Johnson Reserve Whisky Holds new World Record for Flavor

Guinness World Records has named Johnson Reserve, a whiskey manufacturer and maturation expert, The Greatest Variety of Flavours in a Whisky.

A single cask of matured single malt traveled through a series of 33 distinct casks, giving the Scotch a “nuanced complexity,” according to the award, which recognizes the whisky’s “intricate” maturation and finishing procedure.

Alexander Johnson, the proprietor of The Spirits Business, who has devoted over ten years of his career to this particular maturation technique, described the production procedure for the record-breaking whisky, Ascension.

“We’ve done an incredible amount of experimentation over the years. I’ve been testing barrel maturation techniques for coming on to about 12 years, and we’ve matured in the way that we do it. In terms of trying to use a bit more science and working with flavor labs to try and better understand the process.

Johnson Reserve Whisky Sets New World Record for Flavor

“It’s very interesting how much of an influence a cask can have; even if you put a whisky into an ex-Cognac barrique for one week, for example, so much flavor development can happen in that time,” he said, clarifying that the whisky was aged for a minimum of three months in each cask. “But what we found makes the biggest difference is the freshness of the barrel. Fresh ingredients always pay off,” he said.

However, he warned that prioritizing fresh barrels makes the process very expensive. “Because you can’t just send 40 barrels over and then fill them as you need them over the months or years. You’re having to take each one individually, bring it over, and it has to be used very, very quickly; otherwise, you lose so much of the positive flavor benefit.”

As a result, some of the casks used to make this specific whisky, including one Japanese mizunara oak cask, cost more than £4,000 (US$50,050) individually. According to Johnson, this type of cask is “designed for long-term maturation” because of the wood’s porosity. “I think the trees live for about twice as long as American oaks, and they grow at about half the rate.” As a result, they have a longer life cycle and provide a lot of flavor over time.

The 33 casks that went into making Ascension came from all around the world. The casks had once contained many spirits from “Mexico, France, Japan, Australia, and Napa Valley,” according to Johnson’s list. “You get more in terms of the range of flavors you get within an ex-rum barrel than you would get out of Scotch whisky, because Scotch has more regulations,” he said, referring to ex-rum casks in particular as being intriguing to work with.

Johnson Reserve Whisky Shows Off tons of Flavors

However, according to Johnson, the whiskey has the greatest variety because it is the spirit that is most experimented with in terms of maturation, aging, and flavorings around the world. However, the company found that very old Cognac barrels yielded the best results for the finished product.

He also noted that this is due to a flavor phenomenon known as rancio, which emerges gradually throughout aging and is frequently used to characterize specific flavors, aromas, and mouthfeels that only become noticeable after eau-de-vie has been aged in oak barrels for a long time—more than ten years.

“Rancio creates flavors that are described as moldy, fishy or cheesy, but in respect of a whisky, they’re incredible flavors when handled with delicacy,” Johnson explained. “It’s not umami, but it adds another dimension. When you’re maturing spirits like we are now, to achieve earthy and chocolatey flavors, it goes very nicely with those. It makes me think of truffles,” he said. “But rancio is very, very hard to find. You only find it very, very old Cognac barrels. And you have to really try and specifically find that, and for that flavor to carry forward into the spirit that goes into the next barrel, it’s by no means guaranteed.”

Although the process has begun at the Guinness World Records, the record is still being updated.