Tasting Notes: Turntable – Paradise Funk

The opening gambit to the initial trio of blended scotch whisky releases from Turntable Spirits.

Paradise Funk is described as “a funky yet delicate duo [which] bursts with exotic flavours. A harmony of caramelized pineapple, smooth vanilla and sweet toffee.”

The blend has been created by mixing 6 different casks of scotch malt and grain whiskies to create something that emphasises the leading characteristics of the distilleries’ house styles. The brand goes one step further and actually shares the exact proportions of their cocktail:

13% Knockdhu (Malt) – Virgin Oak Barrel (Note: Vanilla)
20% Benrinnes (Malt) – Chinkapin Barrel (Note: Black Pepper)
18% Invergordon (Grain) – Ex-Cognac Barrel (Note: Pineapple)
8% Blair Athol (Malt) – Bourbon Barrel (Note: Biscuit)
30% Mystery Speyside (Probably Malt) – Virgin Oak Barrel (Note: Orchard Fruits)
11% North British (Grain) – Virgin Oak Barrel (Note: Toffee)

There is no peated barley in the creation of the whisky’s components and the first batch of this blend has been bottled at a welcome 46% ABV at its natural colour and without chill-filtration. These are small batch creations, so the balance and percentages may well change with time.

Nose

Initial waves of oak leads to pineapple, apricot, and really sweet marmalade. Whatever the flavours were in a Juicy Fruit chewing gum – those. More fruits and sweet sensations come with banana and toffee (if only there was a word for those mixed together…). There’s a nice little of spice under it. Maybe more of that it is about to be revealed…

Taste

A rather full and flavoursome burst on the tongue. Those stone fruit flavours are joined by papaya and dates and a decent malty, biscuity body. The sweet flavours keep popping with toffee sauce and honeycomb flavours in the mix. A warming clove spice and oak flavour round out the body on this. There’s a great body to it actually. It also seems to have a little dunnage kind of note and a nutty/hazelnut style final showing. Lots going on without any one profile dominating.

Finish

The flavour of the cask itself stands tall as the sweeter flavours fade away. A lovely oak note and drying nut finish stop this from being an overly saccharine venture.

Verdict

This was my first sample of Turntable’s blending skills and it did not disappoint. I’m a sucker for a music-themed tie-in (I mean, the name Turntable alone piqued my interest), and I know that all of the musical references will chime with me and many fellow whisky drinkers. The whisky itself shows a great balance of influences which shows off the different characteristics of its key elements: a sweet and fruity start with a great balance between the oak spice and boozy fizzle on the finish.

Maybe the name Funk has played on my mind but I did taste a slight whisky warehouse / dunnage style dank note. One that often goes with older whiskies and/or certain distilleries. Whichever of the 6 casks that have gone into this blend which is producing that note is bringing something that often gets overlooked in blended malts. Or could even get blended away. Personally, I’m all for that additional profile feature and, along with those stone fruit notes, think that this dram would go very well with a hazy NEIPA!

Probably the lightest entrant of the three, but with enough going for it that it shouldn’t be overlooked in favour of the more extreme/deeper profiles. The predominantly virgin oak and bourbon barrel influences are abundant with flashes of peppery oak spice and sweet vanilla influences amongst the fruity spirit profiles.

I am very grateful to Turntable for the opportunity to have tried this (and the other two entries in their back catalogue [ed: soon to be “classic line-up”]) and feel that this whisky has something to offer the newbie and the aficionado alike. They were generous samples too, and for all the sweet and fruity flavours, it was the papaya note, oak spice, and nutty finish that lasted on the repeated sips.

Sample disclosure: This sample was gratefully received as part of a promotional Tweet Tasting event run by The Whisky Wire for Turntable using #TurntableSpirits on Twitter/X. All notes here are not intended as promotion but as an honest, fair and independent review of the whisky itself. Please drink responsibly. Please drink wisely.