Game of Thrones may have had one of the most universally panned final seasons ever, but its cultural impact at its height cannot be overstated. Look no further than a collaboration with the world’s biggest blended Scotch whisky brand and its parent company for proof.
With House of the Dragon soon back for its third season, and the new HBO A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms getting rave reviews, interest in the world of Westeros is rising again. With it, there is renewed curiosity about those Game of Thrones whiskies that appeared in 2018 and 2019, the ones you still spot on specialist shelves or listed online at prices that need a moment to process.
If you’ve come across these bottles and want to know what you’re actually looking at, this is for you.
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READ THE STORYWhat Are the Johnnie Walker Game of Thrones Editions?
The range was a collaboration between Diageo and HBO, launched ahead of Game of Thrones’ eighth and final season.
It was always a limited run — there was no plan for these to become permanent fixtures — and it’s worth stating upfront that these are proper Scotch whiskies. The packaging may be the hook, but what’s in the bottle isn’t an afterthought.
The range splits into two distinct groups.
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First, three blended Scotch whiskies under the Johnnie Walker name: White Walker, A Song of Ice, and A Song of Fire. These are the accessible end of the range, designed for fans as much as whisky drinkers. White Walker launched in October 2018, with A Song of Ice and A Song of Fire following as successors timed to the final season.
Second, the Game of Thrones Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection — eight bottles, each from a different Diageo distillery, paired with a different Great House or the Night’s Watch.
A ninth bottle, the Mortlach 15 Year Old “Six Kingdoms,” was released after the show concluded.
The eight single malts are:
- House Stark (Dalwhinnie)
- House Lannister (Lagavulin 9 Year Old)
- House Targaryen (Cardhu Gold Reserve)
- House Greyjoy (Talisker)
- House Baratheon (Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old)
- House Tully (The Singleton of Glendullan)
- House Tyrell (Clynelish Reserve)
- Night’s Watch (Oban Bay Reserve)
Were These New Creations or Existing Whiskies?
Yes, they are different whiskies, but they were not all created in the same way.
Some bottles were made specifically for the Game of Thrones series. This includes most of the single malts, such as House Lannister’s Lagavulin 9 Year Old and House Stark’s Dalwhinnie Winter’s Frost. These were new whiskies, designed to match the character of each house.
Others were existing whiskies with new packaging. House Targaryen’s Cardhu Gold Reserve and House Baratheon’s Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old fall into this category.
The three blends, including White Walker, were created as limited editions but follow a familiar Johnnie Walker style.
What Do They Taste Like?
The range runs from light and easy to smoky and assertive.
On the lighter end, A Song of Ice is clean and fresh, built around vanilla and orchard fruit. If you want to step into the single malts without a dramatic change of gear, the House Tully Singleton of Glendullan is the natural next move — sweet, rounded, approachable.
House Stark’s Dalwhinnie Winter’s Frost has honeyed, lightly citrus character; pleasant and gentle.
House Baratheon’s Royal Lochnagar 12 Year Old adds a drier, more floral edge and is one of the more traditional drams in the range.
House Targaryen’s Cardhu (essentially the Cardhu Gold Reserve in a new bottle) is fruity with notes of toffee, spice, citrus, and oak.
For something with more weight, the Night’s Watch Oban brings dark fruit and a subtle cocoa note — a step up in complexity without veering into smoky territory.
House Tyrell’s Clynelish Reserve is the most distinctive whisky in the collection: waxy, intense, with a sweet-dry tension bottled at 51.2% ABV that puts it in different company from its siblings.
At the bolder end, House Greyjoy’s Talisker is coastal and peppery with campfire smoke underneath — one of the strongest performers in the range for the price.
House Lannister’s Lagavulin 9 Year Old is the most overtly peaty, with smoke, sweetness, and a long finish. Younger than the classic Lagavulin 16, and lighter for it, but still very much a Lagavulin.
A Song of Fire offers a gentler introduction to smoke, using peated malt from Caol Ila to add character without going full Islay.
The Mortlach 15 Year Old Six Kingdoms sits apart from the rest — richer and heavier, with dried fruit and oak from its sherry and bourbon cask ageing.
Have They Won Any Awards or Critical Acclaim?
The reception was broadly positive on the single malt side, with one clear standout.
The Lagavulin 9 Year Old won Best Distillers’ Single Malt Scotch (up to 12 years) at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. The entire single malt collection also received a Double Gold for its packaging design at the same competition.
Elsewhere, the range attracted the usual split between whisky enthusiasts — some of whom appreciated getting genuine distillery character at accessible prices — and sceptics who dismissed the whole thing as a marketing exercise.
The truth sits somewhere between those positions. Some bottles genuinely over-deliver for the price. Others, particularly the Cardhu Gold Reserve, left critics cold, with many arguing that the whisky did not reflect the fire that is associated with the Targaryens.
White Walker drew more attention for its bottle design than the liquid inside, which is perhaps the honest verdict on where that particular release sits.
Which One Should You Buy?
If you are buying principally to drink, match the bottle to your taste first, and the theme second.
New to whisky, or buying as a gift for a fan? A Song of Ice or the House Tully Singleton are the safest options — light, sweet, and easy to like.
White Walker still makes the most sense if the bottle itself is part of the appeal: the thermochromic design that reveals hidden text when chilled is genuinely fun, even if the whisky inside is the most entry-level of the range.
House Lannister’s Lagavulin is the pick if you like peat and smoke. House Greyjoy’s Talisker is arguably better value — maritime and peppery, it punches above its price point.
If you want something different, the Clynelish Reserve is the most interesting bottle in the collection and is often overlooked.
For something that feels premium, the Six Kingdoms Mortlach is the most substantial pour in the range.
Where Can You Buy Them and How Much Do They Cost?
All of these were released as limited editions, which shapes what the market looks like now. You’re not browsing regular retail. You’re looking at whatever stock remains.
In the UK, specialist retailers still carry pockets of availability. The Whisky Exchange has listed bottles like the Clynelish Reserve and Oban Bay Reserve at broadly fair prices. Elsewhere, listings can climb considerably once stock becomes scarce — and scarcity is increasingly the situation.
In the US, the blends tend to have better availability than the single malts. A Song of Fire can still be found near its original price at retailers like Total Wine & More, while individual single malt bottles vary widely.
The important point is a simple one: higher prices almost always reflect scarcity, not better whisky.
The Bottom Line
The Game of Thrones range is easy to dismiss, and some of it deserves a little dismissal. But written off entirely? That’s too hasty.
There’s real Scotch whisky here — from Lagavulin, Talisker, Clynelish, and others — that delivers genuine character at prices that made sense on release, and still make sense if you find bottles near their original RRP.
Not every pairing between distillery and house was inspired, and every bottle justifies what you might be asked to pay for it today.
But the range is broader and more varied than its licensed-product reputation suggests, and the best bottles in it can be worth finding.
