Showing posts with label Johnnie Walker Black Label. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Johnnie Walker Black Label. Show all posts

Johnnie Walker Black Label Review


Country: Scotland
Brand: Johnnie Walker Black Label
Type: Blended Whisky
Age: 12 Years
Alcohol: 40%

Colour: Copper/Dark Amber with a touch of Red (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: It’s actually a rather light nose. Give it some time to open up cause there’s some Alcohol around. I find Grain Alcohol, Toasted Grain, light Oak, Vanilla, Nuts, Brown Sugar, Toffee, light Sherry, Sweet Dried Fruit like Raisins and Figs, Sugared Orange Zest, Green Apple, Floral Notes, Buttered Toast, Cinnamon, Aniseed, Salt and Pepper. I only find very faint hints of Smoke and Dirty Earth.

Taste: Rather Thin Delivery with Sugared Grain, Oak, Nuts, Vanilla, Toffee, Caramel, Dried Fruit like Raisins and Prunes, Orange Zest, light Honey, Pepper, Cinnamon, Salty Licorice and very light Smoke, Ashes and Earthy Peat.

Finish: Short, Sweet at first but quickly turning Dry with a touch of Bitter Oak. I find Toasted Cereals, Grain Alcohol, Toffee, Caramel, Pepper, Salt and faint hints of Smoke, Ashes and Earthy Peat. 

Rating: 82

Nose: 21 – Taste: 20.5 – Finish: 20 – Overall: 20.5

Cardhu

General Remarks:

Johnnie Walker Black Label was my first whisky. It's a Blend that consists of around 40 Grain - and Malt Whiskies with a minimum age of 12 Years. Some of the main Malts include Cardhu, Cragganmore, Linkwood, Glen Elgin, Royal Lochnagar, Aberfeldy, Lagavulin, Caol Ila and Talisker. It's quite cheap with prices in the 30/35 US Dollar range (April 2017). I would assume that the Malt part for this blend matured in a mix of mostly Refill Ex-Bourbon casks and a few Refill Ex-Sherry casks. The Grain/Malt ratio is likely to be 70/30.

Johnnie Walker Black used to be a very good Blended Whisky and has always been sold at accessible prices. But Taste wise I've noticed a huge decrease over the years. I will assume that two main reasons are to blame for this downfall. Firstly the lack of good active Wood to mature the huge quantities of JW Red - and Black that are sold all over the world. And secondly the possible change of formula. To me, JW Black today smells and tastes like a mix of indifferent Grain Alcohol, Boring Cardhu and a spoonful of Caol Ila. Although I'm pretty sure that a lot of Linkwood, Glen Elgin and Royal Lochnagar disappears in this Blend as well. The Price/Quality ratio is still good but the magic of yesterday has gone. 

I do not recommend adding Water. It drowns the whisky quite quickly.

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Drinking Experience On the Rocks: Good

Conclusion: It’s still a very decent Blend, also in view of its competitive pricing. But to me it has lost a lot of its former charm. What a pity!

Jan van den Ende                      June 7, 2011, May 12 2012 and April 15, 2017

Caol Ila