Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to another Booze Review. This one is a good one. Yup.
Alright I will be honest: right now I am dreading writing this because I have not had alcohol in over two weeks because I am trying to get into shape and it does not help. I feel like a fraud. I feel I have disgraced the other members of our troupe by doing this but I need to think of my physical conditioning right now.
Because of this, I feel Mr. Johnnie Walker would disapprove of my associating myself with his delicious treat that was a limited time only available in duty free stores (thank god it’s now everywhere) bottle of godly nectar called Johnnie Walker Double Black.
We have told you about J.W. Black, Green, and of course Blue Label. At $33, $57, and $200 respectively, they are rather expensive but rather good. Double Black is, as the name says, Double the Black Label flavor; however, the price is $40. Double the taste for less than $10 does sound good; but where does this bottle rank and are you getting what they promise? Well the best way to check is by listening to what they have to say:
What they say: “The pioneering spirit & unique blending skills of our founders created Johnnie Walker Black Label in 1909. It is now recognized as the world’s No. 1 best selling deluxe blended scotch whisky.
Johnnie Walker Double Black is a blended whisky created in the style of Johnnie Walker Black Label but with a rich, more intense, smokier flavour. It’s proof that this pioneering spirit is still alive and well today.
Created though blending selected aged whiskies that are naturally smoky and rich in character, with those matured in deep charred oak casks, our master blender has created a whisky of real character and depth of taste.”
How good is this whisky? I have not had a glass in a month (of this whisky not all booze) and I could tell you how it tastes by just thinking about it. Smoky? Check. Depth? Check. Intense? Check. Flavor? NONE! FlavoUr? TONS! Character? You bet your devoted reader ass!
The biggest and best surprise is not the taste (Walker ALWAYS delivers as far as I am concerned), it is not the honesty (Walker ALWAYS scores high there), and it is surprisingly not the price (which is extremely cheap for what you have here). No. The biggest surprise is that this MIGHT BE the most smooth thing I have ever had. This is rivaling its big brother Blue Label and the crazy Russian Mafia Vodka that Lee had.
If I ever find a bottle of this I will buy it. I have not had a glass in so long and just writing about it makes me realize that this bottle (which I am holding for emphasis but is lost because of words) is my special occasion bottle of alcohol. It has become a ONE GLASS at the end of the day treat for me whenever I have a special event. That alone, shooting up above everything else in the process especially, is why these scores below exist.
Taste: 8.8 – It’s really really good, it’s nice and crisp, and just wows you with its initial taste.
Aftertaste: 6.8 – Not as potent here, really finishes quickly. It’s like it shows up says hi and then runs away.
Burn/Smooth: 9.3 – There is just no burn at all, this is smooth. Not something you’d expect with a name like Double Black, but god is it smooth.
Aroma: 8.0 – Has that nice smoky, powerful, just drink me kind of smell to it.
Honesty: 9.8 – Johnnie Walker has been statically high in manliness and the text on the box, the black bottle and labeling, that smoky fantastic taste with great smoothness just exudes manliness. The only reason this misses perfection is unlike most high tier JW it has a metal cap instead of a cork – which is customary to scotches.
Mixability: 7.24
On the Rocks: 7.6 – Normally a bit of ice/water really opens a whiskey up, but here it just feels like it dilutes the whiskey’s smokiness. I mean still a great drink, but not as good as straight.
Rusty Nail: 6.875 – Buffalo likes, but the sweetness seems to upset the balance.
Value: 7.9 – If chanced with the ability to buy this again (it’s special to Duty-Free stores and special occasions) we would have ZERO hesitation to buy this. Compared to other blended scotches and even those of the JW line we’d easily pay $50-60 bucks and not feel it’s out of our price range.
Google Shop Average: $40
Website: http://www.johnniewalker.com/
Reviewer Scores:
William Henri Neve the IV: A “Non-Ferris” 8.5
Justice: 8.5
BuffaloJern: 9.0
DJ_Lvl: 9.0
Bro-skater Bfey: 8.5
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Metric Score: 57.84/70 |+| Metric Average: 8.26 |+| Reviewer Average: 8.7
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Final Thoughts:
If someone broke into my house I wouldn’t think of using this bottle as a weapon, because it would be such a waste. This really is a perfectly balanced whiskey, you really get the feeling that they’ve set this up to be perfectly blended together to be smoky, but smooth.
This is one of the highest reviewer averages we have had. This is still .5 points overall below its big brother Blue but damn if this did not just earn the love of the rest of the family. I guess you could say that this *puts on sunglasses* is not the Black Sheep of the Walker family. YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
In summary: from the first taste you just go – oooh that’s nice, and really that’s all you need to know.
It has been written, so it must be. Science has proven it.
-William Henri Neve IV