This is the third and most exclusive (read: expensive) of the Travel Retail Explorer’s club collection. I wont bore you with the name, and the rest of the PR details. I’ve reviewed the previous edition a few months ago and concluded it was nice, but expensive. This is even more expensive, but also nicer IMHO.
JW Explorer’s club collection, The Royal Route, NAS, 40% abv, $160 (duty free only)
Nose: Quite fruity with apple crumble , stewed pears some apricot malt on top of vanilla cream.
Palate: Sweet and rounded with lovely sherry influence : dried fruit. Fig. Sultana. And sweeter toffee and caramel as well as spicy wood.
Finish: Dried fruit and dark chocolate praline.
This is a lovely blend, well made, rounded, with a lot of sherry influence and dried fruit, But it’s really expensive for what you get. I’d suggest it only for JW die hard fans and those interested in buying a nice present for a JW or a non whisky geek who appreciates the JW brand. for $160 you can do better in terms of blends and malts, certainly a high price, but as we know it JW is a very strong brand. I’m sure this will sell well.
Score: 84/100
Official sample provided by Diageo.