Johnnie Walker Blue ‘The Casks Edition’ 55.8%

This is the first issue of the 1L duty free special from some years ago. Yes a blend, but there are blends and there are blends, this one was an exceptionally good release from Diageo – One sniff and its obvious. Constituents here are very well aged and carefully married, with surprising depth. This is not an easy whisky to understand. Oily brown shades of parched tobacco leaf, the best quality, and bark, thin brown paper rubbed in greasy waxes, and fragrant powdered leaves like angelica and oolong. Dried orange peel and resins making it even a touch ecclesiastical. Goes won with flaking leather, chestnuts, dusty black pepper, dried cherries, cigar ash and crumbled nuggets of desiccated black earth on steamed carpets. Dusty old spice cabinet. Some oak tannins on the tongue, but plenty of dried lime, aniseed rock and camphor boxes, the chinese medicinal type. A little bit of Ardmore earthen smoke, and some umami. Impeccable balance and very old school. 89 pts