Johnnie Walker Blue Label

Tasted in Whisky Magazine Issue 17 by Michael Jackson and Dave Broom.

Whisky Magazine is the perfect complement to the dram in your glass. Every issue brings you fascinating articles on the art, science and romance of the 'water of life', plus page after page of tasting notes.

• Issue 17 online • Buy issue 17 (£5.95)
• Subscribe to Whisky Magazine (from £28.38)
• Preview current issue (74) • Preview other issues online

Tasting Notes

Michael Jackson Nose Perfumy. Lime skins. Juniper. Slightly sweet spiciness. Tobacco? Juicy oak. Palate Beautifully rounded. Voluptuous. Ginger cake. Marzipan. Nuts. Pears in chocolate. Finish Flowery dryness. roses. Long, lingering. Comment A lovely, luxurious whisky. I imagine a restaurant called cafe Opera. First, a little foie gras, then a couple of Maine lobsters, Marron glace....and Blue Label?

Dave Broom Nose Opens very slowly to reveal a mass of aromas: lanolin, smoke, hessian, dried fruit, polished wood floors, oak, liquorice, cake, silky red fruit, cream. Palate Hold it in the mouth and there's allspice, sultana cake, crisp malt, bung cloth, turfy smoke which builds in intensity as the whisky opens. Finish Long, smoky, but also fruit pastilles. Comment This needs time. Right enough at this price you're hardly going to shark it back.