Hi, Shane! Great review! Pretty much mirrors my thoughts and feelings about this whisky. I've tried quite a few Paul John Expressions in the last two years: Brilliance, Edited, Bold, Oloroso, PX, Classic Select Cask and Peated Select Cask. In Bulgaria they can be had as miniatures for the equivalent of around 5-6 pounds a bottle. Great opportunity to taste the product range before choosing a full-size bottle to buy. Brilliance in particular didn't strike me as something worth having a full size bottle of. At the first taste I found it to be quite sharp, up-tight, dry and very salty. The second half of the miniature performed better after a couple of days, presenting some sweetness and fruity/floral notes. All in all competent malt whisky. Out of the Flagship range of Paul John's I liked Edited the most. Gentle peat, complex, developing. It reminded me of Springbank 10 and Loch Lomond 12, but with a twist of its own. Cheers!
Thanks Nikolay. I love distilleries that produce miniatures and 200ml bottles. It's great to be able to try the full range before committing 👍 Other than this one, I think the only Paul Johns I had tried were fairly expensive cask strength offerings. To be honest, I think this at 46% and £35 offers better value. I will try to get a sample of Edited though. Thanks for the recommendation!
Got one of these five years ago. Very interesting and I found it opened up and changed quite a bit over time going through the bottle. Don't know if it's just the power of suggestion but got exotic aromas and flavors that made me think of India. Love that they use 6 row barley grown in the foothills of the Himalayas for a unique character. Cheers
It's a really interesting subject and I think there are some 'Indian' flavours in this. It's not just suggestion IMHO. I think there's a slightly tropical and exotic fruitiness to the malt and some pleasant spice coming through from the oak. Is the exotic fruitiness and spice because it was made in India? Unlikely! But very pleasant and fun 🙂
Yes I think it is very fairly priced. Good value and perhaps cheaper than I expected it to be 🙂 I haven't tried any peated Paul John although I have liked the peated Amrut that I've had. Thanks for the recommendation.
Nice to hear about this brand, I see that it's widely available in Germany at decent prices, so perhaps I'll be able to sample it somewhere. And yes, indeed, with quality largely declining and prices exploding among the big players in Scottish whisky, it is high time to focus on craft producers, lesser known houses and non-Scottish alternatives. I hope to make it to the Festival of German whisky at the end of April, because after a long period of trial and error German whiskies are slowly coming into their own. Prices are still too high and ages too low, but the, err, malt and chaff are clearly separating.
I think it's well worth a try. Indian whisky has a distinct charm IMHO and you can tell they're putting in the effort. I still haven't managed to try any German whisky. At all. Let me know if you find any good ones. Cheers 🥃
I have not complaints from this bottle. I always forget to grab it when I'm looking for a non-sherried, non-peated dram. But they are doing a good job. I like to add this to the PJ Peated cask to add a bit of complexity
Agreed. It's not something I urgently want to replace but I felt it was good value and I enjoyed it and it makes me want to try their other stuff. Cheers 🥃
Nice review. Their Bold expression is my go to PJ. Do check it out. Actually Amrut and PJ are not the only ones doing well internationally. There's Rampur and I would highly recommend Indri single malt. That's a new entrant, launched in 2021 and is already well received internationally
Good one mate! This one is alright, definitely give the Nirvana a miss, the Bold is pretty good. Their Christmas editions are good and so are the Oloroso and PX versions. The Mithuna is probably their best expression but it's expensive. Cheers my man 🥃
I haven't had Nirvana. Personally anything at 40% really puts me off 😉 they seem to have a lot of well received expressions though. As do Amrut. I'll keep an eye out for Mithuna. Cheers! 🥃
Since drinking this whisky, I've been interested in finding the more meaty whiskies with an umami flavor. Very interesting and contrary to what others have said the deeper you gown the bottle the more the drink transforms. I believe all this needs is a little breather and you're good to go
Great review. I got this couple months ago and I tried it on different occasions but unfortunately it's not my type of flavors... too much oak and very dry.. like sipping whisky from a wooden cup.. however after your review I will try to approach it again... thanks 😊 cheers
It definitely has a lot of oak to it and it's OK if that's not your thing. To be honest I'm not usually a fan of over-oaking either. Especially if it makes the flavour profile too much on ginger and wood spice. I didn't mind this one though 🙂 Cheers!
