Johnnie Walker Black Label
A review by Tommy Byrne
Overall rating: 8/10 – (Blended whisky notation)
There are so many ways to view Johnnie Walker’s whiskies. It’s by far the best-selling brand of blends in the world and it has been like this for a while. In the beginning of the 20th century, while Coca-Cola was sold only in 3 countries, Johnnie Walker was already available in roughly 95 of countries (counting former colonies who are nowadays sovereign States). If the Red Label (the start of the line product of JW) is to my sense a terrible blend only to be mixed in a cocktail, it can’t be compared to its older brother in the line, the Black Label (JWBL). Made with roughly 40 whiskies aged at least for 12 years, JWBL is fine blend with interesting features, even for single malt initiés, like me, who despises Chivas Regal 12.
JWBL is a dark gold leaning toward amber blend with a fresh and sharp nose. First come notes of raisins, dried plums and apples, then some peat and Jerez (Fino) aromas. The palate is quite rich and round. Slightly toasted, the blend presents itself with a hint of burned honey, bitter chocolate and some leather. It finishes smoothly, but could last longer.
As I once heard on a television interview with a key person at Johnnie Walker’s, even if they don’t admit it, almost all distillers in Scotland have a bottle of JWBL hidden in their liquor cabinet. This makes a lot of sense, while a certain snobbism exists in the single malt community; JWBL uses more robust and complex single malts than its competitors. Though it’s no secret that Cardhu 12 and Caol Ila 12 are strong components of the JWBL structure, I’m quite sure that other distillers are always interested in figuring out how their own single malt comes out in this emblematic blend.
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