Generously_Paul
Paul John Christmas Edition 2018
Single Malt — Goa, India , India
Reviewed
January 11, 2019 (edited February 1, 2019)
John Paul is an Indian distillery and one that, until tonight, I had never tried. I’ve heard good things so let’s see what it’s all about. This is the 2018 Christmas Edition (I assume there are editions from previous years as well but I truly don’t know), which is sherry matured, lightly peated, bottled at 46% ABV and is non chill filtered. I don’t know if Paul John adds colorant to their whiskies but this one is an amber honey.
The nose starts with lots of oak and wood spice. This soon transitions into the most incredible fruitcake profile I’ve ever nosed. The fruitcakiest fruitcake that ever fruitcaked even. Intense dried fruits, raisins, prunes, apricots, peaches, and most of all, cherries. There’s also candied ginger and cinnamon. A nice earthy peat that adds complexity and a nice counterbalance to the fruity notes. It’s really amazing how much this smells like fruitcake...just smacks of Christmas. A light minty/herbal note. Sherry, but not overpoweringly sweet like some others. Semisweet chocolate sauce, toffee and maple with some tobacco. A little wood smoke and barrel char, but it’s far in the background. A great nose, no ifs ands or buts about it.
The palate mimics the nose almost perfectly. Lots of wood spice (without being spicy) and dried fruits. The same dried fruits as the nose with the cherries and raisins really standing out. Dense spiced fruitcake, chocolate sauce and black pepper. Earthy peat but no real smoke to speak of. Unfortunately the peat does not integrate well with the fruity notes like it did on the nose. The peat and fruits seem to be at odds with each other. Otherwise a great palate as well.
A medium to full bodied mouthfeel that is thick and oily. Mouth coating and luxurious.
The finish is long with fruity sherry, fruitcake, chocolate and light peat.
Wow, this is a damn fine whisky that just screams Christmas. Super fruity but not overly sweet. Spices but not too spicy. Very well balanced. My only complaint is the way the peat comes across on the palate. While not necessarily bad, it just doesn’t mesh with all the other flavors the way it should. If this Christmas Edition is anything like the rest of the Paul John lineup then I would very much like to try them. A solid 4.25 that could easily be a 4.5 depending on the mood. A big thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample.
Cheers
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@worldwhiskies95 the very first one that came out. From a few years ago—-maybe 2 years ago I think
@PBMichiganWolverine Which edition of Amrut Double Cask do u have?
@worldwhiskies95 I have both, haven’t tried it yet though. Both are supposedly excellent
@PBMichiganWolverine I’ve heard good things about Naarangi on instagram and it won wwa best indian single malt last year. Have u ever tried Amrut Double Cask or Paul John Kanya? If u’ve tried Amrut double cask which edition(s) did u try
@worldwhiskies95 I’d be curious to see what you think of the Naarangi. I thought it was way too citrusy. Like a notch below orange juice. But I had the original, maybe the new batch is better
@worldwhiskies95 enjoy!
@PBMichiganWolverine @Generously_Paul I just ordered a bottle of this and Amrut Naarangi on whiskysite.nl
@Soba45 I’ve seen it on shelves here in the US for $60-70. And I remember trying a sample ages ago. Just wasn’t good enough to spend $60.
@PBMichiganWolverine Ah I haven't tried Rampur. There is only one entry for it on distiller so guess they don't export widely.
@Soba45 yeah, I kinda agree...ranking the three Indian malts, I’d say Amrut takes top spot by far. Then Paul John, followed by a distant far behind Rampur
Great review :-). I did a tasting with JP himself as he toured NZ. The std line didn't blow me away, I preferred Amrut but lovely guy. He mentioned that a famous whiskey critic visited him and tried stuff prior to release and told him it was no good and to tip everything out as it wasn't great but he didn't listen and he's still going strong. Interesting some of the behind the scenes stories you here around starting up!
@worldwhiskies95 nice detective work!
@worldwhiskies95 wow...in that case, the $45 I paid for this was a steal then. Especially considering a 10 yr old Amrut is $500+
@PBMichiganWolverine Paul John’s website and talking to regional Paul John managers on Instagram
@worldwhiskies95 8 yrs is a damn long amount of time for Indian. The angel’s share is simply too high. I had no idea it was 8 yrs. How did you find that out?
@PBMichiganWolverine @Generously_Paul Did u know this is aged for 8 years? 7 years bourbon, 1.5 years oloroso. Equivalent to 24 year old from Scotland
@cascode for me it’s cardamom. Every Amrut I’ve had I’ve tasted cardamom. Not a bad thing at all...especially if you like cardamom.
@cascode can’t say that I did, but sometimes I do pick up on things that I can’t identify, might be the case here. It really was an overwhelmingly fruity dram.
Did you (or anyone else for that matter) taste peanuts in the palate of this. I've not had this one but I've tasted a half a dozen other Paul John expressiosn, and every one has had a strrong peanut presence. I had thought it was part of the distillate chatacter.
@PBMichiganWolverine I agree, expertly engineered. Yeah it’s most likely Scottish peat, but I don’t think that the fact that it’s Scottish is the issue. Maybe if the ppm level was lower it would have been better
@Generously_Paul this one was a surprise for me. It was such a masterfully engineered Christmas malt. Totally agree on the peat...I think the peat might be imported from Scotland. India doesn’t have a natural source of its own. Maybe that explains the bit of disconnect ?