Crown Royal Black

Appearance: The dark color in this deeper charred Canadian blend is that of a cake donut. Slowly finding their way back down the glass are the whisky’s thin watery legs. Nose: It's a sharper nose of sawdust, car exhaust, and paint thinner notes at first, followed by, after a few minutes of breathing, caramel apples, vanilla, smoke, cherry, and dusty old book notes. With a splash of water it becomes less harsh and more honeyed and maple smelling. Taste: On the palate I’d say this dram is most similar to a generic bourbon. there are notes oaky wood tannins, caramel, baking spices and cardamom, and a green sour/bitter note in the back of the throat. - really not much there. With a splash of water, it gains more candy apple sweet and ashy notes but drops most everything else. Finish: The short medium finish is basically a hot sweet Twizzler candy. Thoughts: This particular offering from the Crown family I wasn’t the most impressed with. It was okay, but the notes and tastes just didn’t seem to fit together. It’s maybe worth trying, but not worth keeping in your collection. Thanks Crown Royal! Cheers!

This strangely smells like an herbal liqueur, and the nose is by far the most interesting part: licorice, cola, and hints of black pepper. The palate is a letdown though, as nothing but blank astringency hits you first, and then the muted flavors unbuckle themselves and slowly saunter to the front: "prickly" vanilla (think the cheapest of white rums), followed by a blast of heat and cheap bourbon flavors so subtle that you'll wonder if your taste buds are working. The ending contains a disappointing *poof* of char that just tastes like a tiny bitter ash floating up from the ethanol, along with a minuscule amount of sweetness and accompanied by a sad trombone. If this was supposed to be the "black" part, then it is akin to a single dead dove being shot out of a wedding cake; the presence of it is entirely expected based on the labeling, but the delivery is so anticlimactic (and in such shockingly poor taste) that you feel like it somehow warrants an apology.

Not particularly tasty for me. Super heavy flavor. Not sure if it's primarily woody or earthy, but I don't like it. Peaty? Might go well with dark/semi-dark mixers. Glad it's a taster instead of a full bottle.