It's very good whisky and fine value. We can't lump all 'Indian' whisky together and they do things their way and the others do it their way. The fact that it is good value is a huge plus. I'm at the £50 point these days and anything more expensive better give me a good reason why I should pay. It's a buy. WT
Fine value indeed. Especially considering how far it's travelled! I think all other Paul Johns I've had have been the cask strength offerings. IMHO this is just about as good and far cheaper. A much better buy. You may want to take a deep breath and be seated for tomorrow's review though. It is not a value dram... but it interesting. You probably know what it's going to be!
Interesting review. The only Indian whiskey I have had is the Indri Trini which is very good but it was a little sweet which is what you mentioned with this one. I guess if you are looking for an alternative to the sweeter Scotch whiskies like some of the sherry bombs then Indian whiskey is a good alternative.
Yes my theory is that the warmer climate produces a sweeter and perhaps lighter whisky. It certainly feels that way with this and other Indian whiskies I've tried any way. And perhaps some English whisky. It doesn't have that cold and damp Scottish character 😉 it is good though.
Yes it has a light, exotic fruitiness. As for being hard to get through, I think it helps to alternate it with other drams. It possibly doesn't have the complexity for me to want to go back to it time after time. Decent though. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Chris Young from 'The Blot Outdoors Show' reviewed it recently, he was wasn't complimentary about it. The video is here, if you fast forward 52 minutes you will see his 'world famous whisky review', here he gives his honest oppinion on this Indian single malt. ua-cam.com/video/B4-ESv5KWQI/v-deo.htmlsi=D4boxFQJ9WOc_uLH
Hi, Shane!
Great review! Pretty much mirrors my thoughts and feelings about this whisky. I've tried quite a few Paul John Expressions in the last two years: Brilliance, Edited, Bold, Oloroso, PX, Classic Select Cask and Peated Select Cask. In Bulgaria they can be had as miniatures for the equivalent of around 5-6 pounds a bottle. Great opportunity to taste the product range before choosing a full-size bottle to buy.
Brilliance in particular didn't strike me as something worth having a full size bottle of. At the first taste I found it to be quite sharp, up-tight, dry and very salty. The second half of the miniature performed better after a couple of days, presenting some sweetness and fruity/floral notes. All in all competent malt whisky. Out of the Flagship range of Paul John's I liked Edited the most. Gentle peat, complex, developing. It reminded me of Springbank 10 and Loch Lomond 12, but with a twist of its own.
Cheers!
Thanks Nikolay. I love distilleries that produce miniatures and 200ml bottles. It's great to be able to try the full range before committing 👍
Other than this one, I think the only Paul Johns I had tried were fairly expensive cask strength offerings. To be honest, I think this at 46% and £35 offers better value. I will try to get a sample of Edited though. Thanks for the recommendation!
Got one of these five years ago. Very interesting and I found it opened up and changed quite a bit over time going through the bottle. Don't know if it's just the power of suggestion but got exotic aromas and flavors that made me think of India. Love that they use 6 row barley grown in the foothills of the Himalayas for a unique character. Cheers
It's a really interesting subject and I think there are some 'Indian' flavours in this. It's not just suggestion IMHO. I think there's a slightly tropical and exotic fruitiness to the malt and some pleasant spice coming through from the oak. Is the exotic fruitiness and spice because it was made in India? Unlikely! But very pleasant and fun 🙂
I have a bottle. All really enjoy it. Excellent price for its range. And I recommend the peated version as well.
Yes I think it is very fairly priced. Good value and perhaps cheaper than I expected it to be 🙂 I haven't tried any peated Paul John although I have liked the peated Amrut that I've had. Thanks for the recommendation.
Nice to hear about this brand, I see that it's widely available in Germany at decent prices, so perhaps I'll be able to sample it somewhere. And yes, indeed, with quality largely declining and prices exploding among the big players in Scottish whisky, it is high time to focus on craft producers, lesser known houses and non-Scottish alternatives. I hope to make it to the Festival of German whisky at the end of April, because after a long period of trial and error German whiskies are slowly coming into their own. Prices are still too high and ages too low, but the, err, malt and chaff are clearly separating.
I think it's well worth a try. Indian whisky has a distinct charm IMHO and you can tell they're putting in the effort.
I still haven't managed to try any German whisky. At all. Let me know if you find any good ones. Cheers 🥃
I have not complaints from this bottle. I always forget to grab it when I'm looking for a non-sherried, non-peated dram. But they are doing a good job.
I like to add this to the PJ Peated cask to add a bit of complexity
A home blended Indian single malt sounds like a great idea! 👍
I enjoy this. Not a quick repeat buy, but a solid whisky. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Cheers!
