Spirit Type: Blended Whisky

Country: Scotland

ABV: 40%

Bottle size: 70cl

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Description:

While whiskies come and go, Johnnie Walker's signature Red Label blended scotch remains popular. In actuality, it not only survives but also thrives: It is the world's best-selling scotch whisky, at least according to the company. It's so commonplace—found in home bars, seedy dives, and expensive cocktail bars alike—that it's simple to take it for granted, and for many of us, it's difficult to recall the last time we tried it.

Red Label is definitely worth listening to again if it has been a while. "Popular music is popular because a lot of people like it," once remarked Irving Berlin. The same is true of whisky, and this particular whisky is very agreeable to taste buds and wallets alike.

Red Label, a combination of 30 malt and grain whiskies from Diageo's Scottish holdings, is designed for mixing, though it also tastes good and neat. Red Label adds a mildly fruity, malty flavor with a touch of spice to classics like Scotch & Soda, Scotch Old Fashioned, or a Rusty Nail. And a bottle won't cost you more than $25.

Red Label may be overlooked by whisky connoisseurs since there are so many new and intriguing brands that appear on store shelves and in bars each month. However, it's worthwhile to occasionally "come home" to Red Label despite all the forays into the unknown. It's difficult to find a more affordable, dependable whisky.

Creamy honey, vanilla, dried strawberries, apricots, peaches (stonefruit), starfruit, roasted grains, and a faint roasted oak aroma can all be detected in the first sniff of Red Johnnie Walker. The strawberry flavor is first influenced by sherry, and as the stonefruit and starfruit flavor develops, more of the bourbon cask-aged whiskey becomes apparent. Honey, vanilla, biscuit, starfruit, strawberry, peach, roasted oak, roasted grains, and something mildly bitter (perhaps oak) that feels out of place all come through in the first taste. The smoothness I anticipate from Scotch is present in Red Johnnie Walker, along with a faint smokiness.

Comparing the flavors to the fairly intriguing scents, it is unfortunate to say that they start to come apart. As some of the fruit's vibrancy fades, this mildly bitter and dry flavor develops. This is starting to make me nervous because I'm not sure if it's from the peat, the oak, or something else.

After "chewing," I detect honey, vanilla, pear, roasted grains, roasted oak, a delicate floral sweetness resembling honeysuckle, a tiny amount of grass, and more of that mild bitterness I don't particularly enjoy. It has a slightly creamy mouthfeel, as one might assume, with a light smokiness that isn't present in the fragrances.

However, the tastes are diluted to such an extent that the 40% ABV truly stands out. Additionally, despite the flavors' tendency to be lighter and thinner, they aren't completely flat and monotonous. The mild fruity zing is helpful, but that bitterness is strange, troublesome, and inappropriate.