Johnnie Walker The Spice Road Review

Country: Scotland

Brand: Johnnie Walker The Spice Road (Explorer's Club Collection)

Type: Blended Scotch Whisky

Age: NAS

ABV: 40%

Date: 07/10/2013

Colour: Golden Amber

Nose: A quite familiar combination of Cereals, Dried Fruits, Citrus, light Smoke, Burnt Sugar/Caramel, Oak, Vanilla, Pear Drops, Pepper and Nutmeg. A bit of Earth and Wet Leaves as well.

Taste: Slightly Watery Delivery. Light Smoke, Oak, Vanilla, Orange, Brown Sugar, Dried Fruits and assorted Nuts, Lemon and Spices like Pepper, Licorice and Ginger.

Finish: Rather Short. Sweet at first but Dry, Spicy and slightly Dusty and Bitter towards the end with Oak and Saw Dust, Malt, Nuts, light Smoke, Pepper and Licorice. 

I added a couple of drops of Water and some extra Malt, Cereals and Honey appear on the Nose. But Pepper and Licorice start to dominate Palate and Finish. I prefer to drink the Spice Road over a little Ice actually. 

Rating: 79  

Nose: 20 – Taste: 19.5 – Finish: 19.5 – Overall: 20

General Remarks: The Johnnie Walker Brand is owned since 1997 by the Diageo Group. The Explorer's Club Collection is (at least initially) exclusive to Travel Retail and was introduced in December 2012 to honour the JW Whisky Traders who have always travelled the world in search of adventures, experiences and new flavours and aromas. The Trade Routes series include The Spice Road, The Gold Route and The Royal Route. Diageo's Master Blenders have tried to create Blends that reflect those voyages, stories and regions. The Spice Road we are tasting today is inspired by the Aromas and Colours of the Spice Markets in Asia. The whiskies used in this blend matured in Ex-Bourbon Casks. It costs around 45 US Dollars and that's a reasonable price for what it offers.

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay/Good

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good 

Conclusion: Decent Blend but nothing special. It lacks interesting Aromas and Flavours and therefore I would not consider the Spice Road as a day-to-day sipping whisky. The finish is actually Spicy but also a tad too bitter and does not really invite you to take another sip. Over a little Ice however, this Blend is quite enjoyable as a drinking Whisky although I still prefer Black Label for that purpose.

Jan van den Ende                                                           October 2013