I've Tasted Hundreds of Whiskies. This Classic Luxury Scotch Is the Best You Can Buy

[Celerity]

The most recognizable name in luxury blended Scotch is a classic for a reason. We dive deep into its history, production, and taste.

https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/johnnie-walker-blue-label-review



Blue Label is the pinnacle of Johnnie Walker's line of Scotch. Only one per 10,000 Scotch barrels produced by spirits company Diageo makes the cut for this blend—and the group makes 11 million casks per year. After carefully tasting Blue Label over a few weeks and talking to the world’s top whisky experts, including Johnnie Walker's master blender, I developed a new appreciation for it that I'll carry for life.

Introduced in 1992 as Johnnie Walker’s first luxury whisky, Blue Label is a relative youngster for a brand with roots stretching back to 1820. But over the past 32 years, it has achieved worldwide fame and appreciation.

What makes Johnnie Walker Blue Label so special? A combination of factors: extremely fine whiskies, thoughtful blending procedures honed over generations, flavors that appeals to both whisky connoisseurs and newbies alike, and visually stunning bottles. But there's much more that adds to this special Scotch brand's undeniable magic.

In This Article

Johnnie Walker Blue Label at a Glance

Pros and Cons of Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Johnnie Walker Blue Label Review

How to Drink Johnnie Walker Blue Label

History of Johnnie Walker Blue Label

How Does Johnnie Walker Make Blue Label?

If You Like Blue Label, You'll Also Like…

Why You Should Trust Me

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[Bobstandard]

1. Oh come off it

[Celerity]

3. ?

[Wolf Frankula]

2. Never had it

I've had Black Label and Red Label but never Blue Label. How is it?

Wolf

[Celerity]

4. It's one of the few blends I buy, and it's still fairly affordable, given the explosion in Scotch prices over the past

10 years or so.

It is one of the classic 'you will never be disappointed' buys.

[Pinback]

5. Once in a while I enjoy a wee dram

of Kilkerran Single Malt from Glengyle Distillery in Campbeltown.
https://kilkerran.scot/

I’ve scaled back my alcohol consumption considerably, but when it’s time to try something else, I may give this JW Blue a go. Thanks for the tip.

[Celerity]

7. Kilkerran 16yo is one of my favourite sub 100 quid bottles in terms of single malts, it is just superb, especially at

its price point.

https://www.dramface.com/all-reviews/kilkerran-16yo-2023



Review

Kilkerran 16 Years Old 2023 (01/05/23) , 46% ABV

£70, some availability

Homogenisation isn’t a word that can be bandied about when talking about either Springbank or Kilkerran, and variation from batch to batch is embraced. The previous three releases of their 16 year old have used a bigger proportion of ex-bourbon casks. In 2020 it was a lofty 96% ex-bourbon and 4% ex-marsala. In 2021 and 2022 they used a similar split to their 12 year old, with 75% ex-bourbon and 25% ex-sherry in 2021 and 70% ex-bourbon and 30% ex-sherry in 2022. Both the 2021 and 2022 have been reviewed by Dramface. This time around ex-sherry casks make up the lion's share, with a drop of rum added to the mix also. To be exact it’s 65% ex-sherry, 30% ex-bourbon and 5% ex-rum. We don’t get more specifics about the type of sherry casks used, I’d imagine oloroso, but maybe there is some PX in there too. Answers on a postcard. What I would suggest just looking at the colour of this year's release, it appears they have used mostly refill ex-sherry casks, which reassures me that the Kilkerran spirit will not be lost by a domineering sherry influence.

Nose

The first thing I notice is it is quite brown and leafy, but there’s also a fresher grassiness in amongst it, with the classic mineralic dry pebble note in many Kilkerran’s is showing itself also. There’s rich honey, caramel, and fruit notes mostly from lemon, but there is also tropical pineapple and a touch of mango coming through. There’s a meatiness to it too, and it’s salty ham, with a light sooty smoke and a pocket full of warm old copper coins. This noses beautifully and the sherry isn’t outshining the spirit at all. I’m not sure many would guess blind this was anywhere near 65% sherry maturation. I wouldn’t.



Palate

All those wonderful earthy, mineralic and coastal elements are present, along with mechanical oils, oily rags and sooty smoke. The honey and caramel sweetness is there again, as is the fruit, but it is lemon and raspberry sourness this time, with ginger and white pepper providing a gentle heat and light fizz, and the sooty smoke and charred oak notes providing a bitterness. It all sits really well together. As it finishes, gentle smoke remains, with the brown leafy notes from the nose coming in, along with hazelnut and cream.

The Dregs

I was intrigued to find out how the switch to predominately sherry casks would work out, and I have to say they have smashed it out of the park with this year’s 16 year old. It’s hard to express in tasting notes just how well all those individual notes work together and just how well balanced a whisky this is, but it is exceptional. Nosing and tasting it alongside the 8 year old cask strength bourbon cask, you start to notice the sherry influence more than when sampling it in isolation, which I guess makes sense. The caramel in particular starts to pop on both the nose and palate. I am often asked when I review a sherry cask whisky if there is any sulphur, and it is a worthwhile question when it comes to Kilkerran, as anybody who tried the 8 year old cask strength from 2021 will know, it can be a thing with their sherry cask releases. In this case there is absolutely no sulphur whatsoever that I can pick up. I don’t think I will be leaving it another three years to buy another 16 year old, and if the auction market continues to stagnate then I will be on the lookout for another one of these for a similar price. There promises to be a 20 year old added to the core range in 2024 according to Glengyle. Where they price that at is anybody’s guess, but I’d be surprised if they went too high.



I’ve gone high with the score, maybe too high in some people’s eyes, but I don’t mind that. If you are going to use the whole scoring band you shouldn’t be afraid to put a big one out there and this is well deserving of it in my view. I considered my score over and over and what swung it for me was a glance of all the bottles on my whisky shelf, and trying to find one that was better, and I was struggling. All the Kilkerran’s I have tried before this popped into my mind too. It’s hard to remember a better £70 I have spent on a bottle of whisky. We’ve only had a few 9/10’s scattered about on Dramface, but they are rare. If my use of the search engine has been successful, there have been a couple of Ardnamurchan’s, a couple of old Glen Keith’s, and an 18 year old Bowmore. The other four have been shared two a piece by Springbank and Kilkerran. Let’s make that three for Kilkerran, and raise this glass to you with heartfelt thanks, Mr Wright.

Score: 9/10

[Pinback]

8. Lovely, thanks for this write-up!

I have the 12-year Kilkerran at present, and it’s gorgeous. If the 16 is that much better, I’ll make the splurge!

I have few extravagances, but this is one area where coughing up the coinage is worth it.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. I've Had It

We used it at a memorial to a coworker who died in a car accident.
I remember that it felt like drinking velvet if such a thing was possible.
It's around $200 a bottle around here, so it better be really good. But, it seemed that good to me.

[Zorro]

9. What I appreciate about it is

you can get smashed and not have any hangover the next day.