Blended
Scotland
Johnnie Walker Black Label has a long history. It dates back to the late 19th century when John Walker & Sons of Kilmarnock had three blends in ascending order of age and price: Old Highland, Special Old Highland, and Extra Special Old Highland. These had white, red, and black labels respectively, and were known by their colour. Then in 1906, the three blends were relaunched as White Label, a five year old, Red Label, a nine year old, and Black Label, a 12 year old.
While Red Label would lose its age statement and White Label disappear altogether, Black Label is still a 12 year old blend – though it did go through a phase without an age statement. Its prestige status was trumped with the launch of the super swanky Blue Label in the late 1980s, but Black Label has never lost its cache. Across the world today, a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label is a recognised currency and symbol of excellence.
The classic 12 Year Old Black Label is a blend majoring on Diageo’s Four Corners of Scotland distilleries Clynelish in the Highlands, Cardhu on Speyside, malt from Glenknichie and grain from Cameronbridge with a little smoke from Caol Ila.
Winter spice and treacle, hints of white pepper and a little citrus.
Rich and full with notes of wood smoke and dry spice, hints of barley and cereal with creamy toffee and a distinct herbal note.
Quite fruity and long with a note of sultanas and mixed peels.
JWBL is an odd Scotch to me; the nose is interesting, with sherry notes and hints of smoke. The palate is equally good, with a sweetness that's almost a little synthetic tasting but, never-the-less, pleasantly transitions into toffee and more hints of smoke. It's on the finish that JWBL falls apart: beneath the smoke there is an unpleasant acetone sweetness that transitions to bitterness as the finish is falling-off. While this doesn't render JWBL at all undrinkable, it dampens what is otherwise a pleasant whisky and one of the better blends I've tried.
When you want a scotch and you have a cold, this is where to go.
A good whisky for a fair price. This is a really good stuff.
It's better than not having any Scotch. But I'd much rather have a bottle of Highland Park 12 for another $10 or some Aberfeldy 12 for the same price or even cheaper than this stuff (locally)... Maybe I just prefer the single malts. As far as cheap blends go, this isn't bad. The popularity is lost on me though... Marketing?
This is money well spent if you want a whisky for those non special evenings, if you know what I mean. It has excellent balance and has a spot on taste. Perfect for those moments you want to lay back and relax after a hard days work and just relax. Haven't tried the double black though, looking forward to that.
