Whisky : Johnnie Walker 12 Year Black Label

Country/Region : Scotland/Blend

ABV : 40%

Cask : Various.

Nose :  Faint charcoal from last week’s grilling festivities.  Floral honeyed sweetness with a hint of salt.  The muddy wet grass patch beside a swimming pool— thick sweet green grass, a hint of earth, and a dash of pool chemicals and memories of summer.  Altogether a mild nose whose flavors are clean and distinct.

Palate : Light and delicate— though less charitably one might call it weak and watery.  Light honey with extremely mild oak spices and indistinct fruit basket notes.  The barest wisp of smoke and dark maple syrup.  

Finish :  Light and a bit fleeting— dry oak spices and distant fruit notes wave goodbye.  Just enough that between sips you likely will not forget you are drinking whisky.

Score : 3

Mental Image : Pool Side BBQ— 3 days later. The 

Something Better : Johnnie Walker Double Black (richer/more savory flavor profile, similar short finish)

Something Similar : Johnnie Walker Platinum (similar muted flavors, floral/fruity profile)

Something Worse : Johnnie Walker Red (also scotch)

Notes : Safe, reliable, predictable, dependable— Johnnie Walker Black Label is a lot of things, but is it great scotch? Not especially. 

Johnnie Walker Black Label has become the first step for many scotch initiates toward more extraordinary things. With a dram of Johnnie Walker Black, you leave behind the bottom shelf of cheap blends that are best mixed away in cocktails and come something greater. It is not a ticket to scotch nirvana; instead, it is a ticket to the purgatory of a mid-shelf scotch that might be better off in a cocktail but can be consumed neat when necessary or desired. I have been in plenty of situations when Black Label was the premium scotch available— the top shelf, the bartender’s best. In those instances, when I am really in the mood for scotch and unwilling to be deterred, Black Label is good enough to blend into the background buzz of the evening, neither standing out as something incredible nor triggering a gag reflex.

The Black Label is a friendly introduction typically priced very competitively. I would grab it over Monkey Shoulder, blended malt or not, as I find the flavors in Black generally more pleasant to sip on. I would also grab it over the similar age-stated Dewars or Chivas— though as you go up the ladder of color-coded blends, I think Chivas 18 is a more exciting choice than the comparable Gold or Platinum Johnnie Walker.

The D grade (now a three because I switched off from letters to numbers) encompasses all of these thoughts— Black Label fits a niche, I have consumed it neat without qualm, sometimes it is the best option available to you, and you can trust to be just as safe as it was the last time you drank it. If you poured me a dram, I would take it. As long as you are not drinking this side by side with something more full-bodied, richer, or cask strength, then it can stand alone just fine.