Black Label innovations now run into double figures, but this is the best to date. Fruity nose with dark chocolate, bramble, dark toffee, dried apricot, and plenty of creaminess balanced with some coastal smokiness. The palate rejoices in red summer fruits drizzled in milk chocolate, red licorice, plum, and pepper, then releases its grip for a glossy, mouth-coating final phase of creamy white chocolate studded with dried raspberry.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2022)

Complex, elegant textures from the get-go; woodsmoke from a bonfire of green twigs, ashy peat embers, grain stores, vanilla cream, and honey drizzled over baked apples. Golden syrup flapjacks, vanilla fudge, candied apricot, orange peel, Quaker oats, gingerbread, pepper, and a catch of smoke that bridges into the finish, where hints of citrus and golden honeyed grains are found. Classical allure, but eminently accessible.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2018)

This fourth installment of Ghost and Rare targets Speyside, delivering a contemplative nose of roasted nuts, toffee, cinnamon, crisp green apple, candied citrus, late summer honey, and seasoned oak. The palate is satin smooth, with a slightly oily mouthfeel and flavors of golden syrup, oak, orange peel, lime zest, butterscotch, vanilla, dry spice, and smoked orange wheel. A polished and rich Johnnie Walker, elevated by subtle shifts in mood.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2022)

A torchbearer for scotch whisky, this tangles creaminess with peat smoke, mixes toffee with vanilla, tumbles raisin with fig, and integrates smoke with fresh citrus and red apple. Creamy caramels with soft toffee drizzled over marmalade, vanilla sweetness balanced with a little oak, and layers of raisin, Braeburn apple, and sultana, permeated with smoke. It turns out that the liquid inside the world’s most recognizable whisky bottle is exceedingly good.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2022)

This is much more muscular than the regular, un-haunted Blue Label. It delivers a multitude of flavors—butter toffee, sweet smoke, citrus peel, and dry spices—tantalizingly peeling off layer after layer, building a slow crescendo to a peak of spices and bitter citrus. Mouth drawing with caramel, apple, pear, and sherbet, a mid-palate of zesty orange and baking spices before topping out with bitter peels, grapefruit, smoke, and sour hard candy.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2018)

Smoke begins Jim Beveridge’s public replication of the annual Directors Blend concept, built around Johnnie Walker’s signature characteristics. Peat smoke harks back to Islay, but there’s wood smoke, tobacco leaf, and malt, with a salty richness behind it. The grain just gives it a lift of extra sweetness. Polished, with great structure; red apple, raspberry, and sweet linctus wrap up with a long, smoky finish of cigar stub and peat stores. Clear parallels with Directors Blend 2009, but better. (8,888 decanters released) £500

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2014)

So how brave can you be? Would you take one of the world's most iconic blends and risk messing with it? If you've got a whisky maker as good as Jim Beveridge, then why not? This picks up from the regular JW Black and its signature Caol Ila smoke and peat heart and then adds to it, doing exactly what it says on the tin. But the clever part of this is upping the apple, orange, and fruit content too. Great.

Reviewed by: Dominic Roskrow (Winter 2011)

What happens when you light a bonfire underneath Green Label? Earthy peat smoke with medicinal characteristics of lanolin and antiseptic, a salty tang balanced with creamy vanilla, strands of citrus, and touches of menthol and aniseed. Smooth as a thief in the night; mouth-coating toffee, growing smoky notes, and peppered mackerel push back the waxy, citrus elements. Now the fire is alive; the sweetness gets out while it can. (Travel Retail exclusive)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

Wheat, corn, and malted barley are your three grains here. Orange grove before harvest, a rounded candied peel note, plenty of sweet grain, and creamy vanilla, all backed by gentle spice. Luscious and chewy caramel, taffy candy, lavishly rich orange, and glowing spice notes wrap around the tongue. It’s incredible how they can make this tasty blend of five whiskies look so devastatingly easy (when it’s not). Value Pick

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2017)

