Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel

The first thing that should be said about this whiskey is that the lid smells awful. It's a plastic twist-off with a little foam seal on the inside. I'm not sure where the smell is coming from, but I don't know how it doesn't affect the whiskey. Also, I don't understand how anyone else hasn't commented on it. Once you get the whiskey out of the bottle, it's a really interesting dram. Butterscotch, molasses, maple syrup, banana, something tropical, cedar, with a slight touch of rye on the back end, cinnamon, pepper. It's very sweet and comes across almost more like a rum than a bourbon. Despite the stinky lid, it's quite enjoyable whiskey, although it's nearing liqueur-level sweetness. Update: not quite finished with the bottle, but am really enjoying this. It's a sweet treat, and a great value. Bumping the score up to a 4.

Fresh crack neat. Nose is fruity spicy butterscotch. Taste is sweet fruity spice with spicy vanilla fruity finish. I get some dry oak afterwards also. I’m pretty surprised. It’s good.