That’s a bargain.
A bar should be making 75% to 80% gross profit on any given bottle of liquor, so if a bar pays a wholesale price of $135/bottle and a 750mL bottle yields about 16 1.5 oz (or 20 1.25 oz) shots, they should be charging at least $33.75.
Sure, it’s “good” - but if you’re actually interested in learning about the many varieties of Scotch, which ones you might enjoy, how you prefer them (neat/rocks/with soda water/etc.), your $25 is better spent trying a few different things (perhaps Johnnie Walker Black can be one, if you’re curious about the brand) with the help of a good bartender.
If, on the other hand, you just want to spend $25 on a “shot” because it’s the most expensive thing on the menu - go ahead, I guess…
Everyone complains about how baijiu sucks, so this 180 RMB shot at my five star hotel lobby bar ought to be at least palatable, right? Yup; total waste of twenty-five bucks.
I opened a craft beer bar last year which also features some nice whiskeys. If you watch Bar Rescue or research liquor pricing, they will lead one to believe it as simple as price equals 3-4 times cost. That falls apart if you aren’t in Vegas or you head into the more expensive beers & liquors. The market simply won’t bear it and the overhead and labor isn’t anymore for bottle of Lagavulin or keg of Delirium Tremens than a keg of Bud or bottle of Kentucky Deluxe. So it throws off the percentage but the total dollar amount of markup is higher for a premium.
It’s a little math and a whole lot of gut feeling. Fox example, I get Lagavulin for $85 IIRC wholesale, so it costs me $5.31 for a pour. So I double it and round up to $12.
I have paid up to $20 for a pour of whiskey in name of “market research”. It’s cheaper than buying a whole bottle and ending up not liking it. For me, a lot of the mid range whiskeys ($50/bottle) are the best bang for the buck. Laphroag, Jefferson Reserve, Woodford Reserve, etc.
$25 is a reasonable price for JWB. But is it a reasonable price for a drink in general? Well, it depends. For $25/drink, you are buying the experience and the story, not just the spirits. If you go in thinking of it that way, go for it. If not, don’t.
If you do buy, heed the advice above. JWB is not a shot, nor is it for cocktails. It is for sipping and savoring while the rest of the room looks on. Order it either neat with water back or with one/two rocks. It’s the best known super premium blend, and you will be able to talk for years about the time you had it.
If what you want is not the experience of a JWB, but the best/most interesting whiskey, look for any of the dozens of scotch, bourbon or rye threads on the boards. Lots of great options, many “better” even for less coin. I’ve found that Irish whiskeys as the current best values, especially for the clear-spirits drinkers who want something smoother. In premiums, I’d go Red Breast or Greenore.
Ah, but Lagavulin and Laphroag are peaty whiskeys. I generally don’t recommend them for the new-to-scotch people.
Go someplace and get a shot of Balvenie Double Wood. It may sound tricky, but it is actually very nice sipping single malt.
Most of the best French wines (especially reds) are blends. Americans have developed a certain fetish for single varietal wines that our European cousins must think is rather humorous. French wine is labeled by region rather than grape varietal as in the US, so you have to look closely to see which grapes are in the blend.
Crown Royal makes a delicious Canadian rye. It sells for just over 20 USD a bottle here, where taxes are high. Makes great cocktails, and you can talk about how it was voted World’s Best Whiskey by a highly regarded expert.
There are many moderately priced Japanese whiskeys I prefer to JWB, and several single malt scotches. But JWB is tasty and I’m not the type to say what you should drink. It’s a fine scotch.
I concur with the folks who say that it’s a very good whiskey, but that you don’t really get what you pay for.
For my money, the Japanese whiskies are where it’s at.
I never could much get into Canadian whiskeys, but I’m now curious to try Crown Royal again to see if my tastes had changed much over the last decade (which is around the last time I remember buying it.) I’m almost getting burnt out on American ryes, and I’m not too much a fan of bourbon (it’s fine, but it’s rare I’ll buy a bottle for myself, except maybe some Old Grandad or Four Roses to have around. I really can’t appreciate much of the more expensive stuff–that money I save for Scotch, particularly the Islay malts so I can have them all to myself 
), so exploring the Canadian and Japanese whiskeys seems like a good idea to me!
