Johnnie Walker Black Label

...talk about the history of Johnnie Walker, as you may find that i might be exaggerating on it. It's the best to visit www.johnniewalker.com if you want to know the history. Moreover, i might be just plagiarising the whole history from the website. It's best not for me to touch on it and i prefer going straight to the whisky itself.

The first Johnnie Walker Black Label that I have was the one which my dad gave to me a few years back. ...
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NAME: Johnnie Walker Black Label. Aged 12 Years

HELD BY: Diageo Group of Companies.(which also owns brands like Smirnoff Vodka and Captain Morgan Rum.

DISTILLED BY:
Johnnie Walker and Sons Limited, London. Although the name was based in London, the whisky itself is distilled, blended and bottled in Scotland.

AVAILABILITY: Everywhere. Widely sold.

PACKAGING:
more

Well, i certainly do not want to talk about the history of Johnnie Walker, as you may find that i might be exaggerating on it. It's the best to visit www.johnniewalker.com if you want to know the history. Moreover, i might be just plagiarising the whole history from the website. It's best not for me to touch on it and i prefer going straight to the whisky itself.

The first Johnnie Walker Black Label that I have was the one which my dad gave to me a few years back. It was an old black label bottle. It is not in production anymore and to get his old classic look would be difficult. I never opened it, until today, and I still keep this masterpiece locked in my cupboard. Anyway, my actions certainly do not prevent myself from tasting it. Although I did not want to open it, I eventually bought myself the new look of black label from the nearest hypermarket. Whether it’s the new look or the old look, everything inside just tastes the same, a 12 year good ol’ whisky.

NAME: Johnnie Walker Black Label. Aged 12 Years

HELD BY: Diageo Group of Companies.(which also owns brands like Smirnoff Vodka and Captain Morgan Rum.

DISTILLED BY:
Johnnie Walker and Sons Limited, London. Although the name was based in London, the whisky itself is distilled, blended and bottled in Scotland.

AVAILABILITY: Everywhere. Widely sold.

PACKAGING:
The packaging comes in a normal black box(as pictured below), it also comes in a Limited Edition special Christmas Tin, only available during Christmas season and the decoration seem to be different from year to year. The last type of JWBlackL 12YO come is a rare Limited millennium decanter. Each decanter is numbered, just like the Blue Label.
For the normal packing, there are two types, the old look(like mine, please see below) and the new look. The old look has very round and smooth corners, while the new ones have an edgier, solid look. The old bottle looks soft, but the new one somehow projects itself as an image of toughness and stiff.

CONTENTS: 750ml blended whisky at around 40 different whiskies aged at least 12 years . It also comes in a 1 litre bottle and 50ml bottle.(as pictured below)

VOLUME: 40% Alc.Vol (80 Proof) The average bottle only has 40% Alc but the miniature ones have 43% Alc.

I didn’t actually get the full aroma’s for the first time tasting it but after a few drinks, then only I was able to detect it.

TASTING NOTES:-
COLOUR: golden brown, thick textured.
NOSE: smoky, fruity, vanilla
PALATE: peaty, spicy, peppery, medium to full bodied, smooth
FINISH: slightly bitter, long finish, sweet like sherry
RATINGS: I would rate this 8/10
REASONS: The reason I rate this whisky at 8 is because the whisky lacks smoothness and could be over spicy too many. I would much prefer if it has the smoothness as in the Johnnie Walker Swing, but this does not mean that this range is the best. Johnnie walker Swing, although it has the smoothness, is too bitter for me to drink it neat.

RECOGNITION:
The Black Label was given the Gold Medal rating by the Whisky Magazine some time ago and was the editor’s choice of blended whisky. It was also popular and voted worldwide to be the ‘Greatest blended whisky in the world’, just like Red Label. And of cos’ it’s famous all around the world for its ‘Striding Man Icon’ and ‘Keep on Walking’ theme.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:
The peaty features are recognizable as the whisky blend mainly includes Single Malts from whiskies of western isles, as of Talisker.
As for the fruity taste, this is easily identifiable because the whiskies are matured in ex-sherry casks for some time.
I would not say this is a light whisky, but rather a medium style whisky.

I would like to share my experience with all readers by teaching something very valuable, passed down from a whisky master, to me and now to you, which is how to detect and differentiate a fake bottle of black label and a real one. Since Black Label, Absolut Vodka and Chivas are very popular around the world, they are targeted by the fakes. Many counterfeit producers might want to try to take advantage on careless customers.
When buying a bottle of Black Label, make sure you check –
The price - it should be around 13-15GBP a bottle. Anything much lower than that would be suspicious
The steel cap – it should have the word ‘Johnnie Walker & Sons(cursive font)KILMARNOCK SCOTLAND.’ The top of it should have ‘JOHNNIE WALKER, AGED 12 YEARS, ESTABLISHED 1820.’ Another thing that would appear on the cap is a hologram sticker on it. The last and most important thing would be, if you look closely, there will be a very small ‘UCP’ word in a Hexagon frame.
The label on the neck should have the word spelt ‘distillers’ instead of ‘distillery’.
The base should have and Euro ‘E’ mark in between the 750ml and 69mm.
Last but not least, if you want to know whether if it’s a fake or not, drink it and taste it.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:
I recommend that this whisky should be taken along with lots of ice, crushed ice. On the rocks will do, but I prefer crushed ice. I was taught to crush ice into tiny bits by using a handkerchief or a clean cloth if I do not have an ice crusher. It’s just simple, all you need to do is lay the handkerchief flat on the table, put the ice cubes in the middle of it, hold the four corners of the handkerchief and simply pull it up. All you need to do now is just whack! it on the hard surface…Tadaa!! Magic*(Cough, cough.... )
at around 13-15GBP, it's the cheapest 12YO on the market! A reasonable one!

When I usually hang out with my friends, we would make our own drinks.

COCKTAILS: We would usually mixed it with –
1. Coke,
2. Vodka and a slice of lime
3. Ginger Ale,
4. Spring Water
5. Juices,
6. Sprite and some mint leaves,
7. Beer
8. Kahlua and Baileys to make the Alc.Vol stronger.
9. Iced tea
10. Grenadine Syrup and Light rum with lots of ice.

Try it out!

Johnnie Walker is always my all time favourite blended whisky, and I still go back for more once my bottle of black label gets empty.

Oh yea, it's makes dizzy and gets me spinning around....

 

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