Saturday, July 30, 2016

Whisky Review: Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 years



Approximately 40 different whiskies make up this blended Scotch whisky.  Each whisky has a minimum age of at least 12 years.  The proportion of grain and malt whiskies making up this blend is unknown.

There is artificial coloring added too.

The price is sharking up.

But, guess what?  It's still the best 12 year old blended Scotch in the market place.

Nose (undiluted)
Vanilla, gentle peat, ocean air with a salty tang, orange rind and floral notes.

Palate (undiluted)
The taste experience commences with smooth, sweet cinnamon, caramel, toffee, toasted almonds, brown sugar, malt, some spiciness, but not to the point of pepper, which evaporates quickly into clouds of subtle peat and smoke.

Finish (undiluted)
Very restrained peat with a flourish of smoke and grains of sea salt round out this tasting experience.

General Impressions
This is the gold standard of 12 year old blended Scotch category.  Costs a bit more, but is worth it.  Very consistent bottle to bottle.  The master blender and team do an amazing job of maintaining the consistent flavor bottle to bottle, batch to batch.

Cheers!


Jason Debly
at

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 3, 2016 at 1:34 AM

    Currently below $40 down here,,, An extremely easy to drink Scotch... too easy in fact... Partly why I don't buy it...

    AL (from OZ)

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 14, 2016 at 8:00 PM

    Let me change that Jason.... The same vendor recently raised the price from $39 to $42 for a few days... looked it up again a couple of days ago ... bang! $49.... Just had another squiz.... $42.95. A local vendor near where we live has it consistently at $43. Other whiskey prices are through the roof at this place though... Even Black Bottle sits at $50.... interesting point... Which is better in your mind? I'll be getting the JW B. I have tried The old bottle style of BB.... it was ok...
    AL(from OZ)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJune 30, 2018 at 4:31 AM

    Hi Jason,
    Purchased a bottle of Black Label/Sherry Edition last month. Not tried yet. Have you come across it? At around $10 more than std black label I won't have great expectations given my affection for the JWB has wained significantly. Looking at a lot of other variants in the JW range I feel the owners have turned it into a money grabbing exercise and I got sucked in.... we shall see mate.

    AL

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 3, 2018 at 7:49 AM

    While I've gone off the JWB (there others out I want to try) I recently bought the JWB sherry cask edition. Jason, have you coma across it in your travels mate?

    AL

    ReplyDelete