John Walker & Sons, the prestige range from Johnnie Walker has released the John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2016 Edition by Master Blender Jim Beveridge. This edition is the third in the series with only 8,888 individually numbered decanters available worldwide.
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The 2016 Edition, “Fine Honeyed Notes”, balances aromas of honey sweetness from range of the finest Single Grain Scotch Whiskies with a special Highland Single Malt Whisky.
The whiskies were drawn from over 100 casks to create three vattings. The blenders selected casks of mature Single Grain Scotch Whiskies, including from five Johnnie Walker distilleries (Cameronbridge and stocks from four silent distilleries – Caledonian, Cambus, Carsebridge, and Port Dundas). These were brought together into two styles, vanilla, woody, fudge notes that are expressive of cask character, and a sweeter, estery, honey character from both cask and distillery. For the third vatting, Jim Beverdige selected a Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky matured in American oak from a study in cask ends that has given a rich yet refined, soft fruit distillery character. Each vatting was laid down in casks for several months to allow the for the complexity of flavours to develop.
John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2016 Edition Tasting Notes
- ABV: 43.0% ABV
- Colour: golden
- Nose: fragrant, honeyed notes develop into fresh fruit and light floral notes
- Palate: soft, creamy, smooth with honey sweetness upfront becoming more complex with richer malt notes on the back palate
- Finish: soft with medium length and less viscous than its predecessors due to the grain character becoming more evident. Overall, another exquisite blend in the prestige range well worth the investment.
The John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2016 Edition “Fine Honeyed Notes” comes in an amber glass decanter graduated to reflect the layers and depth of honey notes. For the first time in this luxury collection, the bottle reveals the whisky. An angled cut reflects the slanted label on the Johnnie Walker square bottle and is set in a golden cream box with copper foil detail together with the story behind the blend.
The John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2016 Edition follows from the John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2015 Edition with bold fruit character and John Walker & Sons Private Collection 2014 Edition with a unique smoke character – both were reviewed in an earlier article.
The 2016 Edition will be available at a recommended retail price of $977.
This article was originally published on May 12, 2016 on our sister website Gourmantic.
