Famous Grouse

N: Buttered biscuits, red wine, sea spray. Red fruit. Something medicinal in it too. Maybe a cereal grain scent as it warms. Some ethanol. It's an odd combo. Not really appealing or unappealing, but occasionally while I had this bottle I kinda found myself craving it. P: More traditional. Caramel, vanilla, bread pudding. Tiniest bit of smoke. Good, rich, coating mouthfeel. Generic spice on the finish. Some bitterness builds with each sip. It's not unwelcome. Decent for about twenty bucks. It's rich and flavorful, drinkable. And it's kinda its own thing, not really trying to knock off Johnnie Walker or Dewars, which I like. It's a step above those competitor's lowest levels. But not by much.

Really wanted to like this, as I'm a sucker for a flavourful bargain blend. I can accept a slightly astringent mentholy finish as that is par for the course with young blends, but the sulphur nose and slightly sulphury palate spoil this. A couple of small ice cubes numbed it out after 10mins and that's when the famed balanced grouse flavours finally came to the fore... Palate: Honey, salted caramel, heather, gentle peat smoke ..Maybe guilty of trying to achieve too big and balanced a flavour profile for a young whisky?..and instead ends up with that weird and harsh sulphur edge. I would definitely recommend taking a couple of small ice cubes and letting them sit with it for 5-10mins, to get rid of that initial funk and allow those single maltish like palate flavours to actually come through.. Pound for pound it's a very solid effort, though I prefer Ballantines for this £15 price range, as it has none of that sulphury business going on, albeit with a less complicated vanilla and smoke blend profile. **EDIT: a few weeks later, half the bottle gone and thank God that sulphur smell and taste has finally disappeared!! This is now at last, quite an enjoyable blend and thankfully no longer requires ice. A little thin as most blends are, but if you enjoy a mild/middle of the road flavour profile scotch/single malt you'll likely enjoy this blend.

Rating: 6/23 Every time I read the name of this whisky, I ask "why is there a particular grouse that's famous?" According to the company's website, it was changed from "The Grouse" after several decades. OK, then. Still no idea why it was called that to begin with, but at least I know it didn't get its name from one particularly awesome bird. N: Oof, I get a lot of sulfur. There's also some caramel, along with hay and maybe a little apple and mineral. Even after a few minutes, it's hard to pick anything else out. Really, it's an unpleasant nose. Definitely inferior to Bell's, but it does smell like it could be a decent scotch if it just had less sulfur. P: Yep, I get that sulfur. It's kind of full flavor-wise, but also thin. It's kind of savory, but there is some sweetness here. I get some ginger and cinnamon as well and something peppery to go along with them. There's quite a dose of caramel, but it is very artificial side. It's fairly harsh and has a lot of alcohol flavor as well. Some smoke eventually fights its way through what is otherwise generic sulfur. F: That alcohol sure lingers, along with the sulfur, but some smoke remains as well and even transforms a bit into hay. Some hints of apple and lemon come out, but they don't help much. It's really hard to get much else here. Oh, except for the continuing alcohol flavor. Wow, I kind of had hopes for this, but it's pretty bad. I really wouldn't want to drink this. This has less spice and sweetness than Grant's does while also being harsher with more alcohol flavor. Grant's is probably superior with its better balance, richness, and complexity, though it also has some more sulfur. This is substantially less harsh than Glen Logie and also has far less alcohol flavor, so it's definitely an improvement over that, fortunately. I'd say that the improvement is substantial and this deserves a 6, putting it just below Grant's. I'm appalled by how expensive this is.

Fruity and light. A little hot. Pretty great for the price.