Review #26: Johnnie Walker Black Label

Distillery: Blend

Bottler: Johnnie Walker

Region: Blend

ABV: 40%

Age: 12

Price: $3 for a 50 mL miniature

Color: 1.3, Russet, Muscat

Nose: Sweet with the pungent smell of cooked fruit. I can’t really pick out any specific ones though.

Palate: Starts off sweet with some notes of mashed cereal. There’s a ton of caramel as well. Right at the end, there is a slight smokiness/peat which is lovely.

Finish: Short-medium in length with the caramel notes and smokiness.

Conclusion: It’s been a really, really long time since I’ve had Johnnie Walker Black. I had been debating whether to pick up a bottle of the Black Runner edition of this blend when I settled on grabbing a miniature of the regular JW Black for the moment. Overall, not a whole lot has changed about this guy. Pleasant to drink but nothing mind-blowing. I doubt I’ll ever keep a bottle of this around or order it in a bar/restaurant but I wouldn’t turn down a dram of it anywhere either.

Final Score: 73

Scotch whisky review #26, Blended whisky review #3, Whisky Network Review #35

Scoring Legend:

• 96-100: The perfect dram, nectar of the gods.
• 90-95: Near perfect, there is something truly special about this whisky.
• 85-89: Amazing, will always try to keep a bottle of this in my collection.
• 80-84: Very Good, maybe only one minor nitpick about the whisky keeping it here.
• 75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink.
• 70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get it.
• 60-69: Meh, still drinkable.
• Below 59: If you have a bottle of this, start cooking with it instead.