Johnny Walker Black Label

[jeff]

Had my first sample of this a couple days ago at a bar in the Hilton where we were staying in Orlando. Can you believe there was not a single bourbon to be found at this bar , though when I asked, I was shown the full line of Jack Daniels that they carried

Overall I found this to be a nice drink. Smooth and oily with hints of green tea and anise. There was a slightly medicinal "camphory" taste that was unusual, though not alltogether unpleasant. I might pick up a bottle sometime and explore it further, or I might not Anyone want to share their experiences with JWB?

P.S. Better than Dickle

[Bob]

Anyone want to share their experiences with JWB?

P.S. Better than Dickle

Jeff,

I am of the opposite opinion regarding Dickle/Walker. I do enjoy the George Dickle Number 12 quite a bit, and have never noticed the "vitamin" flavors, or other "off" flavors that many have observed and noted. To me, Dickle is THE Tennessee whisky. Regarding Johnnie Walker Black, I just do not enjoy blends any more. I prefer exploring the complexities that I find in the Single Malts, similiar to our discussing flavor profiles of our favorite Bourbons.

Bob

[OneCubeOnly]

Jeff--that medicinal/camphor-type taste is the grain whiskey component of blends. The main malt in JWB is Talisker, so if you want the awesome malt character without the graininess, try that.

[tdelling]

>...that medicinal/camphor-type taste is the grain whiskey component of blends.

Or perhaps the medicinal/camphor notes are from the peat smoke in

the Talisker...

Tim

[jeff]

Or perhaps the medicinal/camphor notes are from the peat smoke in the Talisker...

That is what I suspected. While I have not had much experience with Scotch, this is a subtle taste that seems to run common through all I have tried, even the single malts.

[OneCubeOnly]

Or perhaps the medicinal/camphor notes are from the peat smoke in the Talisker...

That is what I suspected. While I have not had much experience with Scotch, this is a subtle taste that seems to run common through all I have tried, even the single malts.

I'm really surprised you agree with that! I figured your experienced palate would know the difference! Actually, there's a real simple test to see if you're tasting the grain vs. the peat smoke: try some Irish whiskey--preferably a bold one like Jameson 1780 and see if you taste it.

[jeff]

I'm really surprised you agree with that! I figured your experienced palate would know the difference!

I claim absolutely no palate experience with scotch whatsoever. It tastes nothing like bourbon to me, so I can only go by what limited experience I do have. And seeing as I don't drink many neutral grain spirits, I can't make a judgment in that arena. Maybe we're just talking about different things. The taste I am refering to is something "mediciny" that I seem to taste in all of the scotch that I have sampled, which is not many. I have them all written down somewhere, but I know I have tried several blends as well as single malts.

[OneCubeOnly]

That's hard to say then...because "mediciny" could define anything from the antiseptic smell that vodkas have to the menthol-type taste from a pot-stilled malt. I just know that when I taste blends, there's a DEFINITE rough, medicinal character from the grain whiskey which is absent in single-malts. Again, if you want to determine whether it's the peat smoke, taste an Irish--with few exceptions (eg. Connemara), they're not peated. Also, most mainstream Irishes are blends, so you'll get that same grainy (what *I* call medicinal) taste.

[ratcheer]

Well, you know I don't drink scotch, anymore, but when I did, JWB was one of my top choices. I preferred its full body and flavor over light scotches such as J&B, Chivas Regal, etc.

Tim

[Nightcap]

... The main malt in JWB is Talisker ...

I've read that it is Cardhu.

[OneCubeOnly]

I've read that it is Cardhu.

I'm actually more inclined to believe it's Cardhu, especially after the whole relabeling/departure from "single malt" debacle that Cardhu had. Actually if you look here, you'll see Paul Pacult seems to believe Talisker is a major player. Also, check out this site which also lists Talisker.

I really don't know...I've seen different writeups.

[greenbob]

One Cube,

I found your websites interesting. I'm a very big Talisker fan. Talisker and Springbank are my favorite single malts. I would never have thought that JWBlack had Talisker. I've read on the Johnny Walker website that JWRed has Talisker, and that is more believable. But JWBlack seems to try to emulate the Speyside/Sherry style of Scotch. So I am very surprised.

And there was another little gem in your first website. Michael Jackson uses the word "Marijuana" to describe the palate. That's interesting.

[Bamber]

Cardhu, is the main malt in JW Black, although it does seem to contain a fair bit of Talisker. Medicinal flaours come from the malt whisky, when the malted barley is dried over peat. Grain tends to add vanilla and a harder, sharper edge, to blends.

[chasking]

Last year I went to a tasting hosted by Johnnie Walker where they offered tastes of several of the component malts that went into JW Black. The malts: Cardhu, Oban, Talisker, and Lagavulin. My eyebrows raised at the last two, since I don't detect much character of either in JWB, but of course anything tasted after Lagavulin will be weak in comparison. I'll have to try JWB again, in the interest of science.

[Nightcap]

I recall reading somewhere that there are about 40 different malts blended into JW Black, the youngest of them being 12 years old, and some reportedly much older. Man, what I'd give to spend a day with the blenders... that would be an education.

[Nightcap]

... And there was another little gem in your first website. Michael Jackson uses the word "Marijuana" to describe the palate. That's interesting.

