Johnnie Walker & Famous Grouse - Black Label Showdown

[@samuelrodriguez6707]

I love the Famous Grouse Smoky Black and Johnnie Walker Black. JWB is a little more refined because of the age statement, but the smokes are different. JWB is more of a highland style smoke (funny because that’s more of a cigarette kind of smoke that you described for FGSB) whereas the style of smoke you get from FG Smoky Black leans towards the more iodine, campfire, ashy Islay smoke.

[@JuanLagos]

Smoky Black is one of the worst whiskies I ever had. However, the bourbon cask finish from Famous Grouse cask series is really good.

[@Guru1ofatl]

Yeah, we were not impressed with it either. Shame considering how good some of their other whiskies are.

[@jaykay6387]

Interesting, thanks for the review! I prefer the JW Double Black to just the regular "Black", and was trying to find something a bit more pocketbook friendly. Had heard about the FG "smoky", but after your review I'm not too optimistic! I really like that smoky "chew" of the Double Black, but it's hard to find anything else with that "smoky" profile under $50, much less $30. Black Bottle isn't bad, but it's not really "smoky", it's kind of its own thing. All the decent "Islay" whiskey seem to start at around $50.

[@aspiritedendeavor1840]

Definitely with you on the double black. Given our experiences with other Famous Grouse whiskies, we were hoping this one would give us a nice alternative but that didn't pan out. The search continues. I agree with you on pricing and with the recent increases, Islay has become a bit harder to justify. I love them, but some are now priced above what I consider to be their value.

[@jaykay6387]

@@aspiritedendeavor1840 Supposedly, Black Bottle used to have that "smoky" profile but was changed about 10 years ago. Too bad, just not enough affordable choices with the smoky flavor. And I've noticed even JW DB is not super consistent, some bottles seem to have more "smoke" than others, or maybe I'm just getting acclimated to it.