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Johhnie Walker Black Label

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Loved and respected 12 years old blended Scotch. Born in 1909. Highly recognizable. The exceptional mixture of many whiskies in the iconic bottle. I remember the day I put all my Johnnie Walker bottles together on the table. They looked great. I was sitting there, looking at them and thinking, “Gosh, I can’t even imagine how tasty they will be”. It’s great to have a child’s mind, isn’t it? Once I have mentioned the four bottles of Johnnie Walker I had bought in one go from Amazon, right at the beginning of my whisky adventure. The Black one sat really nicely amongst them, looking good next to the Red one, being very proud of its stylish box and slightly bigger bottle, but also being a little stressed by The Double Black one standing next to it. The fourth one, Green, was clearly out of their league, resting undisturbed at the end of the line. Well, for as long as I didn’t get The Gold one, but that's a different story. The bottle of the Black Label is one of the most recognizable ...
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The Woodsman Blended Scotch

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  Once in a while I see something new, mostly online, something I’ve never heard about before, and I buy. Sometimes I don’t know why. I think it’s pure curiosity and I have the soul of a scientist after all. I like to try new things, and then I have an opportunity to write about them. The Woodsman Blended Scotch is a perfect example of it. I saw it on Amazon, searching for whisky to buy. This time my goal was to get some Japanese stuff, and actually I already had Tenjaku and Hatozaki in my shopping basket. I’m not a very superstitious man, well, I have my “things”, like almost every human being. You know what I’m talking about. Things like cupboard doors always shut with nothing sticking out, eating scrambled eggs with one particular spoon (I wouldn’t eat my scrambled eggs with any other spoon) or... I never buy just two things, if it’s not absolutely necessary. I mean, you don’t go on a date with two flowers, the option is one or at least three. Three is not a magic number for me,...
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The Glenlivet Founder's Reserve

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  They say it’s one of the most popular brands on the planet. First in the US, beating Glenfiddich, but globally second (Glenfiddich is numero uno). Well, I simply had to start my romance with Glenlivet from the very bottom - and here it is, The Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve, or so called “the blue one”. It was £22 on Amazon, regular price, not bad at all. And you know what? We don’t need to dig really deep here. I really like it. Just like this. I bought a trio: Founder’s Reserve, 12 Years Old and Caribbean Reserve. Put them all together, and you know what the world of whisky is about. The look is important. All of them are boxed. Blue, Green, Orange... And they look very sweet standing next to each other, and you know they are siblings. Same bottle, same label, same box. Just imagine getting a trio like this as a Christmas present! Descriptions on each box tell you all you need to know and, as always, emphasize all the differences. One minus: you don’t know which is the first in li...
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Bushmills Original

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  I’ve spent a decent amount of time in Ireland and I loved it. When I left that nice and weird country, I took two things with me. An everlasting love for Guinness, and a confidence that Irish whiskey is crap. To be honest with you, in those days of my past I didn’t know how to drink whisky. Being a Polish, I do terrible things to any alcohol by definition, and I’ve seen many of my fellow countrymen back in Green Island drinking whisky in so many weird ways, none of you would believe it’s possible. I tried a few local brands like Tullamore, Jameson or Paddy — the last one was a staple in a Christmas hamper given to all co-workers in the factory I used to work at. I didn’t like any of them. Too harsh for me and this burning sensation when going down the pipe was not really my cup of tea. I never tried any of the Bushmills. Eleven years passed and a friend of mine, Kash is his name, a big whisky fan, mentioned that Bushmills is one of his favourite brands (Bushmills 10 in fact) and ...
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Monkey Shoulder

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  A few years ago this one was recommended to me by a friend of mine. Recommended as really fantastic. As I said before, back in those weird times I didn’t enjoy whisky, and probably I didn’t enjoy Monkey Shoulder as well. I just don’t remember. One whisky didn’t differ much from the other, so there was not much room to elaborate. Be sure I told my friend it was a fantastic one. I’m a good man. The guy is a massive whisky fan, simply loves his drinks and amongst the preferred ones he would list Red and Black Label, Jack Daniels, Chivas and Grant’s. He’s got his way of drinking whisky, the thing you have to adore, especially if you are also a big whisky fan. Trick is to pour stuff into the highball glass, up to two-thirds and fill up the rest with Coke, Pepsi or actually whatever is in the fridge. Classic drink, full of flavour and very strong. Is it possible not to enjoy that, if you are a man? Man in your forties, with a beer belly and forty pounds above your recommended BMI lev...
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Chivas Regal 12

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  Chivas Regal 12 Years Old Blended Scotch whisky is something everyone knows or has heard about. No doubt. This brand’s name is a part of the global culture and it’s flagship, 12 years old blended whisky is present around in films, books and songs, no less than other most popular Scotch whiskies on the planet Earth, like Red Walker , Grant’s or Ballantine’s Finest. I had to do its review and I had to do it at this early stage. I’m not going to tell you in which film or book I’ve heard the name for the first time ( Exorcist and King), but instead I will tell you a story from the past. It all happened more than 20 years ago in Warsaw. I was a student of archaeology then, and I was living in the dorm. The whole campus was made out of two big blocks, four stories high. One of them, the old one, was called “The Old One”. The other one was called “Marriott” - pure luxury; small segments of two rooms with separate bathroom, inhabited only by four students (in “The Old One” there were 5...
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The Famous Grouse

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This is not the first time when I drink The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky, I just hope it’s the last one. Every time I open a new bottle I usually ask my wife to take a sniff. She’s not a big whisky fan (wine and Martini person) but she doesn’t mind inhaling some of its vapours from time to time. I really value my wife’s opinion. It’s always interesting. This time it was simple “moonshine and sulphur”. Intriguing start for a review. The Famous Grouse apparently is one of the world's most popular blends, and the best-selling Scotch whisky in Scotland. Well, you never know, don’t you? Story.  A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, which means before Covid, I used to host my family over Christmas. Every single year, and the same people over and over again. My brother-in-law (there’s a saying in Poland: blood pudding is not a meat, and a brother-in-law is not a family) with his wife and two sons. Statement. As an introvert and a sociopath I really enjoyed all those visits. H...
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