Tastes

What a treat, sweet, fruity, lots of tasty nuts, elegant, toasty, a tiny bit of spice, a tiny bit of everything good!! And that seductive texture!! It's like a bolder Dalwhinnie 15. Stephanie Moreno and Scott E described this whisky perfectly, so why attempt to describe it? Go for it and don't bother with the Distiller's Edition!

The waitress comes to my table and I order Crown Royal, this being France, she frowns and mouths something back along the lines of "Crown Royal". She comes back with a fine dram, but it tastes different... I'm greeted by something between Dalwhinnie 15, G. Rozelieures Rare and Kavalan Port Finish, I can taste continental oak and wine cask flavours, a mild spice, some caramel and chocolate creaminess, finishing with some elegant dryness echoing peat and sherry, at one point, I even pick up litchi... but Dalwhinnie, Kavalan and G. Rozelieures pull off these flavours a lot better, sure it's delicious, but I remember Crown Royal being better, that strength, that funkiness is gone, there is only malt. I realise at the end that the waitress mistook Crown Royal with Cragganmore Distillers Edition, which made me and her embarrassed. The next day, I tried and fell in love with Cragganmore 12 Years, much better!

A true delight! I adore Suntory! How do I start? A mix of Yamazaki, Hakushu and Chita, along with a peated whisky (inspired by Islay) and of sherry, mizunara and white oak, all these flavours come together marvellously!! Sweet caramel, vanilla, exotic fruit, sherry notes, rosemary, hint of lavander and maybe even pomegranate followed by a tang from the American oak with orange and lemon peel and a rise in flavour from peat: a fresh, foresty peat and a stronger, rounder Scottish style peat. The whisky ends with a peppery, bitter mizunara and grain flavour with chocolate and cherry notes. It's tough to pin down each flavour and their order, but I adore it and the Chita, Hakushu and Yamazaki all work wonderfully together. But Hakushu remains my favourite Suntory whisky. A great bittersweet treat!

When I taste this... I can taste that it's not perfect... But it's too luscious to give 4 stars. That rye, medicinal, but smooth offering maple syrup and then that toasty malted barley, with its light smoky vanilla notes. It's delicious, with caramel, the taste of yummy stewed fruit. This is finally the first Canadian whisky that I have enjoyed. Distiller.com is filled with Canadian whisky that is supposedly great, but impossible to find here, I almost gave up trying Canadian whisky and so this was such a nice surprise. It's a pretty unique experience, finding so much malt and rye together and it's one I adore!

Herbs, grass, nuts, caramel, spice meet my tongue, accompanied with a bitter dryness and a toasty sweetness. American and European oak work well, one adding cream, another adding rye, both adding spice. Austere, subtly charming, if not a bit weak, the whisky lacks that seductive character punch that Johnnie Walker Black Label has to offer, maybe something I'd recommend for a Speyside/ Highland fan.