JW Red Label
 

Greetings,
I hope you could assist me in obtaining some details regarding a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label that I have.

The bottle was given to me in the mid 90’s following the passing of my elderly friend and neighbour.
He was about 83 Year old at that time and had been given the bottle many years prior when he managed a linen mill in Victoria.
Now if the dates in Wikipedia are any indication ( see below ) this bottle could range from between 33 ( Using 1977 ) to 36 year old ( using 1974 ) minimum.

In 1970, federal parliament passed the Metric Conversion Act, which created the Metric Conversion Board to facilitate the conversion of measurements from imperial to metric. A timeline of major developments in this conversion process is as follows:
• 1971 – the Australian wool industry converted to the metric system.
• 1972 – primary schools began teaching the metric system. Horse racing converted in August 1972 and air temperatures were converted in September 1972.
• 1973 - secondary schools used the metric system.
• 1974 – large scale conversion across industries, including packaged grains, dairy products, eggs, building, timber, paper, printing, meteorological services, postal services, communications, road transport, travel, textiles, gas, electricity, surveying, sport, water supply, mining, metallurgy, chemicals, petroleum and automotive services. Most beverages, aside from spirits, also converted to metric units by the end of 1974. The conversion of road signs took place in July 1974. There was a publicity campaign to prepare the public.[5]
• 1977 – all packaged goods were labelled in metric units, and the air transport, food, energy, machine tool, electronic, electrical engineering and appliance manufacturing industries converted.
Or

1988 Withdrawal of remaining imperial units from general legal use.

As I have no idea when this may have been bottled I really have no idea how old it is.
Labelling details are :-

3 Labels - Gold and Red in colour

Label 1 – uppermost
approx. 5 cm long x 2 cm deep – curved corners with a slight curvature in the label itself.
Label bears
- the coat of arms and “ By appointment to her Majesty the Queen “ and Scotch Whisky Distillers
- John Walker and Sons LTD.

Label 2 – Main label
Rectangular label placed at a diagonal slant rising from left to right.
Label bears –
- Product of Scotland
- Johnnie Walker Red Label Old Scotch Whisky
- John Walker and Sons Ltd Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Bottled in Australia

Label 3 – lower label
Rectangular Label – in Gold with Black print.
Label bears –
Highest Awards – Sydney 1880, Paris 1885, Adelaide 1997, Melbourne 1881, Dunedin 1890, Jamaica ( unreadable ), Kimberley 1892 and Brisbane 1897
The “Walking Man” in colour and below that “ Guaranteed the same quality throughout the world.”
Signature line
Net 1 pint 6 Fluid ounces

Capping
Red topped with gold below with raised / embossed writing bearing company name etc.. It appears to be a foil seal. The bottle is sealed with cork.

Rear of Bottle

Embossed glass – “ Johnnie Walker “ and “ This bottle always remains the property of John Walker and sons Ltd.

The underside of the bottle has 3 markings
- 3
- IS 498
- A diagram – G within a square and below that an M between ( for want of a better description ) 2 legs

There is only one other marking visible and that is located on the inside of the main label. It is printed on the label rear “ 2116 D “

I hope you can provide me with some information regarding this bottle.
Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Roger Wilson
Email - wilsonr1@bigpond.net.au

Roger, we can confirm a date for your JW Red Label (or at least a date range), but need photos. : )