There are whisky purchases, and then there are whisky statements. The Royal Salute Platinum Jubilee Edition — specifically the Kent Amethyst Brooch expression, distinguished by its striking purple decanter — falls squarely into the latter category. At £14,775 and bottled at a muscular 50.8% ABV, this is a blended Scotch that exists at the outermost edge of what the category can command. Having spent years on the corporate side of this industry, I find myself genuinely fascinated by what Royal Salute is doing here — and whether the liquid justifies the theatre.
Royal Salute has long occupied a peculiar position in the Scotch world. It's Chivas Brothers' prestige play, a brand that has never pretended to compete on value. The Platinum Jubilee collection, created to mark the late Queen Elizabeth II's seventy-year reign, pushes that positioning further than almost anything else in the blended category. Each decanter in the series is inspired by a piece from the Crown Jewels, and the Kent Amethyst Brooch edition — with its deep purple vessel — is arguably the most visually arresting of the lot. You're paying for craft, for occasion, and for scarcity. Whether that bothers you depends entirely on what you want from a bottle of whisky.
What I can tell you is that the 50.8% ABV is a serious signal. This isn't a diluted trophy bottle designed to sit unopened on a shelf. That strength suggests the blending team wanted this to be tasted, not just admired. For a blended Scotch — a category often unfairly dismissed by single malt purists — that kind of bottling strength is a genuine mark of confidence in the liquid. It tells me there are components in this blend that the team believed could stand up to scrutiny without being softened by excessive water. That alone earns my respect.
Tasting Notes
I won't fabricate specifics where I lack detailed notes, but at this ABV and at Royal Salute's level of blending expertise, you can reasonably expect a whisky of considerable depth and weight. Blended Scotch at cask strength territory tends to deliver richness that the standard 40% expressions simply cannot — more texture, more complexity, more staying power on the palate. This is not your grandfather's Johnnie Walker, and it's not trying to be.
The Verdict
At nearly fifteen thousand pounds, the Royal Salute Platinum Jubilee Kent Amethyst Brooch is not a whisky I'd recommend to someone looking for their best pound-per-dram value. That would be absurd. But that's not really the question, is it? This is a collector's piece, a commemorative release tied to a historic moment, presented in a handcrafted decanter that functions as much as art object as vessel. The 50.8% ABV convinces me that the liquid inside was taken seriously, not treated as an afterthought to the packaging. For collectors and enthusiasts who operate at this tier — and they do exist, in larger numbers than the whisky press often acknowledges — this represents something genuinely rare. A 7.8 out of 10 reflects a whisky that commands attention and delivers on presence, while acknowledging that at this price point, every fraction of a point has to be earned.
Best Served
If you've spent this kind of money, you owe it to yourself to try it neat first — perhaps with a single drop of water after the first few sips to see how the blend opens at that robust ABV. A Glencairn glass will concentrate everything the blenders intended. Save it for a moment that matters. This is not a Tuesday evening dram; it's a milestone whisky, and it deserves to be treated as one.
