Tastes

Granny Smith apples on the nose and palate for me. I enjoy this.

Banana bread on the nose. I could sniff this all day. I get banana bread and caramel on the palate with a little bit of orange sneaking in there at the end. This wheater is a great bargain for your buck, and it has a good story to go with it. Update: While the contents of my previous bottle gave me slightly bad breath the morning after I drank it, I've not had that happen with my current bottle. Perhaps my last bottle came from a bad batch, or perhaps my cavity that I had filled took care of the issue.

This was an accidental purchase. I would not have bought this had I realized that it was 90 proof. At the time I purchased my first bottle of Crown Royal Black, everything else in my liquor cabinet was no higher than 87 proof. After realizing that this was 90 proof, I banished this to the cabinet above my fridge which is the hardest to reach cabinet in my house. Yet, one evening a few months ago, I looked at the contents of my liquor cabinet, and I was just in the mood for something different. So, I stood on a chair to get to my most out-of-the-way cabinet, brought down the Crown Royal Black and poured myself a shot. I was blown away. It was much more mellow than I expected. On the palate, I taste maple syrup with a tinge of wood. This is a bit thin, but very good nonetheless. Prior to opening my first bottle of this, I was mostly a scotch drinker. I hadn't touched Canadian whisky or bourbon in years. Now I'm once again expanding my tastes, and I'm also starting to explore higher proof whisk(e)y offerings. Additionally, I'm lightening my wallet now that I'm not going after single malt scotches.

From a previous tasting when my bottle was new, my description was as follows: Campfire on the nose. Tthe taste was salted, burnt marshmallows with a hint of vanilla. A couple of years ago, I loved the massive amount of peatiness. But unfortunately, my body can't handle peat anymore. My whisk(e)y tastes tend to evolve a good bit, and now I'm forced to lean towards unpeated offerings. Just for kicks, I had an ounce of this the other day from my bottle which had been open for 2-1/2 years and was half full. The campfire nose is still there but nowhere near as strong as it used to be. The taste was just awful to me. It was all liquid iodine on the palate. What was once one of my favorites is now a hard pass in my book. I'm totally fine with that as I don't like spending more than $40 on a bottle anyway.