Immediate facts:
Johnnie Walker Black Label
1.2 quarts (1135 mL, 38.4 fl. oz.)
86.8 proof (43.4% ABV)
Bottled in Kilmarnock
Sold only through Duty Free
Unopened
Fact from research**:
Bottled in the late 1970s
Yes, that is whisky sediment raining down around the edges |
Background:
As of last Christmas this whisky was the property of Robert and Wilma Perry, my wife's grandparents. It had previously belonged to one of Grandpa Bob's cousins. But for many years it sat in a cold Ohio basement. This past December, Grandpa Bob, who is currently kicking cancer's ass, gave the bottle of whisky to me.
It's part of our family.
It was likely bottled around the same time I was born.
Oh, and one more thing. When I first met Kristen, I discovered that this 20-year-old fox was drinking Johnnie Walker Black Label. While men hit on her, they were drinking Sex on the Beaches, slamming Jager bombs, drinking Bacardi and Cokes. Meanwhile, Kristen sipped Scotch.
She's my wife now. And while she prefers barrel strength rye -- yeah, she pretty much rules -- she can smell a glass of JW Black from across a room. So there's some actual emotional weight to this bottle of whisky.
And as the youngest whisky in this blend was distilled in the Johnson administration, some of that malt coming from distilleries no longer in existence, there's some financial value to it as well.
But I'm opening this whisky up. And this weekend, I'm going to tell you why.
** - Many many many thanks to Joanne Bergstrom of whisky.com; Christine McCafferty, the Archive Manager (!) at Diageo(!!); and the handful of whisky collectors who weighed in at the whisky.com forum.