Johnnie Walker Private Collection

The fourth bottling in the beautiful John Walker & Sons Private Collection, this 2017 edition – Mastery of Oak – is the first time in the series that JW have celebrated the full richness that cask character brings to their blends. Master blender Jim Beveridge sought three main styles of oak character to complement and bring richness to the mature fruit distillery character. Firstly, active American oak casks for creamy toffee and spice notes. Secondly, refill casks, mostly American ok (few European) picked for their warm, sweet fruit characters and finally, Jim turned to his treasured stock of experimental casks, in particular, Matrix, a detailed study into the flavour effects of cask treatments. Highly active American Oak from the Matrix have provided an intensity of sweet vanilla for structure and depth in the final blend.