The Explorer’s Club Collection is a series of Johnnie Walker variations inspired by travels and the adventures of explorers. Three bottlings are planned, sold only in duty free shops: The Spice Road (around € 40), The Gold Route (€ 80) and The Royal Route (€ 140, available this summer), all in one litre bottles.

Johnnie Walker Explorer’s Club Collection ‘The Gold Route’
(40%, OB 2013)

Nose: medium sweet, with a soft fruitiness of banana and pitahaya. More vanilla than in other J.W. versions. Lemon zest, oranges and ginger. Fresh but all quite subtle, there’s still a prevailing idea of grains and a vague spiciness. Mouth: not too bold, sweet and grainy. Mixed fruit syrups. Now slightly more tropical: hints of pineapple juice and guava. Vanilla again. Some caramel. Faint trademark smoke in the background. Finish: not too long, showing spices and light smoke.

The Gold Route is an above average blend, although there’s quite some Johnnie Walker “genericness” to be found in the mix, if you know what I mean. The promised tropical fruit notes that should evoke Latin America don’t stand out very well, so it’s slightly hard to justify its single malt price level. Around € 80 for 1 litre.

Score: 77/100