Johnnie Walker 80's Black Label

So what was so great about the 80's then? Well, yours truly was born for a start, the music was better than you might remember, Schwarzenegger and Norris, Aliens and Predator, tube socks and sweat bands, Thatcher ruled supreme and ... er ... OK, maybe it was a mixed bag.

One thing that would certainly be remembered fondly by all us malt heads though is the whisky loch that was filling up all through the decade, mostly due to a lack of interest and low sales - whisky simply wasn't cool! I know, right?! It's well known that the blends of the day were thus of a much higher quality as 'the good stuff' was primarily going into premium blends to entice those casual sippers into more purchases. I guess it worked, in the long run ...

As such, and due to my affection for this particular bottling (it was my gateway whisky and a bar staple for years) I recently acquired a bottle from the era at auction. I wanted to gaze lovingly at the bottle as much as open it but, well, curiosity got the better of me so here we are.

Bottle's been open a week with about four fifths left. I dare not add water ...

Nose - Instantly classy, clean and complex. Waves of over ripe pineapple, soft honey, something slightly nutty (macadamia?) and the cleanest sherry note I've ever come across immediately greet you. Next, sweet raisins, toffee and maple. Then the peat comes out with diesel, mild tar, tabacco, hessian, sea weed and light smoke. So much to admire here, it's a quintessentially 'Scotchy' nose.

Taste - well, OK, the abv isn't helping but even so, what you do get is sublime. The arrival is intensely flavoured with sour, over-ripe fruits - pineapple, orange and lychee. Then toffee, maple, fudge and old, high-quality raisins and dates. Then it goes a little quiet as it develops and the very soft and well-integrated grain is noticed; it's all in harmony though with zero sharp nippy edges. It then starts to turn smoky and peaty with a stunning nip of sweet, black liquorice, smoke and more of that industrial tar note. Yes its low proof but amazingly rich in flavour all the same.

Finish - I guess I just described the finish above; it's all about that smokey uplift, nay surge, and peat. It's also much longer than the development suggests. A mere wisp of tannin. Simply wonderful!

Were this a malt, it would be the malt whose taste matches my palate the best. It really does bring together everything I like about Scotch in one bottle. I would love to taste the peated malts that went into this, naked, as it were, (I suspect Caol Ila and Talisker) as there are notes here that I haven't come across before. Ditto for the sherry elements too - these are 'clean as a whistle' sherry casks. Man, I could wax lyrical all day about this bottle but it would not be employing hyperbole to say this is the best blended whisky I have ever tasted. Were the abv higher, I'd be giving this a crazy high mark.

How would this taste compare to the same bottle being opened in, say, 1984, is the question on my lips? I suspect OBE has had an effect on the overall flavour for sure and allowed the whole thing to mellow and mingle further with time. I love the thick glass too, even with a few air pockets and imperfections - all adds to the charm. This won't be my last 'trip' to the auction ...

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