Paul John Peated Select Cask Single Malt

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #5: Paul John Peated Select Cask. Single Malt Whisky from India. 55.5% ABV. NAS. Paid $84 Yes, I will be restocking this. Wow! I love Indian whisky! It’s way more expressive and more reasonably priced than Japanese whisky. This is a concentrated beast at 55.5% ABV; it’s made from imported peated Scottish barley, which is then distilled in Gao, India. The nose makes false promises of being gentle. There’s subdued smoke, and rich bourbon-influenced aromas. Maybe it’s my imagination, but like the Amrut Fusion earlier in the countdown, I get a dank, humid whiff; like jungle perspiration and honey on linen. The palate is a punch of flavors dialed to 11. The peat is a lot stronger than the nose would lead you to believe. But this is balanced by super dense barbeque sauce sweetness and bold spiciness. It is so sweet, full-bodied, and bitey that I once mistook it for Octomore 7.2 in a blind tasting. This is less than half the price of the Octomore, and I ended up rating it higher in that tasting. The sweet, fruity boldness creates the illusion of wine cask influence, when there has been none. I recommend some water added with this one. It’s can sting otherwise. MARK: 92/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #6: Redbreast. $96. 43% ABV. 15 years old. 92/100. #7: Yamazaki. $74. 43% ABV. 12 years old. 92/100. #8: Lagavulin. $70. 43% ABV. 16 years old. 91/100. #9: Benromach. $65. 43%. 16 years. 91/100. #10: Talisker Distiller’s Edition. $72. 45.8%. D2000/B2011. 91/100. #11: Amrut Fusion. $76. 50%. NAS. 91/100

Ah, yes, my favorite single malt from Gao, India. I’ve just worked my way through my second bottle of this expressive whisky. This has become a go-to when I want every tastebud overwhelmed. To anthropomorphize this whisky is to evoke someone fantastically gay, like Liberace. Untraditional; unmistakable; undeniably fabulous. I suppose the only problem is only a problem if you’re a weird whisky reviewer or enthusiast such as myself. Sometimes we render the criticism that a bottle tastes great on its own, but side-by-side with another similar whisky, and the flaws show. That really shouldn’t be valid criticism because you should just stop having this whisky side-by-side with other whiskies and enjoy this for what it is. But, side-by-side with a similarly bold and similarly priced Ardbeg Uigeadail, or even the cheaper and more muted Amrut Fusion, this Paul John Peated Select Cask just doesn’t seem composed, and even a little schizoaffective. Like, really, if they put coloring in this whisky, it shouldn’t be E150a; it should be Skittles. This whisky just has all the flavors all the time. Hickory sweetness, fruity, salty, savory, and so much exotic spiciness. The illusion of terroir overtakes me, and I just want to make shit up about how they peated the barley in a tandoor, and that’s how you get the tandoori chicken note. I am probably going to buy a third bottle of this at some point so I can have extravagant madness in a glass whenever I am in the mood again. Score: * (unforgettably good) How much does a bottle cost?: $80-100 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $90

My last Drinks by the Dram sample. I had always been curious of Paul John...it's raised in a hot climate like an Amrut, which expedites aging, but it's also by the ocean in Goa, unlike the Amrut which is at a high elevation. Just a bit of geography: Amrut is made in Bangalore, which is incredibly hot and at an elevation of 3000 feet. Goa is on the west coast of India, right at the beach, a tourist hippie heaven. Think Mazaltan, minus the drug cartels. But that maritime location is gentle and hot, with warm tropical breezes instead of the salty briny tempest you'd get in Islay or Islands. Ok...so...The nose is very minty, like smelling tic tacs almost. Some eucalyptus as well. Taste is much more earthy and grassy. I love that the peat is really integrated into the taste, reminds me a lot of that recent Ledaig 18 I had last time. It's there, and lets you know of the peat backbone, but it lets the wood shine first. I love the way it goes from the eucalyptus aroma to the grassy earthy taste. It's also potent, almost 55 ABV (angels share in Goa is to blame I guess). What I don't like is the finish. Has a bitter finish, almost like fenugreek. It was doing so incredibly well until the finish. Would I buy a full bottle? Probably not. It's good one time, but not sure I'd be coming back,just because of that fenugreek finish. I'd be open to trying other products of Paul John though.

Another sample dram from Miami Whiskey Mash. This is the first Indian whiskey that I've tried, so check off another box on my spirits journey. When I wandered over to the Paul John table, perhaps I'd had a few too many by that point, because I actually walked over to the wrong side of the display (i.e., the servers' side). In fairness to myself, the tables abruptly flipped orientation when I went around the corner: the tables on one side faced outward, while the tables on the next side of the rectangular formation faced inward for some reason! After looking over the shoulder of someone pouring out drams, and beginning to think this was a self-serve station, it dawned on me that he was the server. Awkward. This peated whiskey reminds me of Port Charlotte or Ballechin more than the smoky Islay powerhouses like Laphroaig. The peat was earthier, with significantly more minerality and loam, and even hints of mushroom.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual ‘Peat in the wrong place’ Whisky Tasting, 20 August 2021). Nose: Strong alcohol (burns the nose!). Earthy, peathy, saline, nutty, woody Palate: Barley sugar/boiled sweets, orange peel, 'hot', caramel, citrus. A strange sour milk note. Finish: Medium long finish. Peat, saccharin sweet, a little sickly. Sulfur and mineral. Malt sourced in India Peat sourced from Scotland This concentrated dram takes all of the worst elements of a young sweet Scottish whisky and adds a layer of fake sweetness and a 'baby sick' sourness. Pretty unpleasant. Came joint second out of the six drams, with 19% of the final vote for favourite of the night. 76% of those present said they enjoyed the whisky.

Aroma: Honey! Floral, only faint peat and...fresh water. Smells great. Taste: Holy $%!*! Spice, alcohol, power, punch, too much! Let's try a smaller sip. Ok, flavors of whisky, thin honey. Alcohol punch on the lips and tongue that lingers. After-taste is sweet. 1/2 dram and 3 drops of water now. That helped to reduce the alcohol punch, taking it down to heat, that glowing feeling. Sweetens the aroma. Ah, there's the peat flavor. So it seems, for me, this would be best with a splash of water in it or else on the rocks. The water really brought out the peat but not super-strong Laphroaig-style. Ratings are based on neat sipping.