BiggAndyy the Magazine

This is a bit of a departure of late since I have been drinking mostly single malt offerings, but the Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch sort of fell onto my lap so I HAD to give it a try and then talk about it.

From the outset many whisky connoisseurs, with much more discriminating pallets than mine, consider blended malt scotches to be of inferior quality to the single malt scotch. In terms of flavor and color and aroma a blended malt scotch is supposed to be wanting in all those categories.

I won’t go so far as the disparage a scotch merely because it is a single malt or a blended scotch. I will judge based on color and aroma and especially flavor. If it doesn’t taste good then I will come down hard on a scotch. Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old Blended Malt Scotch is not an offering to come down hard on at all.

A rich Pale Gold in color, the Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old, dressed in it’s diagonal black striped label, LOOKS the part of a rich bodied and potent spirit. The aroma, however, betrays a hint of the blended nature of the scotch with a less than expected punch.

I was fully expecting a strong initial attack and a gradual strengthening of the floral bouquet on second nosing and dilution with some water. But straight from the bottle the scotch was rather subdued and easy going, a fruity aroma with a strong background of caramel. Even with a strong inhale I was not able to coax out any extra strength.

A few swirls in the glass and I dove right in, full strength. A good choice! I like a nice strong attack right at the outset, lets me know I am drinking scotch. A few swishes around the pallet and I down the first mouthful. I pause to consider the aftertaste.

For such a strong initial burst the aftertaste is quite mild, almost timid in comparison. If I had to I would point towards a McClelland’s Lowland Single Malt for a comparable finish. Not harsh or overwhelming, but also not inspiring either. I wondered if a bit of water would release a bit more aroma and flavor.

I now just add 1/4 dram of water to a dram of scotch rather than trying to play around with “a little bit here, a little more there”, etc. 1/4 dram is not a magic number by any means, but I have never ruined a scotch by going with just 25% water and I have never greatly improved a scotch by going to 50% or more water.

The aroma was more fruity with the addition of water but not overpoweringly so, which is what I expected. Diluting the scotch won’t strengthen the aroma, just bring out more of its character. The initial attack of the flavor of the scotch was much more pleasant to the senses and the aftertaste was more prominent with a 1/4 dram of water. I was surprised to how much difference there actually was with the addition of a bit of pure water.

To sew it all together, a blended malt scotch, at least this Johnnie Walker 12 Year Old Black Label, is not inferior to other single malt scotches, just different.

Going by color you could be fooled into thinking this is a full bodied powerhouse of a scotch. It is not. But it is not a bottom shelf plastic bottle of 5 dollar a gallon rot-gut either. With the judicious addition of water this blended malt scotch is very refreshing and a welcome invitation to sit down in an easy chair and solve the problems of the world with a close friend and a cigar.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 7th, 2007 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Whisky Wednesday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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