Agreed. It's not something I urgently want to replace but I felt it was good value and I enjoyed it and it makes me want to try their other stuff. Cheers 🥃
Nice review. Their Bold expression is my go to PJ. Do check it out. Actually Amrut and PJ are not the only ones doing well internationally. There's Rampur and I would highly recommend Indri single malt. That's a new entrant, launched in 2021 and is already well received internationally
There's been such an explosion in world whisky over the last few years. Not only that but a lot of it is really good too 👍
Good one mate! This one is alright, definitely give the Nirvana a miss, the Bold is pretty good. Their Christmas editions are good and so are the Oloroso and PX versions. The Mithuna is probably their best expression but it's expensive. Cheers my man 🥃
I haven't had Nirvana. Personally anything at 40% really puts me off 😉 they seem to have a lot of well received expressions though. As do Amrut. I'll keep an eye out for Mithuna. Cheers! 🥃
Since drinking this whisky, I've been interested in finding the more meaty whiskies with an umami flavor. Very interesting and contrary to what others have said the deeper you gown the bottle the more the drink transforms. I believe all this needs is a little breather and you're good to go
It certainly improves with a little air. Possibly more so than the average dram. Fantastic username by the way 👍🕒 🍊
@@WhiskyLock thanks man, you're the first one that noticed. 🥛🐄🍊
Nice review !
Did you taste Paul John Edited ?
Thanks Pierre! No I haven't but based on this and my experiences with peated Amrut I would give it a go 👍
Great review. I got this couple months ago and I tried it on different occasions but unfortunately it's not my type of flavors... too much oak and very dry.. like sipping whisky from a wooden cup.. however after your review I will try to approach it again... thanks 😊 cheers
It definitely has a lot of oak to it and it's OK if that's not your thing. To be honest I'm not usually a fan of over-oaking either. Especially if it makes the flavour profile too much on ginger and wood spice. I didn't mind this one though 🙂 Cheers!
It's very good whisky and fine value. We can't lump all 'Indian' whisky together and they do things their way and the others do it their way. The fact that it is good value is a huge plus. I'm at the £50 point these days and anything more expensive better give me a good reason why I should pay. It's a buy. WT
Fine value indeed. Especially considering how far it's travelled! I think all other Paul Johns I've had have been the cask strength offerings. IMHO this is just about as good and far cheaper. A much better buy.
You may want to take a deep breath and be seated for tomorrow's review though. It is not a value dram... but it interesting. You probably know what it's going to be!
Interesting review. The only Indian whiskey I have had is the Indri Trini which is very good but it was a little sweet which is what you mentioned with this one. I guess if you are looking for an alternative to the sweeter Scotch whiskies like some of the sherry bombs then Indian whiskey is a good alternative.
Yes my theory is that the warmer climate produces a sweeter and perhaps lighter whisky. It certainly feels that way with this and other Indian whiskies I've tried any way. And perhaps some English whisky. It doesn't have that cold and damp Scottish character 😉 it is good though.
Good review , i try Nirvana , yong but interesting taste ,also Amrut Fusion very good whisky. Slaine !
Thanks LP. Amrut do some great stuff too. Similar to this in some ways. You can tell they're both Indian whisky I think. And very good. Cheers 🥃
@@WhiskyLock Cheers !
This one has this apricot/apricot related note for me way back. I honestly found this bottle hard to get through, got tired of it real quick.
Yes it has a light, exotic fruitiness. As for being hard to get through, I think it helps to alternate it with other drams. It possibly doesn't have the complexity for me to want to go back to it time after time. Decent though. Cheers 🥃
I do like a good whisky from India. Nice review
Thanks Gert. Indian whisky can be very nice. I like that's it's distinguishable from Scotch too. Cheers 🥃
Made in Goa. Great going
Great goa-ing... if you will 😉
@@WhiskyLock Go Goa Gone 😀
👍🏻🥃😁
I've heard it tastes like paint stripper!
Noo! It's a young malt but nothing like that...
@@WhiskyLock Chris Young from 'The Blot Outdoors Show' reviewed it recently, he was wasn't complimentary about it. The video is here, if you fast forward 52 minutes you will see his 'world famous whisky review', here he gives his honest oppinion on this Indian single malt. ua-cam.com/video/B4-ESv5KWQI/v-deo.htmlsi=D4boxFQJ9WOc_uLH
Add few drops of water and drink.