“John Barr blended scotch has an interesting history in that it was created in 1977 to fill the gap left by Johnnie Walker Red from the United Kingdom due to a dispute with the European commission over pricing and taxes. Eventually the John Barr brand was acquired by Whyte & Mackay, who expanded it to a global market. John Barr Gold Label is considered to be the middle-tier of their three scotch blends. They claim that Speyside malts are the heart of the scotch, which imply to us as a very lightly peated scotch with subtle smoke.”- Whiskeypedia