Johnnie Walker For Beginners: From Red To Blue, Johnnie Walker Colours Explained
Johnnie Walker whiskies are the biggest internationally selling whisky in the world. John Walker was just 15 years old when he opened a greengrocers in 1820. I'm not sure he could have imagined the scotch whisky industry today, and a future where every second, eight bottles with his name on it are sold.
Today there are six whiskies in the Johnnie Walker core range, each perfected to appeal to a different whisky drinker. While it is easy to assume everyone knows the difference between the Johnnie Walker colours, if you're new to drinking scotch it can be hard to appreciate or understand the differences between each label. From the accessibly priced Red and Black labels to the premium Blue Label, this is a run down of the Johnnie Walker colours for beginners, including expert opinions and which one is the best.
Johnnie Walker Red Label is the cheapest in the range. You can buy a bottle for around $26 to $33 (£20-£25) making it a perfect price point for mixing and cocktails. I don't think anyone would recommend it as a sipping whisky. For that you should take the small price jump to Johnnie Walker Black.
Johnnie Walker Red label is perfect for emergencies where no other whisky is available. However, spend a few dollars more an buy the Black Label if you want a better drinking experience. Mark Littler LTD
For me Johnnie Walker Black label is the best starting point for beginners to the range, as it perfectly balances complexity and price.
'Black Label 12 year old is an incredible way to introduce yourself into the world of peated whisky,' agrees Phil Dwyer, freelance whisky writer and YouTube reviewer at Whiskey Wednesday, over an email with me. 'It's ideal if you're looking for something that has multiple points of flavour.'
Johnnie Walker Black Label is by far the sweet spot of the entire range; well priced and remarkably easy to drink. Mark Littler LTD
Black label retails for around $30 to $40 and is one of those whiskies that is almost universally enjoyed. It combines around 40 different whiskies, all of which are at least 12 years old, to create a really consistent dram. It has a very subtle hint of smoke, built around Cardhu and the sweetness of grain, and is a really nice introduction to blended scotch. Double Black, Green & Gold: The Price Vs Quality Sweet Spot
Next we move into Johnnie Walker's more premium tier. And we start with the Double Black. It is important to realise that Double Black is a very different whisky to the regular Black Label. This expression was introduced in 2011 and although it has the same 'core' as its cousin, Double Black drops the age statement and increases the dominance of whiskies from Diageo's peated whisky portfolio.
It's crafted to specifically target lovers of peated/smokey notes in their whisky and at around $40 to $50 (£35 to £40) a bottle we have firmly stepped into the premium stage here. Double Black is going to be best for whisky drinkers looking to explore more dominant smokey notes.
Johnnie Walker Gold Label delivers on both looks and quality. Mark Littler LTD
Johnnie Walker Gold Label is the next step up in the range at around $60 to $70 a bottle. Gold Label has come in and out of the core range over the years and the current iteration has honey notes of Clynelish as its hero flavours. If you don't like dominant smoke and find single malt a bit intense then Gold Label is the sweet spot in this premium tier.
Green Label is a blended whisky made of 'pure malt'—it has no grain whisky component—and a 15-year age statement. It is a hugely popular part of the range. I asked Phil Dwyer of Whisky Wednesday why he thought that was.
'I think some of it is based on the quality of the liquid, it is a wonderful product that showcases some incredible single malts. I do also think some of it is still about 'I'm still not drinking a blend' in the technical sense of the word. We like to think that attitudes have moved on but some old school attitudes still remain across the industry in many ways.'
Green Label is 100% malt whisky aged 15 years making it a perfect gateway to single malts with blended reliability. Mark Littler LTD
At around $65 Johnnie Walker Green Label is a real gateway to single malts; it has all the price and consistency of a blended whisky and the complexity of single malt. It combines some of Diageo's fan favourites, including Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore, and Caol Isla, to create a sipping experience that performs well above its price point.
If you're after a gift under $70 for someone who usually likes single malt scotch then I'd say Green Label is the one. Johnnie Walker Blue Label: For Making Impressions
Johnnie Walker produces a lot of limited edition expressions outside of their core range, but you will probably have to go to a specialist scotch stockist for those. Blue Label on the other hand carries all the prestige of a luxury scotch, but handily you can pick it up in most places that stock whisky.
Johnnie Walker Blue Label is apparantly made using only 1 in 10,000 casks Mark Littler LTD
You'll be paying around $200 to $250 for a bottle of Blue Label, so it is a big step up from the previous tier, but everything about this whisky is designed to carry that price tag. The blend is composed of only the very best casks from Diageo's warehouses; allegedly only one in every 10,000 casks is deemed good enough to make the Blue Label cut. The best whiskies from Benrinnes, Cardhu, Clynelish, and Caol Ila are then combined with the finest grain whiskies. The whisky is then housed in a glass bottle that weighs almost 1kg more than the red label bottle. Finally the bottle is tucked into a gold velvet lined box so that every step of the drinking process makes an impression.
Ultimately, whether it's worth the jump in price is going to come down to your individual taste. 'Try it. That's the only real way for you to make your mind up,' confirms Dwyer. 'I think it's a product that every whisky drinker should try and make their own mind up about. It still sells incredibly well across the world, so buy a measure at a bar or online and give it a study.'
If you like finely crafted blended whisky and want to make a statement, then Johnnie Walker Blue Label is the bottle to reach for. Which Johnnie Walker Is The Best?
Which of the Johnnie Walker colours is the best depends where you are, who you are with and how you plan to drink the whisky. If you are on the beach sipping cocktails then anything above Johnnie Walker Double Black is probably a waste. If you love scotch and want to make a statement then Green, Gold and Blue all say slightly different things depending on your company and intentions. Personally, Johnnie Walker Black Label is the best in the range for me all things considered.
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