Richard-ModernDrinking
Johnnie Walker Red Label (c.1966)
Blended — Scotland
Reviewed
May 28, 2020 (edited April 6, 2021)
When I said I was going to review Johnnie Walker Red for my 500th tasting note, I neglected to mention that the bottle in question dates from the late ‘60s or early ‘70s. I don’t know if the numbers at the start of the tax strip reading 61966 imply a date, but if they do then it was bottled two months before I was born. Anecdotal evidence from my girlfriend’s father — who gladly let me take this bottle and several other vintage spirits from his garage — also suggests it’s from around that year. Dusties are always fun but in my experience disappoint more often than not. Evaporation, stopper degradation and unrealistic expectations that whisky was always better in the old days frequently combine to leave you underwhelmed.
And then sometimes you strike gold. As soon as I removed the perfectly functioning screw-top from this fully filled bottle, a waft of beautiful sherry flavors rushed for freedom. Rich, creamy toffee, with just a hint of smoke. Sherry casks are a luxury nowadays, but when this whisky was blended they were often the default for the industry. Still, I was not expecting the aroma to be so beautiful. It brought to mind nothing less than a 26-year-old Glenrothes I hand bottled from a single sherry cask at the Whisky Exchange last year. I’m not a fan of heavily sherried whiskies, but when they’re dialed down to the caramel zone of that Glenrothes and this Johnnie Walker then I’m in heaven.
So the nose was amazing, but surely that was just a fluke. This is Red Label after all - it had to be largely grain whisky, even back then, and there would be no hiding that once the whisky was in my mouth. Color me confounded. Maybe they had run out of grain that month, but for some reason this drinks almost as well as that Glenrothes. The creamy toffee and smoke of the nose continue in the mouth and the 43.4% ABV delivers a luscious, oily texture. I’ve spent three nights searching this whisky for off notes and the best I can come up with is a hint of something sharp in the middle and a finish that comes up a little short. And it’s not particularly complex - one sip tastes pretty much the same as the next. But really I’m struggling to find anything bad to say about it. This is pure drinking pleasure. In fact, I’m left with the conclusion that this is a fake: someone has refilled an old Red Label bottle with expensive whisky. Dusty hunters, beware.
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@LeeEvolved Gosh, thanks Lee. That’s a huge compliment, especially coming from you. Now if I can just find time to write up all my unpublished notes, I’ll hit 1,000 in no time.
Congrats on 500! I respect your reviews even more than the experts on this app. Glad to see you saved a great one for this milestone. Here’s to 500 more! Cheers.
Very cool, and very interesting! Congrats on 500!
@PBMichiganWolverine I will make it my next sample. It’s in the box marked “Blends”.
@Richard-ModernDrinking @Soba45 i stand corrected...just looked it up here ( Haig Gold Label, was a King George ). It was from mid-40s. @Richard-ModernDrinking if you find it, I’d be curious to see what you think.
Congrats on reaching 500 - a great review and a great whisky to choose for the occasion.
@Soba45 Me too. I was actually planning my next session with @PBMichiganWolverine to be all blends, including my dusties, but I got bored of waiting.
@PBMichiganWolverine ah nice. These bottlings aren't that expensive compared to similar aged single malts or those aged for decades. Not one for tasting flights these days but would love to do a tasting flight of older ones like this
@PBMichiganWolverine You did and I think I still haven’t got to it!
@Soba45 @Richard-ModernDrinking the oldest I’ve had was an early 60s Haig Club blend ( @Richard-ModernDrinking did I share a pour? Can’t recall). That was overly sweet, almost like Sweet tea.
Hey, I keep telling you guys, on a cold, wet golf course in Scotland, JW Red is 5 stars! As a good blend, it should really taste very much like it does today. Consistency over time is their hallmark. Congrats on 500!
@Richard-ModernDrinking Ah exciting! I got to try a 1970s or 1980s Black and White I think it was. Crazy dram, like drinking molasses!
@Soba45 That Glenfarclas sounds a treat. I have a few more dusties unopened: a Dewars White Label that should be the same vintage as the Red Label, plus a JW Black Label and Glenlivet 12 from the ‘70s.
Congrats on 500! When you said JWRed I suspected an older bottling but didn't realize this old. I LOVE trying older bottlings. Not very old aged whiskey i.e. that's been in the barrels for donkeys, but whiskey which was bottled and to be drunk many decades ago. It's really night and day how they have watered the shite out of a lot of the current versions and not only blends, I was astounded by a 15yr 1980s bottling of Glenfarclas I had...ah the old days, cheaper better quality..grumble, grumble
@PBMichiganWolverine Surely you know me better than that!
@1901 Good question. I don’t know. This was before the term single malt was even in use, so almost everything distilled went into blends.
Wow...nice! I assumed you’d be having today’s JW Red...this is a whole new ball game
Congrats on 500. Given that red isn’t held in very high regard nowadays as a dram on its own do you know was it the same back then?