Review #: 6
Description: Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old
Spirit: Scotch Whisky
Background: Johnnie Walker is one of the most iconic brands in Scotch, with bottles first sold back in 1820. Nearly every bar you go to will have some brand of theirs on hand. Owned by Diageo, the blends have a vast stock of whisky available from a number of distilleries, including some rare and decommissioned ones in their higher end blends. The black label is on the bottom end of the range but still carries a 12 year age statement and is a blend of malt and grain whisky. I received this bottle as a present from a friend that we shared some together. I reviewed it several weeks after.
Distillery – Allegedly 40 different distilleries
Bottler – Johnnie Walker
Brand – Johnnie Walker
Selection – N/A
ABV – 40%
Age – 12 Years
Nose – Quite fruity with some smoke. Like smoked cherries
Taste – Salted caramel, burnt apples
Finish – Medium smoke, black pepper into a sweet fruit finish
Score: 4
Would I buy a bottle? It’s a good gift bottle. Decent budget option
Thoughts: I reviewed this back to back with the Monkey Shoulder and you could definitely pick up far more fruity characteristics. The smoke was a little more subdued in the taste but came through nicely on the finish. It’s not bad and certainly could be worse (looking at you, Red Label). In the world of Scotch, I don’t think there are a ton of great options in the budget scotch zone, but this and Monkey Shoulder are plenty fine for being around the $30 range. With the JW name, this makes a good gift bottle to share with someone who may know a little about whisky and want to get more into it and this won’t scare them away.