Crown Royal Bourbon Mash

Smells good. Nutmeg, fruit, cola. On the palate, smooth. Light, sweet, some spice, maybe a hint of cacao nibs. Inoffensive. Good intro whisky for newbies. 5/10/18

I picked up a bottle of this for $30 while shopping for bottom shelf bourbons in Richmond a couple of weeks ago. This is the newest Crown Royal release that mimics American bourbon’s mash bill. It has become somewhat controversial in Canada, though, because of the name and I’ve even heard it’s being pulled from shelves up there. Let the hating of America continue, I guess... Anyways, this one is at the industry standard of 40%, is copper and gold in the glass and makes lots of super thin legs when you spin it. The nose has a little pepper, weaker than expected vanilla and the faintest, fresh barrel. Smells more like bourbon and less like the typical Crown. That’s a plus. The palate is all sweet corn and oak but it’s ridiculously watery. That’s where this one turns gimmick-y IMO. Instead of focusing on adding depth and flavor they obviously chose to stretch the liquid and make it even thinner than it should be. The finish is medium length and mostly oak and tannins. There’s nothing that lingers here. Overall, it mixed really well with Coca Cola, which was the primary reason I bought a bottle. At $30, it isn’t bad but I don’t think I’d buy it again. I guess the Canucks should be buying it up since it’ll be a banned bottle very soon. That’s as good of a reason as any to not drink it, lol. 2.25-2.5 stars. Cheers.