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Crown Royal Maple Finished

My Last Flavoured Canadian, I Think

0 1160

@talexanderReview by @talexander

27th Oct 2013

0

  • Nose
    13
  • Taste
    15
  • Finish
    17
  • Balance
    15
  • Overall
    60

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Distribution of ratings for this: brand user

I could be wrong, but I think this is the last of all the Canadian flavoured whiskies that I've tried. I don't know if the sales on this one are as big as they were with their last mass-marketed release (Crown Royal Black), but if they are...they don't deserve to be. Not that I liked Crown Royal Black much. But this one is pretty lame.

Colour is a soft caramel. On the nose, more maple than whisky, but both elements are quiet - light pancake syrup, vanilla and a slight hint of butterscotch ice cream in the background (perhaps the new Ron Burgundy Ben & Jerry's?) Water opens up a few wood spices.

On the palate, very sweet and liqueur-like. Not much whisky here. More light pancake syrup (note I said pancake syrup, NOT maple syrup. There is a difference). A wee bit of spice shows up. Again, more vanilla and butterscotch. Water tames the sweetness, which is certainly welcome!

Wood finally shows up on the finish, with more butterscotch and vanilla. This is a one-note whisky, to say the least. Or is it even whisky? Crown Royal doesn't think so: it is labelled as "Maple Flavoured Whisky Beverage". Yikes. Well, at least that's more honest than the write-up on the website, which writes that it "has a touch of natural maple flavour" and implies that this comes from maple toasted oak. Which may be true, but the ingredient list says differently: "Crown Royal Whisky, Sugar, Colour, Natural and Artificial Flavours." This isn't a whisky, it's a food product! I'm surprised there isn't a nutritional breakdown on the label...I'd love to know how many carbs are in a dram of this! I even tried to make a Manhattan out of it, but it was way too sweet.

So now that I've tasted every flavoured Canadian whisky, are there any winners? Well, a lot of people really like Revel Stoke (not me), but my winner would be Gibson's Finest 100th Grey Cup Limited Edition (maple flavoured). Davin de Kergommeaux agreed with me that it is the only one that still tastes like whisky. I don't know if you'll like it, but try it if you can. The worst? No contest: Black Velvet Toasted Caramel. This has as much in common with whisky as the green vomit coming out of Regan's mouth in The Exorcist. Not that I've tasted that. Just saying.

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11 comments

@Victor
Victor commented

That's nice to have a reference to The Exorcist just before Halloween. I am sure that nosing the green vomit coming from Regan's mouth was sufficient without your having to taste it...

I am with you that Gibson's Finest 100th Grey Cup Limited Edition was a decent offering. I actually enjoyed that one. I kept waiting for the maple syrup to come and do me in, but thankfully it never happened. Not that I think that additives are a good idea, of course.

10 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

I went to see The Exorcist last night, on the big screen, with some friends - wow. It really holds up. I had some trouble sleeping last night - the scariest film ever made! Almost as scary as Black Velvet Toasted Caramel.

Who toasts caramel, anyway? Confused.

10 years ago 0

@Victor
Victor commented

The book was excellent to read, too. I think that after 20 years in school I've read 2 works of fiction in the 36 years since I left school. I went through The Exorcist in 2 days, it was so absorbing. The other was Interview With The Vampire. They set the Exorcist in Georgetown, in DC, but the actual case was in St. Louis. We'll be in Georgetown in a few hours from now celebrating Dramlette's birthday today.

As for more whisky horrors, I kind of hate to say it, but I have faith that Canada (and the US, too) will come up with more than a few in the future.

10 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

Although I consider myself a team player, in this instance, better you than me. Thanks for taking one!

10 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

@Victor - I'm shocked! Reading is such a wonderful thing - read more fiction! And non-horror fiction too. I've never read The Exorcist. I've read Interview and thought it was great (much better than the film). The Shining is the scariest book I've ever read (and I'm not a huge fan of the film).

@paddockjudge - I taste them so you don't have to.

10 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

I'm crying Wolfe - read Tom Wolfe's 'Man in Full'- riveting...............The Right Stuff, The Electric Koolaid Acid Test, The Bonfire of the Vanities, and more controversy .......

10 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

I echo @paddockjudge - Man In Full and especially The Right Stuff are fascinating. If you are more into non-fiction than fiction, then The Right Stuff is for you.

10 years ago 0

@paddockjudge
paddockjudge commented

@talexander - some good has come from this sub-standard whisky flavoured beverage - how else would we be discussing the Exorcist or Tom Wolfe?!

10 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

Such is the magic of whisky.

10 years ago 0

@systemdown
systemdown commented

@talexander Pity about this "whisky" but +1 for the Exorcist reference. It is my all-time favourite scary movie, it definitely does stand the test of time - the raw primeval fear it evokes is unparalleled in my opinion.

Was not aware of the books @Victor, but now you have me intrigued to seek them out!

10 years ago 0

@talexander
talexander commented

If you read one, read The Right Stuff...and check out the excellent film adaptation. Also, I don't mind saying that The Exorcist III is actually pretty good...

Re: the whisky - well, I taste it so you don't have to.

10 years ago 0

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