Paul John Peated Select Cask 70cl

Big smoke, big flavour, zero fuss. This peated Indian single malt is the bottle you reach for when you want that bonfire vibe, but you still want real depth, not just ash and attitude.

What makes it shelf-worthy is the contrast, earthy peat up front, then warm spice and darker notes that keep unfolding as you go. It’s confident, a little wild, and way more interesting than your standard “smoky” pour.

• Nose: Campfire smoke, damp earth, toasted grain, and a hit of cocoa powder.
• Taste: Peat smoke leads, then baking spices, roasted nuts, and a malty sweetness that rounds the edges.
• Finish: Lingering smoke with drying spice, a touch of char, and a last whisper of chocolatey warmth.

Peat can be a bully in some whiskies. Here, it plays nice with the rest of the flavours. You get smoke, sure, but also a solid malt backbone and those darker, toasty notes that make each sip feel like it’s telling a longer story.

If you’re building a home bar, this is a smart curveball for the “I only drink Scotch” crowd. It brings that familiar peated style, but with its own Indian single malt character, which is exactly what makes it fun to pour for friends who think they’ve tried every kind of smoky whisky.

It also earns its place when you want complexity without homework. You don’t need to sit there decoding a flavour wheel. Just pour, sniff, sip, and let the layers do their thing, smoke, spice, malt, then that cocoa-and-char vibe on the back end.

Fun Fact: Paul John comes from Goa, a coastal part of India better known for beaches than whisky, and it’s one of the distilleries that helped put Indian single malt on the global radar.