Paul John Classic Select Cask Single Malt

Paul John, as a brand, first came on my radar, when the Nirvana hit the Best Values section of Whisky Advocate's reviews. Now I've said this before in comments, but I'm not sure I included it in a review: I don't necessarily takes what the Advocate says as verbatim truth. They are a lifestyle magazine, but a subscription costs $22/year and you get decent articles, glossy pictures of whisky bottles, and although the reviews never seem to dip below 87 for anything, their Editor's Choice, Best Value and Collectibles Choices are pretty spot-on. Or, I should say the Editor's Choice and Best Value are. I don't really have the deep pockets for their collectible recommendations. If the Best Value picks are in my region, I almost always pick up a bottle, and that was especially the case when I had two kids in daycare and was barely making ends meet (thank god for public schools, am I right? If nothing else, they let daddy afford more expensive whiskies). The Nirvana is Paul John's 80 proof single malt expression, and while it's never going to change anyone's life, at $26 a bottle and with some nice fruitiness, it punches at a weight really only challenged by Dewar's 12. I've only ever had the one bottle about two years ago, but I remember it being entirely serviceable and I wasn't embarrassed to serve it to company. The only other expressions available in my region were the Christmas 2019 and the Christmas 2020 as well as this Select Cask. Given the community score here, I wasn't really seeking the Select Cask, but the Christmas editions seemed appropriate for the festive season, and I was waiting for the festive season to purchase them. Apparently, waiting paid off, as both Christmas expressions went on clearance at 50% off, so I scored them both for $45. And the Select Cask went on Clearance for the same, so instead of $100, it was $50. And so, like any self-respecting curious whisky fan, I snatched up all three, even if the community score for the Select Cask was only 3.4, the lowest of all the whiskies in my collection on this site. This absolutely boggles the mind because this whisky is definitely better than a 3.4, better than deserving the lowest score of anything I own (to put this in context, Tullamore DEW's standard expression is a 3.5). It might be the price. If I hadn't picked this up for $50, I might have felt that it didn't live up to what I paid. But then again, I generally only pay $100 for Islay Scotches. So I'd have never bothered with it if it hadn't gone on clearance. I opened this, this past Sunday, the same day I opened a Johnnie Walker Green, and the Green was far superior but there were similarities in terms of bright fruitiness, even if the fruits differed. Nosing this, there's an odd funk that comes from an admixture of papaya, kiwi, coconut, and mango. I'm curious as to how this comes about. How you can take grains and get such variety of scents. And honestly, I've never had these aromas in anything else. But I'm still trying to figure out what the funk is, because if it were just those scents clean, this would be an amazing dram. There's also something of a solvent in there, something chemical that keeps this from being top tier. But that solvent isn't enough to ruin the nose. The palate, overall, is a combination of the tropical fruits in the nose that end up coming of as a tropical fruit punch with that alcohol edge you get at 102 proof. I gave a sip to my wife, who prefers bourbon and Irish whiskies, and she started coughing because it went down the wrong pipe, but whereas some 117 proof whiskies don't drink like their proof, this feels like it drinks a bit higher than 102. Not that I mind, it's not harsh, but it's...sharp? The finish remains fruity with a slight slight bite to it. And really, what keeps this from being a higher rating is a lack of balance. All the elements are here to make a good whisky, but they just don't come off perfectly. It's like when you watch someone do a great routine on the balance beam, perfectly execute a double backflip off of it, and then just stagger a step as they hold their arms up in the air. Oh, I'll be finishing this bottle with relish, but you can see how this doesn't quite reach it's full potential. When they figure it out, this could be absolutely amazing.

Paul John Classic Select Cask 55.2% Non-Chill Filtered and Cask Strength and Natural Color   My wife originally got me into the Paul John whiskies. She was always on the lookout for something new for me to try and she came home with a bottle of Paul John before I had an opportunity to try Amrut even though I had read all the raving reviews about Amrut. I think the select cask peated was the first one she came home with and from that bottle I was sold. This was probably about 2 years ago and now, since then, I have made it a point to try everything in their core lineup, and I can tell you that it’s all good. This one however stands out above the others to me. You can read about it on their site here https://pauljohnwhisky.com/en/singlemalt/classic   The smell is a strong blast of green/unripe fruit – banana, kiwi, almond, honey, spice, and a little bourbon heat. Really nice and very unique The taste is a little hot without water but after the burn you can taste some excellent barley sugar, honey, almonds, vanilla, grains. With water the banana and kiwi flavors come out. Clove, grain sugars, and sour cherry. This is really good and different. The finish is long with all the unripe fruits and clove spice.    This is such a good and odd/unique whiskey.  I really enjoy this and while it’s priced around $80 I think it’s well worth it. I have seen it as low at $60 in some places but no matter the price it’s worth your time. It’s very different but very nice. If you have the opportunity to grab any bottle of the Paul John core range I would recommend it but this one in particular is excellent.   Overall Grade: A    

A bold, unpeated, cask strength Indian Single Malt Whisky by Master Distiller Michael D’Souza for Paul John Distilleries in Goa, India made with indigenous local ingredients; distilled in traditional copper pot stills before it spends its sweet time in ex-Bourbon charred American Oak casks; then bottled at 55.2% ABV. It has a rich birth with notes of honey, stewed apple, pear, vanilla, freshly baked sponge cake, golden barley & a hint of salinity; while a bold & complex life adds notes of tropical fruits, banana, passion fruit, cinnamon, black pepper & dark chocolate; that leads to a spicy death of medium length with notes of oak, chili & cracked black pepper. January / May 2020 / September 2021 / July 2022

At first impression on the nose I get very bourbonish notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla spices. There is also a very nutty note of maybe walnuts there that is prominent. As I nose it deeper, the tropical fruits begin to appear with papaya, pineapple, apple, and mango coming through. The flavor opens with sweet honey malty cereal notes. The fruitiness appears mid palate and continues through the finish as baking spices appear at the end to finish the experience. The high proof does give the whisky an astringency, but a little water and time in the glass smoothes out the experience, and allows more fruit flavors to come out as the whisky opens up in the glass.

Green Apple all day! Confusing nose, but I like it. Pleasant fruity apple palette, hint of peat that lingers into the finish. It’s almost sour, which I could see some not liking. Nice to sip for the proof - definitely doesn’t feel as heavy as some other 55% bottles - possibly because the sweetness masks it? I haven’t tried any other Indian whiskies, but now I’m excited to get my hands on some. Definitely a unique experience.

This is a weird one. Most of a bottle done and I'm still grappling with it. This needs water. The alcohol is punchy. My problem is... Coconut. I get the tropical fruit and a touch of mild spice. But I get coconut and I'm not sure I like it in this context. It confuses me. I want to like it but I'm struggling. So. An adventure. Different and maybe too young but packed with flavour. Dammit! Feel my pain, people!