Johnnie Walker Red Label Review

Hi everyone,

That’s right. I’ve finally gotten round to reviewing JW Red. Perhaps the least favourite Scotch of r/Scotch and the very bottom of the Johnnie Walker range.

I don’t review enough blends really, and yes, I should do more of them. I do actually quite enjoy the detective work behind finding out which whiskies are in the blend, which distilleries are contributing and how that’s coming out in the whisky.

In this case its Diageo with their 28 malt distilleries and 2 ½ grain, which makes it a bit trickier but, as with black, the Johnnie Walker trademark is usually some smoke coming from Caol Ila and Talisker. As this is the cheapest of the range, I’d also expect the most grain in this one.

 

Johnnie Walker Red Label 40%

Colour: E150a

Body: Light

Nose: Cheap-af. Grain forward, harsh abv despite the strength, a tiny hint of young brash peat. Not much else.

Taste: Soft arrival, lacking power, watery actually. Malt, some generic spice, a bit harsh into the finish.

Finish: Short length. Very little here, some grain whisky and generic spice.

Very Haig Club-esque. Lots of Cameronbridge in here I imagine. Not terrible though! I don’t really know how they get the whisky to be harsh and watery at the same time… That’s quite a feat. Black is a big step up from this too IMO.

53/100

Thanks for reading!

Scotch Review #576

Whisky Network Review #681

Network Average: 74.7

Best Score: 93

Worst Score: 22

0-49 Terrible

50-59 Bad

60-64 Just About OK

65-69 Ok to Good

70-74 Good

75-79 Very Good

80-84 Excellent

85-89 Superb

90+ Magnificent

Full Disclosure Disclaimer: I currently work as a Brand Ambassador for Penderyn Distillery. The views expressed here are purely my own and do not reflect the views of Penderyn Distillery or The Welsh Whisky Company. I try to maintain as much objectivity as I can but feel free to take my reviews with as big a pinch of salt as you like. Furthermore, my rating scale is NOT based on a Parker type wine scoring scale or a school/college/university % or A-F grade score. You can find more on my scoring here. I apologise for any seemly low or 'bad' scores given with my system and I am sorry I can't say only nice things. Please keep in mind that I am ethically compromised and I am unable to produce 100% unbiased reviews.

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