Johnnie Walker Double Black is Black Label’s younger, bolder sibling. It takes the familiar shape of Black Label and dials up the smoke and intensity, with a generous helping of Islay malt and casks that have been more heavily charred than usual. The result is a blend with coastal smoke, sweet vanilla from the wood, and the kind of approachable balance that makes it easy to come back to.
If you’ve worked your way through a few bottles and started wondering what’s next, single malts are where the trail leads. I’ve picked five that each pick up on a different thread running through Double Black, so you can follow whichever one appeals most.
So, here are five single malt Scotch whiskies to try next if you love Johnnie Walker Double Black.
Caol Ila 12 Year Old
If you want to taste Double Black’s backbone on its own, this is it. Diageo describes Caol Ila as “the Islay home of Johnnie Walker”, and it’s widely understood to be the principal smoky malt in both Black Label and Double Black.
The distillery sits on the Sound of Islay near Port Askaig and was founded in 1846. It’s now the largest producer on the island, with the bulk of its output going into blends.
Six tall stills with long lyne arms produce a lighter, more elegant peated spirit than its south-shore neighbours, and the malt comes from Port Ellen Maltings at around 35-38 ppm.
The 12 Year Old is matured predominantly in refill ex-bourbon hogsheads and bottled at 43% ABV. Expect a fresh, herbal nose with rubbed mint and damp grass, an oily palate of smoked ham, lemon peel and cigar leaf, and a long, peppery, smoky finish.
Highland Park 12 Year Old
If Johnnie Walker Double Black’s smoke feels like the part you could happily turn down a notch, Highland Park 12 is your dram. The peat is gentle and floral and less intense than in Double Black, sitting at around 20 ppm in the finished whisky, and it’s matured predominantly in first-fill sherry-seasoned oak, which softens everything further.
Expect a floral, clean nose with heather honey, citrus and a quiet wisp of smoke, a palate of burnt orange, floral notes and fruitcake, and a long finish of peppery spice with that aromatic Orcadian smoke threading through.
Sitting in Kirkwall on Orkney, Highland Park is one of the northernmost distilleries in Scotland. It was founded in 1798, with a romantic origin story tied to a smuggler and church beadle named Magnus Eunson, said to have hidden bottles beneath his pulpit.
It’s also one of only a handful of distilleries still operating its own floor maltings, with peat cut from Hobbister Moor a few miles away.
Glenfiddich 14 Year Old Bourbon Barrel Reserve
A small confession before we go any further. This one has no peat in it at all. Stay with me though, because if you’ve ever found yourself enjoying Double Black more for its deep vanilla and toasted oak than for the smoke itself, this is the dram that scratches that itch.
Glenfiddich ages this whisky for fourteen years in ex-bourbon casks, then finishes it in heavily charred new American oak barrels from Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville, giving a Speyside malt something close to a bourbon heart.
You’ll find deep vanilla, caramelised brown sugar and baked apple on the nose, a creamy palate of toffee, candied orange peel and toasted marshmallow, and a long, sweet finish with a touch of woody spice.
It comes from Glenfiddich in Dufftown, founded in 1886 and still family-owned by William Grant & Sons.
Kilchoman Machir Bay
This is the one to reach for if you want Islay smoke with a brighter, more citrus-led personality.
The peat comes from 50 ppm malt supplied by Port Ellen Maltings, the same maltings that supply Caol Ila and Ardbeg, so the underlying smoke DNA is in the same family as Double Black’s. Everything around it, though, is fresher and lifted.
The whisky is matured in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, bottled at 46% ABV, non-chill-filtered, and natural colour. Expect lemon zest, vanilla and coastal air on the nose, tropical fruit, honey, and butterscotch on the palate, and a finish of sherry-soaked fruit, black pepper, and sea salt.
Kilchoman was founded in 2005 at Rockside Farm on Islay’s northwest coast, the first new distillery built there in 124 years, and remains one of the few farm distilleries in Scotland.
It still operates its own floor maltings, used for a separate “100% Islay” bottling where every step happens on the farm.
Ardbeg 10 Year Old
If Double Black’s smoke is the part you love most, and you’ve started wishing there were more of it, this is where the trail ends. Ardbeg 10 is widely considered a benchmark for what heavily peated Islay can be.
The malt comes in at around 55 ppm, the water is drawn from Loch Uigeadail three miles inland, and the spirit still has a distinctive purifier that returns heavier vapours back to the still, giving Ardbeg its famous “peaty paradox” of huge smoke balanced by a fruity, floral lift.
Matured in first-fill ex-bourbon casks, bottled at 46% ABV, non chill-filtered. Expect intense smoky fruit, lemon, dark chocolate and tarry rope on the nose, a palate of crackling peat, black pepper and cinnamon toffee, and a long finish of tarry espresso, aniseed and toasted almonds.
Founded in 1815, Ardbeg closed in 1981 and was nearly lost forever before Glenmorangie rescued it in 1997, and it now sits within LVMH.
Beyond Double Black
These five whiskies each pick up a different thread from Johnnie Walker Double Black. Caol Ila for the most direct match, Highland Park for a gentler step sideways, Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Barrel Reserve if it’s the wood and not the smoke you love, Kilchoman if you want bright and modern, and Ardbeg if you want to go all in.
If you can, try two side by side. Comparing is where the fun really starts. Let me know which one you reach for first, or what you’d add to the list.
Read the full article at 5 Whiskies To Try If You Like Johnnie Walker Double Black