This. It was my gateway single malt.
And I would take the 17 year Balvenie Double Wood any day of the week over the JWB, and it’s cheaper. 
THIS is what I need – recommendations of reasonably-priced, smooth* scotches/whiskeys. I’ve been sipping Redbreast (a 12 yr. irish whisky, about $50), and would love to find others.
*I think my Scottish ancestors spilled their scotch into the peat bogs, wrung out the moss into a flagon and had a ‘wee dram’. I’d love to be loyal to my clan, but not when I could get a nice malty sippin’ scotch instead… “Ochh, ah kenna take the peat, laddie!”
You’d probably enjoy the Lowlands (which there aren’t very many of, and are most similar to Irish whiskies. Auchentoschan or Glenkinchie, but the lowland whiskies I find really hit-and-miss to find) and the Speyside malts, which are pretty middle-of-the-road with low peat profile, if it’s peated at all. Glenlivet 15, Balvenie Carribean Cask, any of The Macallan’s offerings. But Lowlands and Speysides I think you’ll find the most luck until you branch out a bit more. Also give Oban a shot. It’s got mineral, peat, heather, fruit, that sort of thing going on with it, but it might be an interesting taste for you and has a nice range of flavors that scotch can have. The best is to find a bar in town with a decent selection of scotch whiskies and a knowledgable bartender to help guide you through the different types and flavors. Most of the ones I’m suggesting are in the $50-$70 a bottle range, so I wouldn’t want you to splurge on a bottle before getting a sense of it.
Do you live near a Trader Joe’s? I am sipping the Highlands Single Malt Scotch Whisky aged 12 years. It’s about $30 before tax. It boasts pretty good price performance and is pretty smooth. A decent “velvet glove” single malt. I haven’t tried the other trader joe’s whiskey but eying them.
Then there is the “gnarled fist” peated side of Scotch. These can be quite tasty and often a little goes a long ways.
Pulykamell, you want the Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye. Much better and only slightly costlier than the original.
Not a fan of JWB, in that I’d never, ever spend my own money on it, but I’ve got relatives who like it so I’ve had it before - it’s solidly “Meh” to me, but since it’s way over $200 a bottle I can’t tell them that.
I as usual do things bass ackwards. I started with the peaty and worked back. The Balvenie Double Wood is a favorite whiskey of mine and I have it at the bar and at home. The Oban 14 is great as well but spendy. We just got Auchentoschan in and I need to do some more “quality control” to have an opinion.
For affordable bourbons and ryes, Union Horse out of Kansas City has some good ones. I like their barrel strength rye and am not generally a rye guy. For Canadian rye, we just got a bottle of Mastersons. I had just a sip but it was good IIRC.
^ I’ve met a few whiskey drinkers who got into Scotches working in your order, starting with the peats. You never can tell. Conventional wisdom would be for someone who is fond of bourbon and that kind of drink to start with Speysides, but I’ve been surprised. I started with Glenlivet and Oban before finding my favorite, the Islays. That’s why I think it’s fun to go to a well stocked bar or specifically a scotch whisky bar, to get a tour of flavors. The differences between regions and even within regions can be quite vast, so much that you’d be hard-pressed to recognize an Ardbeg as the same drink as a Auchentoschan as a sherry casked Macallan, etc. I find it far more wide ranging in flavors than American whisky styles.
I’m probably going to be excoriated for even saying this but I’m partial to Famous Grouse for a blend. I’ve tried JWB and Platinum and I liked the Platinum much more. Red and Black, blech.
I started with Glenlivet and have been working my way through many different single malts, my current favorite was my birthday present last year, an 18 YO Glenmorangie that is exquisite. I also tend to run to either The Macallen 12, Glenmorangie Original or Quinta Ruban, or Laphroaig 10 for my usual tipples.
I also quite enjoyed Glen Breton 10 although it is really light compared to the big Islay malts.
Famous Grouse is just fine! When I lived and worked in Scotland near Oban, I learned to drink that as my everyday drinker. There’s also a Black Grouse that’s supposed to be better at slightly higher price, but I’ve never had it.