Johnnie Walker Double Black
How ’bout a blend. as any person serious about whisky knows, Single Malts are not always better than blends – though I myself would rather be drinking a cheap cheap malt than a plonk rank disgusting young grain blend.
Here’s a recent twist on the old faithful Johnnie Black, matured in heavily charred oak.
Nose: Interesting, a bit of malt mixed with a bit of smoke, mixed with a bit of salt, mixed with a bit of sweetness. Dried leaves, dried flowers, fruit drops. In my mind, and generalizing, like a Highlander mixed with an Islay. Difficult to get this nose to speak loudly, it is quite reticent, and doesn’t reward with any hidden complexity.
Palette: Sweet, malt, paraffin. Then dry dusty spices, like cloves and nutmeg. Salty again and liquorice takes over. Quite straightforward and ‘short’.
Finish: Medium, bit of smoke, mildly sweet spice notes.
For what it is, very nicely blended – note the lack of an age statement, whereas the standard Black comes in at 12 years. And yet I think I prefer this over the normal Black. An example where the blender’s art has made the sum greater than its parts?
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