TIMING: <br />1/ 00:01 Introduction <br />2/ 02:40 The Johnnie Walker brand presentation<br />3/ 08:01 Short story of the Red Label (more in the description)<br />4/ 12:53 Visual comparisons & a Batch variations related rant<br />5/ 19:53 Nosing & Tasting the 2 whiskies neat<br />6/ 23:52 Tasting the 2 whiskies neat<br />7/ 33:16 Nosing & Tasting them with water<br /><br />This video is the 4th of four (* = even if there will finally be some « sequel » video…about the « BLUE LABEL » !) videos from my new « Whisky Reviews/Face to Face Series/Blended Scotch Whisky » or in other words old bottlings versus recent bottlings of the same brand & same reference. In fact, I will compare in these series bottles released from 40 to almost 50 years ago to others from 2020 or recent. In this video, I am comparing a bottle of « JOHNNIE WALKER « RED LABEL » from the 1980’s (probably after 1983 though), for French market (bottle code : LSJK30225235) with a bottling from 2020 (bottle code : L9059T500515116), both bottled at 40 % abv. <br /><br />HISTORY OF THE BRAND/EXPRESSION (in brief, as I wrote an in depth topic about the brand on my website, reviewing also 20 different bottlings or batches, please see link below for more) :<br />The birth of the brand, according to the bottle label, goes back to 1820, but it is in 1819 that John Walker opens his first wine & spirits shop in Kilmarnock. Alexander Walker, his son, rejoins the business in 1837, and it is in 1850 that their first blending is created. Again, as for The FAMOUS GROUSE, this expression’s name wasn’t the original one : It was first called « OLD HIGHLAND WHISKY » in 1865, when it was launched (a kind of precursor for the « BLACK LABEL »). It is in 1906 that the 3 first current expressions are launched, with (for our whisky tasted today) the name of « SPECIAL OLD HIGHLAND RED LABEL ». The famous « striding man » image appears for the first time on the label in 1908, and it is the year after, 1909, that sees the name change to « RED LABEL ». It became later on one of the favorite Scotch whiskies of Winston Churchill ! The « RED LABEL » is made of 35 whiskies, including 5 grain whiskies, and, among the single malts, the key one are ABERFELDY & CARDHU, and from the smoky side, Western Islands distilleries such as CAOL ILA & TALISKER. In 2019, the whole JOHNNIE WALKER brand sold 18,4 Billion of 9 liter cases of whisky. <br /><br />LINK TO MY TOPIC ABOUT JOHNNIE WALKER ON MY WEBSITE :<br /><a href="http://www.gregswhiskyguide.com/actualites/editorial-homepage/267-editorial-no-27.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.gregswhiskyguide.com/actualites/editorial-homepage/267-editorial-no-27.html</a><br /><br />About this FACE TO FACE Blended Whiskies Series, please check out my presentation in the description of the BALLANTINE’S RUNDOWN Video about it :<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAULwWKNLv4&t=1s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAULwWKNLv4&t=1s</a><br /><br />Thanks for watching & if you like the video, please <br />...<br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tI_QkaVqYo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tI_QkaVqYo</a>