Paul John
Paul John Single Malts are the creations of John Distilleries Ltd (JDL). Established in 1992, the company is driven by the vision of its Chairman, Mr Paul P. John.
His passion for creating liquor brands of international repute led him to persevere, innovate and break the mould. JDL has a diverse portfolio, including its flagship brand Original Choice Whisky, which sells over 10 million cases a year.
These whiskies have now become a little more of a known brand here in the Uk and Europe with many people like myself very keen to add the latest releases and limited editions to our collections. These Indian single malts are both at home sitting on the shelf as part of a collection or sitting on the table being enjoyed by groups of friends or even closely guarded to be drunk alone..
A few years back the company started to play around and take a look into finishing whisky in those well loved sherry butts, this is a little more interesting than you might think though as Paul John expressions have always carried those dried fruit notes even though all the expressions had always been fully matured within either first fill or second fill ex Bourbon casks..
The first time i managed to get hold of one, well i say one it was actually the first sherried expression they released it was a single cask and sold out well before the release such was the hype surrounding it.. Once tasted all we wanted was MORE!!
Eventually we got got what we wanted with the release of the Christmas editions closely followed by the awesome Oloroso and Px select cask releases.. This years Christmas edition certainly had a lot to live up to after last years stunning release featuring that much loved Pedro Ximinez.. This year however we see a return to the beloved Oloroso Sherry but wit the added extra of Virgin oak.The make up for this release is interesting with un-peated whisky matured in Ex Bourbon casks, Virgin Oak and Oloroso butts married with Peated whisky matured in Ex Bourbon casks. As always this whisky was made using only 6 row Indian Barley and for the peated whisky this was dried with peat imported from Scotland rather than peated barley being imported as sometimes reported..
2020 Christmas Edition – Paul John
Distillery.. Paul John
Region.. Goa, India
Age.. NAS
Abv.. 46%
Casks.. Ex American Bourbon, Sherry Butts and Virgin Oak
Nose.. Soft aromas of Dried fruits float up to greet you before turning into a freshly opened jar of orange marmalade, cinnamon buns, dark chocolate, honey and peanut brittle. Add just a little stewed apples, banana and vanilla ice cream then wrap it all up within the softest waft of smoke and you have this enticing dram.
Palate.. The smoke remains delicate and just about manages to wrap itself around those Turkish delight knock off sweets covered in dark chocolate, candied orange, honey nut corn flakes, warm cinnamon buns and soft ginger nut biscuits. The dried fruits make an appearance but they never manage to dominate, whilst a soft coffee note resonates i the background.
Finish.. Soft spices and gentle sweetness lingers
Thoughts.. This takes me back to the first time i tasted Edited, the soft peat just enhances the brilliance of the bourbon matured whisky but with that little twist of smoke..
The balance of this whisky is superb, it has that complexity and depth with just enough sherry mixed with the bourbon and virgin oak casks to give you the notion it is there but without leaving you wondering where the bourbon casks come into play..
I have often heard people saying they have not heard of Indian whisky, it cant be any good if its Indian or I wouldn’t touch it if its not Scotch but you just need to educate them as to how bloody good this whisky is, deep down you chuckle as you hear the words muttered but eventually they understand, even start to love the whisky, after all whisky is now universal and is being successfully made all around the world..
If you have not tried this then i suggest you hurry before its all gone..
With thanks to Craig from Paul John for the official sample..
ocdwhisky.com 