Scotch

Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve Scotch Whisky Review

Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve

Our Johnnie Walker review series continues with one of the newest members of the brand’s permanent lineup, Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve.  Until 2013, there was Johnnie Walker Gold Label 18 Year Old.  That’s been dropped from the lineup and Diageo added this no-age statement blend and Johnnie Walker Platinum Label, aged 18 years.  We’ll get to a comparison between the two Gold Labels here at AdventuresInWhiskey.com soon enough.  JW Gold Reserve is a blended Scotch whisky, containing several malts, like Clynelish, blended with grain whiskies.  The result is a creamy take on the Johnnie Walker house style.

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Johnnie Walker Red Label Scotch Whisky Review

Johnnie Walker Red

Johnnie Walker Red Label is the brand’s entry level whisky.  Like all Johnnie Walker releases, this is a blended Scotch whisky.  No age statement and a pretty low price leads me to think JW Red Label is a young whisky.  According to owner Diageo’s product information sheet, Johnnie Walker Red Label is the world’s best selling whisky.  Red Label is a blend of 30 young malt and grain whiskies, and is designed to be a mixer.

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Johnnie Walker Double Black Scotch Whisky Review

Johnnie Walker Double Black

Although I’ve enjoyed American whiskey for years, I’m a Scotch newbie.   The idea of a peaty, smoky whisky intimidated me.  So I started my Scotch adventures with some sweeter and fruitier Scotch whiskies, such as Glenlivet 12 and The Balvenie 14 Caribbean Cask (full reviews coming soon).  Johnnie Walker is such a giant brand, so that was my next stop.  Diageo was kind enough to send me samples of most of the Johnnie Walker lineup, including the focus of this post, Double Black.  I sampled and tasted them all several times, but waited to taste this one last.  It was worth the wait.

Johnnie Walker Master Blender Jim Beveridge took the dark, smoky notes from Johnnie Walker Black Label and amplified them to create Johnnie Walker Double Black.  This is the smokiest JW blend thus far (to my knowledge).  The press release states Johnnie Walker Double Black contains some single malts from smaller distilleries on Scotland’s west coast.  This whisky retails for about $42.   So, how is it?

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