Paul John Classic Select Cask

Until recently I had not even heard of the Paul John Single Malt. John Distilleries was founded in 1992 by Paul John and their single malts already won quite a few awards. Yet it took until a festival in Belgium end of last year for me to check out the bottles for the first time. Their entry level malt – if you can call it that – is matured on American White Oak (virgin?) and ex bourbon barrels.

The nose is honeysweet, but with an exotic edge. Fig pie sprinkled with spices. Some frangipane and humus. Sounds like a weird combination, but it does work. After a few minutes it evolves towards a cherry liqueur on steroids with some liquorice. Adding water offers coconut peel. Quite nice.

The attack is spicy, but also somewhat alcoholic. Pity. The taste suffers from it. Not only spicy, but mostly honeysweet. A bit like Mon Chérie, the chocolate candy with a cherry inside, as well as the liqueur of the same. Consistent to say the least. Diluted it becomes sweeter stil, but also somewhat dry if you know what I mean.

The finish is pretty long and spicy, but remains utterly sweet.

A pleasant surprise, but too sweet to my taste.