One night, towards the end of my 2024 Japan trip, my friend who lives in Ikebukuro took me to a neighborhood bar near his home. A sign behind the bar listed their monthly special, a Johnnie Walker Double Black highball for 500 yen. I will repeat that: 500 yen. That was $3.50 at the time. So I ordered one, then another, and maybe a third.
Before that night, I had not been a fan of Johnnie Walker Double Black. That's 13 years. And that all changed when the first highball hit my lips. Yes, I'll happily accept any highball fashioned by a professional in Japan. But these JWDB highballs eclipsed my expectations immediately.
Several months later, back in Ohio, I purchased a bottle of Double Black (for $45, yikes!) and opened it as soon as I returned home from the OHLQ store. A highball was assembled posthaste. And it was good. So, yes, a Johnnie Walker product is a Thing I Really Drink.
Theoretically it shouldn't work. Double Black is louder — heavier char on the cask and more peated malt — and younger than standard Black Label, yet costs 25-35% more. I should be doing my Old Man Yells at Cloud shtick about this whisky. But screw it. The whisky works.
Ownership: Diageo
Brand: Johnnie Walker
Type: Blended Whisky
Region: Emphasis on Islay and West Coast malts
Age: ???
Maturation: Heavily charred casks
Bottle code: L3309
Alcohol by Volume: 40%
Chillfitered? Yep
e150? Indeed
NEAT
The nose arrives in layers. First, a mix of peppery smoke and woody smoke, with sea salt caramels and metal. Then: nectarines, apple skins, and seashells. After some time in the glass, the whisky releases quiet notes of mercurochrome, maple, and flowers. The palate has a creamy dessert-y side, like its sibling 12yo, but it has plenty of smoke and bitterness — more Caol Ila than Talisker — to balance it out. Oysters and iron follow, as does a wee bit of vanilla in the background. It finishes sweeter, saltier, and tangier that the palate, with less smoke. Its length is impressive for heavily filtered and diluted whisky.
HIGHBALL
It offers the saltier side of peat, along with considerable earthiness. Though there are hints of Werther's candies in the background, the sweetness remains mild throughout.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
Highballs can be crisp, refreshing, and sweet, but rarely (if ever) does one made from a 40%abv blend generate actual tasting notes. But Johnnie Walker Double Black does it. I like its saltiness a lot, and should probably try to pair up some snacks with the drink. The blend is also enjoyable when neat, which has caught me offguard as well. So, yes, it is better than the standard 12yo Black, neat or bubbled, according to my palate. Keep in mind, it doesn't top some of its ingredients' older siblings, like Caol Ila 12yo or Talisker 10yo, but for a mass-produced blend watered down to the max by its producer, it is very good, especially when enjoyed with bubbly water (at your preferred ratio) and ice on a summer's evening. Bottle emptied.
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