Pedro Ximenez is the sweetest, blackest and most concentrated of the sherry styles, made from grapes laid out in the Andalusian sun until they are practically raisins. A PX cask that has held this syrup for years before a drop of whisky touches it is a formidable piece of wood, capable of turning a merely good spirit into something theatrical.
Paul John understands this well. Their PX Single Cask releases are drawn from individual ex-Pedro Ximenez butts, bottled at cask strength, non chill-filtered and without colouring, and matured in the tropical warehouses of Goa. What emerges is one of the most hedonistic whiskies the subcontinent produces — a whisky that doesn't so much drink as dissolve on the tongue like a rich dessert.
The Indian climate is the accelerant. Where a Speyside PX finish might take a decade to achieve this kind of depth, Goa delivers it in a handful of years, the humidity and heat driving the spirit deep into the saturated staves of the cask. Sugar, fruit and spice are extracted at pace, but Paul John's well-made malt has the backbone to stand up to them; the whisky never collapses into syrup.
These are bottles made for slow evenings — something to sip after a heavy meal, perhaps with a square of very dark chocolate or a handful of salted almonds. The PX Single Cask sits near the top of the Paul John range and, for lovers of sherried, sweet-driven whisky, near the top of the Indian category as a whole. A sumptuous, unapologetic pleasure.
