Best Johnnie Walker Black Label

Last Updated on September 23, 2022 by Lydia Martin

It is almost impossible to find anybody unfamiliar with Johnnie Walker’s whiskies. Their products date back to the 19th century but still compete as one of the best whiskies today. Each bottle of whiskey has a special flavor and a unique story behind it. 

Let us find out what the different Johnnie Walker colors mean in quality, price, and tasting notes.

6 Johnnie Walker Colors Ranked According to Price 

6. Johnnie Walker Red Label

Tasting Notes:  

It has notes of toffee, sour apple, and a touch of spices on the nose. It has a progressing taste of sweet grain, vanilla cream, sour apple, and spice to the palate. It ends with a sweet, short, progressing taste of apple skin tannin and fruit.

Alcohol By Volume: 40%

Average Price: Roughly $22

Johnnie Walker Red is the first blend they introduced to the world, originally called Walker’s Old Highland. They produced this bottle as a strong alcohol mix to soda. Johnnie Walker Red remains one of the best-selling whiskeys in the world. 

5. Johnnie Walker Black Label

Tasting Notes: 

It has a noticeable smell of subtle smokiness with hints of tropical fruits and grainy malt with a note of dry oak. To the tongue is a full taste of vanillas with hints of spices, raisins, and orange zest. The finish is long and smooth with soft layers of smoke, malt, and peat.

Alcohol By Volume: 40%

Average Price: Roughly $35

Johnnie Walker Black is said to be the benchmark of premium blended whiskey. They aged this blended Scotch for twelve solid years resulting in Johnnie Walker’s depth and flavor. Johnnie Walker Black is one of their best seller bottles worldwide.

4. Johnnie Walker Double Black Label

Tasting Notes:

There are subtle hints of smoke, but they are more predominant. It has a very clear blend of honey, tropical fruits, and toffee on the nose. The tongue will have a taste of smokiness along with spices with a long but sweet finish.

Alcohol By Volume: 40%

Average Price: Roughly $42

Johnnie Walker Double Black Label is an upgrade to the well-appreciated Black Label. This whiskey has no age statement released. They also used heavily charred ex-sherry casks to achieve this smooth texture. 

Read: Johnnie Walker Double Black vs Black 

3. Johnnie Walker Gold Label 

Tasting Notes:

The nose is greeted with creamy vanillas with honeyed oats and a dab of gingerbread. The scent goes to the mouth mixed with caramel fudge and butterscotch. The flavor intensifies, ending with a faint note of wood smoke. 

Alcohol By Volume: 40%

Average Price: Roughly $63

The Gold Label Reserve is a special Scotch drink with blends of sweet treats. This 18-year-old whiskey from the West Coast Highlands of Scotland offers luxury among these different colors. It is almost the same as Platinum. However, The Platinum drink has a lesser taste than the Gold Scotch’s fresh and bold character.

2. Johnnie Walker Green Label 

Tasting Notes:

The scent of sandalwood with chocolate in the background greets the nose. You will then savor fresh grass, fruits, nuts, and smoky wood on your tongue with a very long and spicy finish.

Alcohol By Volume: 43%

Average Price: Roughly $59

Johnnie Walker Green Label is very flavorful. It is like you are drinking various liquors coming from one bottle. You can even amplify these overflowing flavors with branch water, particularly the peat.

1. Johnnie Walker Blue Label 

Tasting Notes: 

The nose is left with the rounded scent of Johnnie’s signature dry smokiness but with a bit of raisin. The tongue will savor a blend of honeyed nuts, citrus, malts, sherry, sandalwood, oak, and tobacco. A very rewarding and long finish ends the experience.

Alcohol By Volume: 40%

Average Price: Roughly $210

Johnnie Walker Blue Label has the super-premium blend among all Johnnie Walker labels. It is from the finest old-aged grain and malt whiskey picked from distilleries from all corners of Scotland.

JW Blue Label Scotch whiskey is the most famous Johnnie Walker label around the world.

Read: Johnnie Walker Blue & Black Compared

How To Drink Johnnie Walker

Best For Shots

These whiskies are first-rate, with flavors that are perfect for shots. The first on the list would be the Black, followed by the smokier Double Black. The Green and Blue bottles are also a good fit for this role.

Best For Cocktails/Mixers

The best bottle to use as a baseline for alcoholic beverages (1)  is the Red bottle. This was intentionally made for mixing purposes, although it has proven itself a versatile drink. The Black Label is also a good bottle for a classic Rob Roys or any highball.

On The Rocks

The tasty malts used for the Green labels make it great on the rocks. Ice awakens a plethora of flavor, although this will be appreciated better by an experienced drinker. Johnnie Walker Green, Platinum, and Blue are also great with ice. 

Neat

The smoothness of the Blue Scotch whiskey is best for drinking neat. The sweetness of the malts and balanced spices makes it very easy to sip and swallow. The flavors of the Green Scotch are also pleasant to sip. But what’s the best whiskey to drink straight?

FAQs 

Which Johnnie Walker color is the smoothest?

Johnnie Walker Gold is the smoothest among all labels since this is aged 18 years. It is a blend of fifteen whiskies where the sweet and smoky flavors are perfectly mixed.

What is the rarest Johnnie Walker color?

The rarest Johnny Walker Color is Blue. This bottle is a blend of the rarest malts and oldest grains, and this color has many versions. The Blue Label Limited Edition Year of the Ram Blended Scotch Whiskey is the priciest bottle, roughly $988 for every 750 ml.

Is Johnnie Walker a premium whiskey?

Yes, Johnnie Walker is a premium whiskey, particularly the Blue label. This bottle used the rarest and the oldest whiskies infused together. 

Final Thoughts

The manufacturers of Johnnie Walker whiskey carefully chose the expansive options of Johnnie Walker to provide whiskey lovers options. These bottled spirits are aged exactly to ensure that each expression’s needed flavors come out.

In every Johnnie Walker color, the manufacturer covered taste, depth, and texture ensuring they deliver affordable but high-quality whiskey for all. With all these, this whiskey brand will continue to rule the globe as it has over the years. 

Reference:

1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329318309479

Lydia Martin hails from Redmond, Washington, where you’ll find some of the best cocktail bars and distilleries that offer a great mix of local drinks. She used to work as a bar manager in Paris and is a self-taught mixologist whose passion for crafting unique cocktails led her to create Liquor Laboratory. Lydia can whip up a mean Margarita in seconds! Contact at [email protected] or learn more about us here.