Nose: Light dried fruits, sherry and a bat’s fart of peat smoke. There is a sweet note that is probably Cardhu. Palate: Thin, dried fruit and barley sugar, and then a rush of hard, hot brittle pepper. I cannot taste any peat in the palate at all. Finish: Medium/short. A mixture of thin, grainy sweetness and buzzy tannic pepper. The aftertaste is sour and bitter. Horrible. I’ve been drinking Johnnie Walker Black Label since the mid 1970s and it has never before tasted this bad. Once it was a go-to blended scotch perfect for mixing and long drinks and just good enough to be a sipping whisky. When non-whisky folk asked me what was a good everyday scotch, or what was my favourite blended scotch this is the one I’d name. However a few years ago I noticed it was starting to become weak and flavourless. My last bottle (review appears below) was not that long ago, in November 2022 but this most recent bottle is notably inferior. In case anyone is interested it is from batch L2165 CA 002, so maybe check that if you feel you must buy a bottle of Black Label (the number is etched at the base of the rear side). However I’d strongly urge you to buy something else. This is awful stuff, and it’s not cheap. The nose is still worth 2 or maybe 2.25 stars, but the palate and finish are barely worth 1 star. “Inferior” : 65/100 (1.5 stars) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previous review: November 23, 2022 Nose: Apple, pear, vanilla, malt, orange marmalade, sandalwood, and a buttery oak quality with a mild ashy/smoky background. It’s always a very familiar and reminiscent aroma but it seems to be getting a little more restrained every time I try it. Palate: Sweet, light malt and caramel entry. Very appealing. However, after the solid start it stalls and there is little happening in the mid-palate. Some weak black tea, faint red berries, notes of anise or liquorice and a little ashy cigarette smoke. There is also a tinge of sour flatness coming from the grain whisky. The texture is a little waxy but also a bit weak and hard. Finish: Medium/short. Sweet, but with a slightly metallic bitterness in the aftertaste. I’m deleting some of my old reviews here so I took the opportunity to revisit Johnnie Black and taste a current batch. In summary, this blend has a light fruit and cereal character with a vague hint of oak, some trace peatiness and a lightly oily/waxy mouthfeel. The profile is relatively consistent, but it does drift a little, and I’m certain that over the last 40 years it has slowly diminished from being one of the outstanding blended scotches to just another average contender. If you are familiar with the major blend components they stand out quite distinctly. Sweetness from Cardhu, waxiness from Clynelish, a hint of spice and maritime body from Talisker and some smoke and citrus from Caol Ila (along with a host of supporting notes from many other Diageo-owned malts). It's a well composed and balanced blend that is only really let down by some rather average grain whisky. It's still an acceptable sipping scotch, although increasingly better used as a mixer, and nowadays it is being crowded out by an ever-expanding selection of very good competing blends. However considering how much of this is produced it's a miracle that the quality is as high as it is. Over the last 10 years Diageo has sold around 2.5 billion bottles of whisky. Probably 90% of that was Red and Black Label. Astonishing. “Average” : 78/100 (2.75 stars) ----------------------------------------------------------- “Inferior” : 65/100 (1.5 stars)