The John Walker Baccarat Crystal Decanter

Nose

From 20 inches away I’m getting banana bread and rich biscuity sweetness. Nose in. Old leather-bound book and Black Forest. Give it 2 seconds and it livens up with hot cherries, orange marzipan, cooked red apples and a touch of smoke. The banana bread theme continues. Infinite layers of complexity. Filled my heart with joy.

Palate

Extremely bitter and dusty at first, explodes with savoury Oxford marmalade, walnut shell, tobacco smoke and dried plum. Sweet wood smoke comes in… this is just silly good.

Finish

Cherry and bitter nut shell back. Sweet and smooth.

Overall

Quite unlike anything else I have tried. The nose is fantastically focused! If it was vision it would be Blue-Ray on a huge plasma in a dark empty room. It just has this I-can’t-move effect. Similarly the taste is huge and really makes you stop and think. The silky texture of it just seems to defy the laws of physics and organic chemistry, it’s like oil solution.

Accumulative, growing and developing with each whiff, floral, fresh and outdoorsy with chamomile and sweet grass, coffee, brown sugar, complex and alluring. Citrus and smoke appear, with more aromatic sweetness. Something new with each nosing.

Licorice, honey, more chamomile and coffee, mocha, a distinctly resiny character balanced by a beautiful melon freshness. Elegant and layered with richness.

Nose

Mature fruits slowly supersede aromas of fresh citrus.

Palate

A vanilla oak sweetness is framed by a certain zest of the great classic Johnnie Walker Speyside whiskies, including Mortlach, which bring elegant structure and enormous body.

Finish

Smooth & mellow, reaching its climax in rich smokiness. So many big characters, malt and grain, smoke and richness, are all held together in harmony and controlled balance with smoothness.

Comment

The John Walker has been created to capture the essence of the founder: powerful but quiet and elegant; giant flavours, slowly unfolding with great dignity. Controlled power and richness building finally to a crescendo and then, the elegant rich smoke bringing this to a close.