Snow Grouse
Grouse Breezer
0 572
Review by @markjedi1
- Nose~
- Taste~
- Finish~
- Balance~
- Overall72
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- Brand: Famous Grouse
- Type: Scotch
- ABV: 40%
This Grouse obvisously aims at the younger vodka drinkers. You can tell by the packaging and the advise on the label to serve it 'seriously chilled'. 'Smoothchill filtered' is what it says. What the hell? Does anybody know what that trademarked procedure entails? While most distilleries promote the fact that their whisky is non-chill filtered, Edrington Group promotes 'smoothchill filtration'. Whatever... I'm sure somebody in the marketing department got a bonus. Anyway, I'm serving it at room temperature. We'll see... By the way, this is a blend of grain whiskies. No single malt was involved.
The nose offers primarily vanilla, ginger, pencil shavings, peach and tin (yet, tin!).
The taste is better than expected, even though nothing much is going on. Grain cookies and lightly fruity with a touch of allspice. Better than a vodka, but more of a geneva than a whisky, in my book. Let me put it in the freezer for a while - be right back...
After about 30 minutes it's seriously chilled, I guess. That means little for the nose, except that the vanilla is more outspoken. But I also get struck matches. The taste, however, gets slightly metallic and reminds me of pear drops. I don't find it an improvement.
On room temperature, the finish is short. Chilled, however, there is no finish to speak of.
This is obviously a marketing stunt to convince young party animals to hand in their Bacardi Breezer for whisky. I'm not convinced at all, however. But then, I'm and old geezer. My research tells me this was the last feat of arms by Master Blender Gordon Ramsay, before handing over the keys to his laboratory to his pupil Gordon Motion.
Find where to buy Famous Grouse whisky
Such a nice name and a pretty bottle. No whisky buffs I have yet seen seem to like this one much, though. Still, I hope to try this one for myself if I ever see it.
For me, the whole question of the alleged 'inferiority' about Scottish "grain" whisky compared to barley-malt whisky seemed somewhat nebulous until I heard Compass Box founder John Glaser say that ALL Scottish "grain whisky" is distilled at over 90% ABV. No wonder people accuse Scottish "grain whisky" of being 'grain neutral spirits' or vodka: it is only one step removed from those two categories in the removal of flavour department. Grain neutral spirits are distilled at 95% ABV. At 90+% ABV, there is truly almost no wheat (or corn) left in that spirit to taste, after dilution. Drink a little Parkers Heritage 10 yo Wheated bourbon or William Larue Weller and then one will know what wheat tastes like.