Walker

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Posted by: Nick

Johnnie Walker got one thing right when creating their original premium bottling: the name. Black Label subtly suggests quality. Conclude any mundane product title with it and witness the elevation in esteem it receives. For example, Kellogg’s cornflakes: Black Label. Colgate toothpaste: Black Label. Toyota Corolla: Black Label. Chartered accountancy: Black Label.

The name alone should be enough to convince most discerning whisky drinkers that in comparison to the Red Label, this drop is a step up. And it is – but only slightly.

Johnnie Walker Black is blended from over 40 whiskies all of which are at least 12 years of age. There is a nice range of flavour in this dram, and the supposedly ‘trademark’ smoky character is even vaguely noticeable! The key to this whisky is balance: balance between enjoyable flavours and downright unpleasant ones.

This principle is demonstrated in the nose, which presents a battleground where pleasing chocolate-orange notes and nasty chemical aromas compete for supremacy. There is a lot to like here, although, conversely many elements I’m not at all keen on. The palate continues in a similar vein – the sickly sweetness from the Red Label makes a return but is partially disguised by more agreeable flavours such as oak, nutmeg, and in particular, peat-smoke. It’s the sort of smoke which is only really noticeable if you’ve just polished off a decidedly unpeated malt, but when discovered, it really gives this whisky a lift.

There is a degree of complexity on the finish that is not found in the Red Label. Despite only being bottled at 40% ABV, it features a small amount of lasting spiciness. Sadly the unpleasant sweetness also makes a return and rather spoils the party.

Johnnie Walker Black Label is a mixed bag of a whisky. For every interesting and enjoyable flavour, there is another objectionable one dragging it down. It seems destined to forever be a mixer for those who prefer a slightly classier Scotch and coke. It is premium only in name, sadly not in nature.

★★

#johnniewalkerweek

Find out about the rest of our multi-coloured adventures:

Johnnie Walker Red Label

Johnnie Walker Double Black

Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve

Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18 Year Old

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Johnnie Walker Green Label

Johnnie Walker: which is best?

Johnnie Walker Red Label

Reviewed by: Nick and Ted

In theory, blended Scotch whisky should showcase the best elements of the Scottish regions: the mellow sweetness of Speyside, the full bodied character of the Highlands, sexy smoke from Islay and the Islands. Mmm, makes you drool doesn’t it?

Johnnie Walker Red Label manages to showcase none of the above. Instead it somehow picks the worst of these regions: sickly sweetness from the lolly shops of Speyside, industrial air pollution, not from Islay, but Kilmarnock, and what of the character from the Highlands? Well, the only part it manages to keep is the dreadful weather.

To look at the Johnnie Red you would not detect anything amiss, but as soon as you give it a nose the questionable quality rears its head. Cloying treacly notes overpower the faint hints of oak desperately trying to claw their way through. Subtlety is not on the agenda here.

The palate is pretty one-dimensional, dominated by a fairly inconsequential caramel that fails to deliver anything of interest. There is a faint hint of maltiness, like cream biscuits where someone has licked out the filling, although admittedly they’re not even the nice kind of biscuits. The finish is lasting in the same way that a glass of cordial lingers at the back of the throat when you haven’t watered it down enough. The burn is not so much from the alcohol but the unpleasant sweetness.

Around the world the Johnnie Walker Red Label is predominantly served as a mixer, and tasting it neat we can understand why. Having said that, millions of litres worth of the stuff is sold around the world every day. In fact it’s the highest selling Scotch whisky on the planet, so basically, what do we know?

★

#johnniewalkerweek

Find out about the rest of our multicoloured adventures:

Johnnie Walker Black Label

Johnnie Walker Double Black

Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve

Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18 Year Old

Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Johnnie Walker Green Label

Johnnie Walker: which is best?

Blind tasting: Johnnies Night

Posted by: Nick

I like to consider myself somewhat clued up about whisky. Over my time I’ve had a dram or two. I dare to think of myself as an experienced whisky drinker. And I would like to believe that just maybe, I could tell a $200 bottle from one costing pocket change.

But then there was one night. One terrible night. One awful night when everything I knew about whisky hung in the balance. I am referring to: Johnnies Night.

Spooky Johnnies Whisky Waffle Nick and Ted

DRAMATIC MUSIC!!!

Johnnie Walker is the best selling maker of blended Scotch whisky on the planet. Despite this, or maybe because of it, my colleague Ted and I have never truly cared about any of their products. This of course was most likely a result of our dabbles as younger, broker men, when we frequently ‘tasted’ the Red Label multiple times an evening at various social events we attended, and then were too stingy to seek out their more expensive and esteemed bottles. Slowly and surely, however, we built up a collection: through our own purchases, our fathers’ purchases, and purchases by our generous friend Stephen who provided the two most valuable bottles (things haven’t changed that much – we still can’t ordinarily afford a bottle of Blue simply for a blind tasting night!)

The task was simple – six expressions of Johnnie Walker: Red, Black, Double Black, Gold, Platinum and Blue, were to be blind tasted and we would predict which dram was which. Now, I say simple. This turned out to not be the case.

An artsy close up of our un-whisky friendly glassware. They have colour-coded tags, though!

I’ll make the excuse here and now that we had never tried several of the expressions before – but this could not explain our poor showing when the results came in.

I won’t go into the detailed statistics of the night, partly because it would make tedious reading, and partly because we are far too embarrassed to share them with the world. Suffice to say that we rated the blue far lower than it’s worth and overvalued the red label. The Platinum and the Gold didn’t fare any better, while the Double Black proved popular.

Maybe this says that we do not have as expensive taste as we claimed. Or perhaps it says we do not have as developed palates as we think. Eager to prove this latter fact wrong, Ted and I had a second attempt, this time correctly identifying the Red, Black and Double Black, but then mixing up the upper three.

Lots of Johnnie Walker – some would say too much…

At the end of the night, we were confused, but not perturbed. It was the first blind tasting we had ever done, and we finished the night with a better understanding of blended whisky. The results had turned up the fact that the Gold and Platinum bottles did not appeal greatly to us, nor justify their price tags. The Blue Label was slightly better received, although embarrassingly, so was the Red. Finally, the biggest revelation of the night was our discovery of, in our opinion, the best Johnnie Walker expression.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you some actual consumer advice.

Taking into account flavour, value, personal preferences, and the level of inebriation we had reached at the conclusion of the night, we found the best bottle of Johnnie Walker colour expression to be the Double Black.

That said, I’d take a bottle of Glenlivet any day.

#johnniewalkerweek

Whisky Waffle announce: Johnnie Walker Week

Posted by Nick and Ted

The Whisky Wafflers are chuffed to announce their first ever ‘event week’! Over the next seven days they will be sampling each of the main expressions of Scotland’s most famous and renowned blended whisky. I am of course referring to: Walkers Kilmarnock Whiskies!

What’s that? It’s not called that these days? Well what is it then? Oh. I see. I stand corrected.

I am of course referring to: Johnnie Walker!

If you are a Scotch whisky drinker, it’s likely that at some stage in your life, you will have tried a Johnnie Walker product. If you are not a Scotch whisky drinker, it’s even more likely that at some stage in your life you will have tried a Johnnie Walker product – and it put you off.

Regardless, be sure to tune in over the next seven days for our light hearted and occasionally tongue in cheek opinions of all six main expressions, as well as the story of our darkest whisky drinking day.

With all that and more coming up, be sure to visit the page over the next week and find out exactly what we think of the best selling whisky in the world!

#johnniewalkerweek