Most people don’t set out to make Johnnie Walker Black Label their go-to. It just sort of happens. One day, you realise you’ve been reaching for the same bottle for years, and it’s never once let you down.
But how many of you have stopped to wonder, what is it you actually like about it?
A little smoke, a little sweetness, enough going on to keep you interested but never so much that you have to work for it. Once you’ve figured out which part of that you’re most drawn to, finding your next whisky gets a lot easier.
Here are five that take different bits of that Black Label experience and run with them.
For The Smoke: SMWS Fife Peaty Potion
This whisky is for members-only through the Scotch Malt Whisky Society, but it is too good to leave out of the lineup.
Distilled in Fife from a mix of peated and unpeated malt, matured in bourbon casks and then finished for 18 months in first-fill Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks. That extra time in sherry does something interesting — the smoke and sweetness genuinely seem to belong together rather than fighting for space.
It opens with baked apple and sticky apricot, then the finish arrives with chewy, ashy smoke and something almost workshop-like.
If the gentle smokiness in Black Label is what gets you, this is that same idea turned up considerably. It keeps the balance; it just makes more of it.
For the Sweetness and Quiet Depth: Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old
An unpeated Islay whisky sounds like it’s missed the point, but Bunnahabhain is genuinely one of the more interesting distilleries on the island precisely because of it.
The 12 Year Old has a sherried richness with a coastal undercurrent of sea salt and chocolate.
It evolves in the glass in a way that rewards patience. You get something different on the third sip than on the first.
Where Black Label holds smoke and sweetness in tension, the Bunnahabhain 12 Year Old lets go of the smoke entirely and sees what’s underneath. What’s underneath turns out to be delicious.
For the Smoke-and-Wweetness Combo: Caol Ila Distillers Edition
Caol Ila is one of the main reasons Black Label tastes the way it does; it’s been a backbone of the blend for years. This version, finished in Moscatel wine casks, gives you a cleaner look at what it brings on its own.
The Moscatel adds a soft sweetness that settles around the medium peat rather than competing with it. There’s salinity in there, too. Think salted caramel eaten somewhere near a fire.
If you’ve ever wondered where Black Label gets its smokier notes, this is a reasonable answer. Same instinct, expressed more directly.
For the “Bit of Everything” Quality: Kilkerran 12 Year Old
Part of what Black Label does well is feel like a tour of Scotland in one glass — a little of this region, a little of that. Kilkerran pulls off something similar, but it all comes from one place: Glengyle distillery in Campbeltown.
There’s light peat, maritime salt, and something slightly oily and funky that’s very particular to that part of the world. It’s a lot going on, but it holds together.
The difference is that Kilkerran has a bit more edge. It’s not trying to smooth everything out. If you like Black Label’s breadth but want something with a little more character underneath, start here.
For Pure Reliability: Benromach 10 Year Old
This is the one I come back to most when recommending something to a Black Label drinker who wants to explore without going too far.
First-fill sherry and bourbon casks give it vanilla, raisin, caramel, and biscuit. Then there’s a thread of peat running through it, subtle and slightly peppery, just enough to stop it feeling soft.
Peated Speyside isn’t new, but Benromach does it better than most. It has that same “covers all the bases” quality as Black Label, but the individual flavours feel a bit more distinct. Less like a blend, more like a point of view.
In years of recommending whiskies, this is one that rarely misses.
Where Next?
Black Label’s trick is that it asks very little of you while still delivering a lot. Once you start pulling that apart, you realise there are whiskies out there that do each piece of it better. They just do fewer things at once.
Figure out which part you love most, and go from there. Do you have any Black Label alternatives to recommend? Let us know in the comments.
Read the full article at 5 Whiskies Like Johnnie Walker Black Label — And Why You’ll Like Them
