Head to head · unusually close flavour match
Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old vs Johnnie Walker Blue Label
These two are not in the same bracket: £532 a litre of pure alcohol for Johnnie Walker Blue Label against £107 for Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old.
Compiled by WhiskeyCask Editorial · Last verified 2026-07-30
Specifications side by side
| Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old | Johnnie Walker Blue Label | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Blended scotch | Blended scotch |
| Origin | Scotland | Scotland |
| Age | 12 years | No age statement |
| Strength | 40% ABV | 40% ABV |
| Cask | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Bottle | 700 ml | 700 ml |
| RRP observed | £30 | £149 |
| Per 10cl | £4.29 | £21 |
| Per litre of alcohol | £107 | £532 |
| Chill-filtered | Not stated | Not stated |
What separates them
Both from Scotland.
Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old states 12 years; Johnnie Walker Blue Label states none.
Neither producer publishes cask types.
Neither states chill filtration.
What the price buys
Johnnie Walker Blue Label is £119 dearer a bottle than Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old.
Strength keeps that ordering: £107 a litre of pure alcohol for Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old against £532.
Across the 32 bottles we can cost this way, Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old is 6th cheapest and Johnnie Walker Blue Label 31st cheapest.
Flavour, compared
View as table
| Axis | Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old | Johnnie Walker Blue Label |
|---|---|---|
| Peaty | 4 | 3 |
| Sweet | 6 | 7 |
| Fruity | 5 | 6 |
| Spicy | 5 | 5 |
| Woody | 5 | 5 |
| Sherried | 4 | 5 |
| Cereal | 5 | 5 |
| Oily | 6 | 7 |
No axis reaches the 3-point gap we call meaningful. Widest is peaty, 4 against 3.
Identical on spicy, woody and cereal.
Each bottle in its own right
Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old
Light smoke, dried fruit and vanilla over a soft, easy body. The most reliable blend on any shelf anywhere.
Diageo states the blend uses over 29 whiskies, every one matured a minimum of 12 years — the age statement is a floor across all components, not an average.
Full record →Johnnie Walker Blue Label
Silky, honeyed and faintly smoky. Immaculately made, and priced for the box as much as the liquid.
Diageo's own page states no age at all, framing selection by rejection rate instead — only one cask in 10,000 qualifies — with some components from closed 'ghost' distilleries.
Full record →No overlap in what we list them for: Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old for highball, first blended scotch and value, Johnnie Walker Blue Label for gift and occasion bottle.
Where these specifications come from
Producer and retailer pages for Johnnie Walker Black Label 12 Year Old and Johnnie Walker Blue Label: thebar.com. Figures are what those pages published when we last checked them, on 2026-07-30.