This review is based off a few drinks from a bottle that belongs to my father-in-law, and which dates back to the early 2000s. He originally bought this bottle intending to open it to celebrate my wife's college graduation. But that passed, and the bottle remained unopened. Then the plan shifted to celebrating her law school graduation--which also passed, without any Blue Label. This bottle somehow made it through those significant life events and our wedding, which to be fair happened out of state for him. Finally, when we moved back to Miami this year, he opened it upon our arrival. Blue Label has a nose that recalls certain other luxury items like cigars and perfume. It's not like a single malt where certain characteristics jostle their way to the front, but falls within the classic jack-of-all-trades school of blending. I detect an oily smoke, dates and raisins, kiln-dried, unpolished wood, and roses. Light, sweet, and smooth is the target that Johnnie Walker aims to hit in the palate, and they hit it. The entry is sweet cream at first, followed by apples and orchard fruit, then some soft wisps of hookah smoke. The overall flavors do not stand out enough to be challenging, and the overall aspiration seems to be to impress people with how smooth and easy-drinking this blend is rather than how much complexity it has. The finish follows through on many of those notes, as I get something reminiscent of cookies-and-cream ice cream, apple skin, honey-coated cereal grains, and the faintest trace of oak spice. Again, the goal doesn't seem to be complexity but rather as smooth an experience as one can create in a scotch, which also explains why Blue Label is bottled at a weak 40% ABV. This is a respectable but unchallenging scotch, and not one I'd buy myself.