Today's review will feature a name in whisky that you're almost sure to have come across - Johnny Walker. Johnny Walker has their whisky roots dating back to the early 1800s when John Walker started selling his whisky as part of his grocery business. His son and grandson are credited with expanding the brand and making it popular, where it eventually became what it is today: a globally recognized brand name. The name Johnny Walker is very widely known, I would venture to say that this is the brand name that the most non-scotch drinkers are aware of - that's saying something. Johnny Walker is a component of the popular bar-shots "The Three Wise Men" (Johhny Walker, Jim Beam, Jack Daniels), and the "Four Horsemen" (Johnny, Jim, Jack, and Jose Cuervo) - neither of which I would recommend. The company offers five different "labels" of whisky (in succession from least-expensive to most): Red Label, Black Label, Green Label, Gold Label, and Blue Label - most of which I will eventually review, except for the Red.
The label that is the focus of this review is the Black
Label. Black Label, a blended whisky,
has held that name since 1909 but the basic recipe dates back to the
1870's. In my experience it is almost
impossible to find a bar that does not have a bottle of this on hand. The age on the bottle is 12, meaning that 12
years is the age of the youngest whisky in the blend. The square bottle, which has become an icon,
was originally utilized for practical reasons.
The square bottle increased the number of bottles that could be fit into
a space, and reduced the number of broken bottles. Today the bottle is as much of a part of
Johnny Walker as the name. On to the
review!
My Black Label came in a small tumbler; the first thing I
noticed was its deep amber color. Giving
it the customary swirl in my glass resulted in decent legs, indicating that
this was a thicker whisky. The nose was
a bit much; the alcohol burn to my nostrils was strong, more like the nose of bourbon
than to a scotch. Trying to give it the
benefit of the doubt I spent several minutes nosing this whisky, but the
alcohol remained very much present throughout.
The aroma of smoky peat dominated the scent which made it difficult to
pick out any others. The mouth feel
confirmed what the legs told me, it was decently thick and nice to move around
with my tongue. I could taste the same
smoke that dominated the aroma, and there was a slight burn in the
swallow. I could feel the burn linger
slightly on my tongue. The woody, smoky
aftertaste did not linger long.
Rating: 1.5 out of a possible 5 Casks
Reason: I found the nose to be a bit unpleasant with the
strong alcohol burn. The peaty aroma was
nothing spectacular; it smelled, for lack of a better phrase, like the
'run-of-the-mill blend'. The burn with
the tasting was a turn-off, but in its defense I did enjoy the thickness. The aftertaste was like the aroma,
unremarkable, and also short-lived. I
don't enjoy giving such a low rating, but hopefully you come here for my honesty,
not my charity. The cost just about
matches the rating (low), at around $25 - $30 a bottle, and $5-$7 a glass.
I will see you soon with a review of a different blend. Until then, cheers!
Charles
No comments:
Post a Comment