hit about $500 in 2028.

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