Maybe he hadn't cleansed his palate.

[Hedmans Brorsa]

Talisker, and Lagavulin. My eyebrows raised at the last two, since I don't detect much character of either in JWB

Agreed. I bought my first bottle of JWB for many years this spring and I immediately reacted to the absence of the anticipated peat explosion. Maybe these brands are still featured, albeit in reduced quantities.

The over-abundance of liquorice made me think that Glen Rothes plays a big role but I have no evidence for this.

I don´t know about other countries but here in Sweden, before the single malt explosion, JWB was the average drinker´s first choice of premium whisky. Presently, at my local liquor store, it has been reduced to a special-order-only item. The times they are a changin´

[clayton]

Johnny Walker is still extremely popular worldwide.

The sales numbers say so, anyway.

Reuters

Top 10 spirits brands in world

Thursday June 17, 1:12 pm ET

CHICAGO, June 17 (Reuters) - Privately held Bacardi Ltd. is near a deal to buy the Grey Goose high-end vodka business for more than $2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The following are the top 10 spirit brands sold worldwide. The brands are ranked by name, type of spirit, the owner, and 2003 estimated retail sales in billons of U.S. dollars.

1. Bacardi Rum, Bacardi Ltd., $2.14

2. Smirnoff Vodka, Diageo Plc. (London:DGE.L - News), $2.13

3. Stolichnaya Vodka, Soyuzplodimport, $2.07

4. Hennessy Cognac, LVMH (Paris:LVMH.PA - News), $1.95

5. Absolut Vodka, Vin & Sprit/Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO - News), $1.52

6. Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, Brown-Forman Corp. $1.48

7. Johnnie Walker Black Scotch-Whisky, Diageo Plc. (London:DGE.L - News), $1.46

8. Johnnie Walker Red Scotch-Whisky, Diageo Plc. (London:DGE.L - News) , $1.39

9. Baileys Liqueur, Diageo Plc. (London:DGE.L - News), $1.31

10. Ballantine's Scotch Whisky, Allied-Domecq Plc. (London:ALLD.L - News), $1.22

[Gillman]

It is also worth noting, perhaps, that this top ten are all heavy advertisers.

Gary

[voigtman]

Jeff, I have not tried any of the Johnnie Walker varieties yet, but I strongly recommend a bottle of Ardbeg 10 single malt. No sherry, no cloying sweetness, just peat and barley sweetness. I may (depends on money) pick up the sampler pack of Johnnies (200 mL bottles of Red, Black, Gold, and Blue) this Xmas season just to know what these are all about. Maybe a bottle of Johnnie Green "Pure malt" (aka "blended scotch malt whisky") as well. I know when my step-father owned a tavern in New Jersey when I was a hell of a lot younger, he used to give his lawyer a case of Johnnie Black every Christmas, and there were never any legal problems

[Hedmans Brorsa]

Johnny Walker is still extremely popular worldwide.

No doubt. About a year ago I even stumbled upon, what appeared to be an official list of the top ten selling whiskies of the world where they, somewhat curiously, had combined the sales of Red and Black label to make it the best selling whisky in the world (I don´t know why this "trick" was allowed.)

What I have witnessed over the recent five years or so,though, is people (let´s label them 'casual drinkers') who previously when they wanted to "hit it big" almost always bought Black label nowadays instead opt for Laphroiag or Glenmorangie.

I also have to assume that when the largest liquor store in a town with around 100, 000 inhabitants (my hometown, that is.) removes a former top seller from the shelves that they must have good reasons to do so.

[Gillman]

Johnnie Walker is good whisky, the Black Label still offers quality but the best in their line up is the Gold Label, in my view. Considering the whiskies are 18 years old and if not all-malt not so far off from that standard, the price (around $60 U.S. ) is well worth it.

The pros are pros for a reason and Gold Label shows why. Blue Label is good too but the Gold has a deeper palate and is better value.

Gary

[Dave_in_Canada]

None of the JW's will even come close to Ardbeg 10. Ardbeg is a really good way to scare off any bourbon drinker.

[Gillman]

Well, different though, the symphony versus the soloist, right?

Gary

[voigtman]

None of the JW's will even come close to Ardbeg 10. Ardbeg is a really good way to scare off any bourbon drinker.

Probably! But Ardbeg 10 is one of my top 3 OB single malts, along with Lagavulin 16 and Laphroaig 10 cask strength. I always have these 3 on hand and I find bourbon stands up nicely to all three. In fact, I like to have a pour of bourbon then a dram of scotch or vice versa: the contrast is amazing. After a bourbon, say Eagle Rare 17 or Van Winkle 15, 107 proof, a dram of Ardbeg 10 is even more head-slappingly peaty than usual. Going scotch first, then bourbon, the bourbon is massively sweet, spicy, deep and complex: it just thunders! Same sort of thing with rye versus scotch. But not between bourbon and rye.

At this point, my whisk(e)y tastes seem to have evolved to almost equal liking for straight bourbon, single malt scotch and straight rye is only behind a little. I assume this is rare, but I find it bracing out in no man's whisk(e)y land. No way I would want to give up any of these three categories, but, on a desert island, I could get by with just one randomly chosen category, so long as the actual bottles were of good ones in their category (no Maker's Mark or Loch Dhu , etc.). Cheers, Ed V.