Created by blender George Harper, who worked on White Walker, this has nutty toffee, coffee grounds, caramelized sugars, roasted hazelnut in chocolate, an appreciable grain note, plus the titular gentle sweet peat smoke. Toasted oak, chocolate praline, sweet runny caramel, coffee, and a catch of smoke dissipate to leave the smooth flavor of creamy toffee penny candy. An uncut diamond with great potential set against the brilliance of Black Label. £30

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2019)

A staple in the liquor cabinet, this hearty, malty dram conveys peppery smoke, kippers, dry spices, pencil shavings, a biscuit-like cereal note, and more pungent peat smoke as the glass warms up. Among others, this comprises Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore, and Caol Ila malts. Fruit follows smoke, with vanilla, pastry desserts, and peppercorn spices, becoming creamier with shredded peel, apple cobbler, and a warming finish of orange peel and forward spices.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2018)

Just as complex as Johnnie Walker Gold, but fuller and more richly textured. (Not surprising, given that there are no grain whiskies in Johnnie Walker Green.) This is one of the finer vatted malts on the market. Its flavors are well-integrated. You’ll find creamy toffee and nougat at its core, which is then layered with notes of vanilla, mint, fresh brine, and even a hint of mustard seed. Excitingly fresh and vibrant on the finish. A whisky for both the blend and single malt drinker. And at $55, it is also fairly valued for an all-malt whisky.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Summer 2005)

With Clynelish and Teaninich at its heart, this expression spotlights Black Label’s rich fruit character, with a nose of marmalade on well-done toast, nectarine, liquid honey, candied peel, dry spices, and bourbon biscuits. Rounded orange notes with creamy vanilla and peppery spices; the spices are amplified with touches of oak char as the marmalade flavors die back. Sweet, spicy, creamy finish of orange fondant.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

A zeitgeist Johnnie Walker fine-tuned for the American palate, this blend has a moreish nose of cinnamon, cocoa, and the toasted coconut of macaroons, mingled with strands of smoke, dried walnut, nutmeg, and an array of spicy rye anchored by a concentrated line of vanilla. Lots of American oak at play here. It’s elegant, dry, and smooth with vanilla, cinnamon, coconut, and flashes of spice. It’s fabulous sipped straight up but keep walking to the finish. Value Pick.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2015)

The smoky black peat, toasted spice, lemon peel, toffee, swept autumn leaves, and dried fruits on the nose give this expression greater affinity to regular Black Label than the rest of the range. Lagavulin and Caol Ila, among other Islay single malts, are included in this blend. The palate begins with a smooth array of caramel, smoke, and spice, transitioning through darker toffee notes to thick treacle, toasted hazelnut, and peppercorn, with brief flashes of fruitiness on the finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

Using Cardhu and Glendullan, among other Speyside single malts, to focus on Black Label’s orchard fruit attributes, this has a nose of apple pie, vanilla sponge cake, caramel, and aromatic pan-roasted spices. Sweet and spicy with a glossy mouthfeel, it yields flavors of Fruit Pastilles, vanilla cream, sharp apple, currants, and baked sugar with a gentle undercurrent of spice. Ginger and pepper with jellied fruits and hints of citrus to finish.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Winter 2019)

Named for House Targaryen from Game of Thrones. Aromas of malt, peppercorn, dry chile flakes, spicy nachos, sliced red apples, roasted whole spices, and soft smoke from snuffed candles. On the palate, this has a light, floaty texture with flavors of red apple at its core, followed by a roar of spice, citrus peel, lemon, sharp fruity acidity, vanilla pod, and a touch of walnut. The finish is lengthy and spicy.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2020)

Blender Aimée Gibson’s experimental batch 7 is designed as a sherry finished Black Label. Beautifully smoky, with dried fruits, charred oak, wood spices, vanilla, cocoa, and bonfire smoke. Toffee flavors, with thick smoke, red fruits, orange, raisin, oak spice, gingerbread, marshmallow, strawberry jam, and dark marmalade. Dry finish with bitter peels, dark chocolate, and some feisty spices. In comparison, regular Black Label is silkier, more integrated, and more peppery. (Global Travel Retail only)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2018)