Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/49694
COVER STORY comes from whiskies like Caol Ila from Islay. There's also an added richness in Double Black, and that comes from casks which have had a particularly deep charring. The result is that it really opens up the wood surface and allows for a greater interaction between whisky and wood, delivering a fuller and more richly flavored single malt." In the final blend for both Black Label and Double Black, the balance of European and American oak casks is about the same, as is the basic ratio of single malts and grain whiskies. However, the recipe is tweaked slightly to compensate for the different ages and strengths of these whiskies. But most dramatic is the use of more thickly charred barrels for aging, which intensifies the sweet fruitiness of the sherry casks. The result is not only a deeper flavor of Double Black, but a deeper color as well, which is about ten percent darker than Black Label. This intensity of both tone and taste opens up whole new vistas for creating new on-premise proprietary cocktails, as well as more muscular interpretations of some of the classics. "It's still basically Black Label," says Diageo Master of Whisky Edward Also, Black Label's sherried fruitiness is given a hard shove forward. In fact, just as Black Label is a more pronounced version of Red Label, Double Black is a noticeably more amplified version of Black Label. It's the smokiness that really sets it apart. This is due to the fact that Double Black not only uses a greater percentage of smoky single malts— such as Caol Ila and Lagavulin from Islay—than Black Label, but younger versions of these whiskies as well, which tend to have a greater concen- tration of peat. Thus, unlike 12 Year Old 44 / the tasting panel / december 201 1 Black Label, there is no age statement on Double Black. "Double Black shares the same core malts and grains as Black Label," says Nick Morgan, Head of Whisky Outreach for Diageo "and, of course, it has the DNA of Johnnie Walker running all the way to its heart. Where it's different is that we've dialed up the smokiness of the new blend, at the expense, I suppose, of some of the more delicate fruity elements that you can find in a glass of Black Label. "The principle difference is around this West Coast intensity of flavor that Brand Ambassador, Actress Christina Hendricks with Master of Whisky Stephen Wilson. PHOTO: ROB BROWN