cascode
Johnnie Walker Black Label Highlands Origin
Blended Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed
September 9, 2021 (edited February 11, 2023)
Nose: Bright grassy and hay-like aromas, honey and mild notes of orange zest and pears. Over time in the glass it blooms a little but there are no rich foundation aromas. The dry glass aroma is honey and maple syrup.
Palate: Soft, silky texture on the arrival, which is grassy and has fresh honeyed stone-fruit notes (nectarine, apricot, peach). There is almost no progression and the whisky lacks depth, but it's a good palate nonetheless - just simple. A little mild ginger spice appears towards the finish. The standout feature is the texture which is excellent and very pleasantly waxy, if a trifle thin.
Finish: Short. Soft fruit flavours that tail into delicate sweet ginger.
This is the second of the Johnnie Walker “Origins” series I’ve tried. Like the Islay Origin bottling I had previously it is a blended malt crafted from whiskies made in one region. In this case the component whiskies all come from the highlands. Clynelish and Teaninich are the feature malts and both are instantly identifiable when you taste it.
It’s a competent, light-bodied blended malt with good texture and it is very easy to sip, however it lacks the depth of the Islay Origin blend. I had the distinct impression this was only brought to market because the blenders were handed a brief to create four regional blends and there had to be something completely from the highlands (but why just the northeast?).
Clynelish and Teaninich are excellent malts but both mainly contribute top-notes (particularly Teaninich) and texture (particularly Clynelish). Consequently this comes across like a band with two fine lead guitarists but no rhythm section. That impression is reinforced when the whisky is used as a mixer, as it disappears almost completely.
Clynelish and Teaninich are also both frequently used by John Glaser in his blends, but he invariably adds something smoky or sherried into the vat to provide body and balance. It’s a pity Jim Beveridge and George Harper didn’t follow that approach here. I can't help but wonder whether a dash of Talisker or Oban in the blend might have improved it.
"Good" : 83/100 (3.5 stars)
55.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington Cheers! I'm interested to try the other two whiskies in this "Origins" series now. The Speyside is reputedly good but the lowland has received least recognition. It's also a blended scotch rather than a blended malt like the others, mainly because Diageo only owns one lowland malt distillery.
@cascode such humble high praise! Seems like this is one to keep on the lookout for.
Udate - rating adjustment. Having now just finished off my first bottle of this I'm revising my original score from 3 up to 3.5 This whisky took a while to appeal to me, or else it took me a while to understand it - not sure which. Maybe a little oxidisation helped. I'd not alter any of the original tasting notes but I would add that the texture slowly won me over and I simply found myself reaching for this again and again in preference to the other malts I have open right now (for reference: Kilchoman Sanaig, Speyburn 10, Timorous Beastie and an 8 year old SMWS Miltonduff). It's a very relaxing and appealing blended malt, particularly as a nightcap. I enjoyed it enough to buy another bottle.
🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂
@islay_emissary Ha! Actually Diageo did themselves a disservice by marketing the four whiskies in this "12 year old Origins" series under the Black Label banner. I'm sure 90% of customers will instantly assume it is a blended scotch, which it definitely is not, and this bears no resemblence to standard Black Label 12 at all. It would have made way more sense to market them as a series of Green Label blends, in parallel with the Island Green blend. And yes, standard Black Label still only rates 2.5 from me 😁
About time you gave Johnnie Black 3 stars. Only took 4.5 years. 🙂