Johnnie Walker Double Black
Blended Scotch Whisky | 40% ABV
Score: 4/10
Some promise.
TL;DR
Decent for the low price, if you can ignore the colour
Taking Scotland for granted
There are many benefits to living in Scotland: the landscape, the coastlines, the rivers, the lochs, the people. We are basically spoiled.
We’ll politely sidestep the weather, of course. It’s not always bad, but let’s be honest; if you live on the west coast like I do, you may well be imagining there are only so many more generations before we evolve Gore-Tex skin. Rain isn’t just a forecast - it’s a lifestyle.
But like any place, there are things you take for granted. Things that sneak past your consciousness and they’re not appreciated until you’re plucked from your native moss and dropped somewhere else. For me, that moment came during a family holiday to Portugal. Sun, sand, sardines - and a realisation; Scotch whisky is ridiculously easy to get hold of in Scotland.
I know, I know. This should have been obvious. In Scotland, I can order a bottle and have it in my hands pretty much the next day without ever leaving the house. I just wander into a shop to be greeted by rows of liquid diversity. It is genuinely a Scotch whisky wonderland. And yes, England gets the same dispatch privileges, but there’s something about being in the homeland of whisky that makes it feel like whisky flows through the plumbing.
Meanwhile, over on the Dramface writers’ WhatsApp group, the international crew are deep in the trenches of bottle smuggling diplomacy. Customs limits, mule networks, inflatable bottle bags - it's like the film Jackie Brown but with less 1970s funk and more Campbeltown funk. And I, blissfully naive, have been floating above it all not giving proper appreciation to their challenges.
That all changed when I decided to bring my own whisky on holiday. With a young daughter in tow, our evenings can be less bar hopping and more “back to the apartment long before hot milk and bed.” That means quieter evenings, a bit of reading, and - ideally - a dram or two. I could’ve packed one bottle and made it last, but I do like to have a choice of drinks. I have a set of 100ml travel bottles with rubberised covers and a hard pouch that looks like it was designed for whisky mountain climbing. I filled four of them with care and tossed in a rogue Torabhaig Sound of Sleat sample for good measure. It felt like a solid plan, and a decent amount for ten nights away.
Until it didn’t.
After a few nights it perhaps became apparent that the rate of consumption in proportion to the number of evenings remaining was not a balanced equation (no judgement on rate of consumption please - holidays are holidays) and some of the whiskies I’d brought weren’t the ideal long-drink ingredient either.
I turned to Google, hunting for any local whisky shops or off-licences. There were a few hits, some familiar from earlier town strolls. I began ducking into these places with hope of finding some treasure, only to be met with shelves of vodka, rum, port and some fairly uninspiring Scotch.
Still, the hunt was on. And in that moment, I truly understood the privilege of living in Scotland - not just for the scenery or the people or the lochs, but for the simple, glorious fact that whisky is never more than a short walk or a next-day delivery away.
Review
Johnnie Walker Double Black, Blended Scotch Whisky, 40% ABV
£28.50 and generally always available, €39.95 paid
Having breezed through a few liquor shops with some optimism, I was met with the whisky equivalent of beige wallpaper: Famous Grouse, Bells, JW Red, Talisker 10, Chivas. The usual suspects. Reliable? Possibly. Inspiring? Not so much. The whisky snobbery hasn’t crept in, it has totally taken over. I was hoping for something more.
Cardhu Gold made a cameo; Glenlivet and Glenfiddich too, but nothing sparked that “ooh, maybe” moment. I was hoping there may be at least a Glenmorangie, but no. Meanwhile, my usually delightful wife - who had tolerated three detours with the patience of a saint - was now visibly wilting. Her drink criteria are refreshingly simple: two boxes need ticking: red and Rioja. Job done. No fuss, no drama, no existential crisis in aisle two.
Me? I’m a Dramface contributor, which means every bottle choice carries a whisper of potential editorial intent. Can I review it? Has it been done? Will it bring something new to the table?
I’ve got time for some JW expressions, maybe more than I should have. I knew JW Black Ruby had been covered recently. Standard Black Label? Old news. But Double Black…a sneaky suspicion told me it hadn’t been reviewed yet. And under the gentle but unmistakable pressure of a partner who’d rather be anywhere else than watching me squint at a poor selection of bottles, I made the call.
Johnnie Walker Double Black it was.
Not a triumphant purchase. Not a bottle that made me fist-pump the air. But a pragmatic, smoky dram under duress. A whisky chosen not for fireworks, but for function - and maybe, just maybe, for a fresh review.
I was aware of Double Black of course, but I had never taken any time whatsoever to look into what the difference was between it and Black Label. The internet tells me I should expect it to be smokier and bolder than Black Label and that it has more Caol Ila in it. As I’m not convinced - I have never noticed peat or smoke in Black Label, I was interested to see if this would be a genuine step in my direction. I am, after all, a big fan of Caol Ila. Black Label is a 12-year-old of course while Double Black comes without any age statement, much like the difference between Green Label and Island Green.
Score: 4/10
Some promise.
TL;DR
Decent for the low price, if you can ignore the colour
Nose
Tiny amounts of smoke hitting my nose with salinity and caramel. The more you nose it the more you get some pleasant orange and grapefruit in the back, with some candied fruit. I really like the nose to it, especially after it has been in the glass for a while.
Palate
It is fairly smooth but definitely edgier than the standard Black Label. It has a bit of smoke, but more coal or wood fire than peat, possibly emanating from the charred wood barrels used. There are some nice caramel hints and a bit of saltiness following on from the nose, while it’s actually a bit leathery.
The texture is pretty heavy and a bit oily to start. It is a medium length of finish which becomes quite drying, but isn’t unpleasant. A hint of liquorice right at the back end.
The ABV tastes a bit above the stated 40% which is a positive.
The Dregs
There is nothing bad about the taste of this whisky. This is not going to write poetry for your palate. It is chill filtered, heavily coloured and, on first pour, I had to double-check I hadn’t accidentally cracked open a bottle of Irn-Bru. That shade of almost orange? Bold. Brazen. Scotland’s other national drink would be proud.
The taste is inoffensive if uninspiring. I can’t get any hint of Caol Ila from the nose in the way I can immediately from JW Island Green - and that would have elevated it for me. There is a lack of complexity in it for sure, but that’s not the market it is aiming for, and it is worth remembering that. Not every bottle needs to be a revelation.
But let’s not forget the price: this is available in the UK with a loyalty card reduction at £28.50. That is cheap in my opinion. This whisky is worth that price every day and the more I tried it the more I enjoyed it as a good reminder of what’s available. But this colour is unnecessary, and I might enjoy it more in dim lighting.
It is a small step above Black Label but it’s definitely a step below Island Green and Blue Label. I’m tempted to rate it higher than I have, but mindful of things I have rated at 5/10 before that would definitely deserve to be a step above this.
I have learned two lessons. Firstly, be more prepared - be over prepared. We can’t rely on getting Scotch easily when abroad. And secondly, even the mass-market blends can surprise you; even if they could be better without the filtering and colouring, we don’t need our whiskies to evoke images of fake tan.
Score: 4/10
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