Grant's Family Reserve

A ubiquitous blended whisky. It's inexpensive, fairly neutral and, as one person (perhaps it was @Victor) put it, a "universal solvent". Grant's Family Reserve is inexpensive and does exactly what you think: it's useful for making an Old Fashioned, a Rusty Nail, a Godfather, a Rob Roy or whatever else you fancy. It's also decent-ish for sipping neat or with a bit of water.

The nose was a little off-putting at first. There was a strong nail-polish remover (acetone?) component that had to be left to calm down. I didn't think blended whisky needed to sit and "open up" as much as malt whisky, but it appears I was wrong. After 10-15 minutes, the nose was fairly straightforward: dried fruit (raisins and prunes mostly), toffee and cereal.

In the mouth, Grant's was ok. Nothing fantastic, but a budget blend rarely blows you away. Sherry-type notes were present, a little vanilla, not much else.

The finish was more of the same with a young grain whisky (cereal-ish?) ending.

Grant's Family Reserve met my expectations for a budget blended whisky.

This whisky comes in a triangular bottle (in cross section), and bears all the hall marks of Glenfiddich so I assume this is the same William Grants and Sons responsible for the single malt.

A pale coloured liquor with very little viscosity comes out of the bottle, the aroma is light with a vanilla theme supported very faintly by some apple, dried fruit and white wine but they take some finding. That being said the aroma is this whisky’s strongest suite.

On the palate it’s very thin, no actually watery. A slightly bitter tang unfortunately takes the lead in terms of flavours with some grassy freshness and vanilla on the undercard. The less said about the finish the better, very short and forgettable although there is no bad aftertaste. It has the decency to leave and not remind one of its passing.

Nose - It's reserved. Soft apple, vanilla, and creamy butter. Fruity creaminess. Can't put my finger on it. The closest I can come up with is banana flavoring that you find in certain foods.

Palate - Delicate, yet thick'ish, and well rounded creamy arrival, clean and smooth through out. Very smooth. This is creamier then Teacher's Highland Cream. No peat in sight however, this is a full, soft sided Speyside'r. A little restrained/reserved in the palate. Is this why they called it 'reserved'? ;)

Finish - Non existent really. Comes and goes and nothing much is left.

Conclusion - A nice well priced blend. I picked up the wrong bottle (size) by accident, however I may just replace this one once its gone. Tasty sipper and extremely smooth for the price. I can see this one being perfect for something over the rocks, neat, or with water. Can't go wrong here. Perfect for any time of the year. Very much recommended.

I'm gonna give it an 80 as a blend mark.

I picked up a bottle of Grant’s very reluctantly in 2005 after reading Jim Murray’s praise for the blend. I was very board by it at the time. But over the years I keep coming back to it (I always like to keep at least one blend around). My wife’s favorite drink is a Blood and Sand. Her favorite scotch for said cocktail is Lagavulin 16yo . . . which got old and expensive really fast! So I switched her to a blend. And the blend we keep coming back to is this bottle of Grant’s. Don’t be fooled: I have found dramatic batch variation – even in a blend! Some batches have more peat, some are more fruity. Personally, I prefer the ones with more peat (they can be more peaty then current batches of White Horse). My general score ranges from 82-85 over 6 different batches. I find that quite consistent in quality. Here are notes for an 83 score night.

Nose: Fruity on the front with peaches, apples, and pears at the fore. Then there is some creaminess with a bit of that grain smell and some apple cider vinegar. Butter, grain, and sweet malt linger in the background. It then shifts into a different gear with honey, vanilla, and a bit of smoke. Over all very enjoyable.

Taste: Soft and fruity with a creamy mouth feel with apples, pears and lemons. Limes, butter, grass, and honey. Pleasant sweetness that isn’t overly sweet but certainly sweeter then JW Black 12yo.

Finish: Lemon grassy with a bit of flair resolving into a nice low and slow burn. The waves are very low and come back to surprise you. Definitely delicate with a big pop of sweet sherry that resolves to honey. A little spicy kick with some malt, orange zest and a hint of smoked honey that fades to a medium finish (long for a blend)

Complexity, Balance: A very well balanced blend that mingles the grass, velvety butter, and citrus (limes, oranges, and a bit of lemon) together with a hint of sweet sherry. Quite complex in the nose with acceptable complexity on the taste, then back to better then average complexity on the finish. It is really well balanced across the board (nose to finish). Nothing really stands out, takes over, falls flat or is off.

Aesthetic experience: I love the price and the name. I don’t love the bottle shape or the red label. Nor do I like the 40% ABV. The consistency is all over the map on this one; some batches are smoky while others are fruity. However, it does stay consistently good for the money.

Conclusion: Really my staple blend I like to have around. I keep trying others, but for the money it is really hard to be the quality of Grant’s . . . maybe not the consistency . . . but the quality is always there.

Before I was reviewing this classic blend I was trying out some similar easy going blends like Vat69, Bushmills and Famous Grouse. They all possess some unique features and so does this stereotypic blend. As it's blended by Grant's I was looking for some fiddich in there but I'm sad to say I'm still looking. The nose was quite a shock for me with aerosol spray cans, aceton, basically hairspray. Not a very pleasing start that's for sure. After letting the whisky settle for a couple of minutes you at least start to pick other things as well like yeast, grapes and caramell. The whisky is very dyed and is at least a couple of tones browner then my other blends. Tastewise it's just as off balance as the nose. Bitter oak with hints of malty sugar. The finish is like someone locking you in the sawmill, long and woody with some dry aftertaste of bitter sour oak. The big question is how can this be one of the best selling whiskies of all time? Hopefully I just had some bad luck with this bottle but I really expected more from the master crafters of Glenfiddich.

Don't be fooled by the price, Grant's Family Reserve is a great, complex and well balanced whiskey.

The Nose: You can smell the barrel from which it came, oak. Tangy molasses, a cloud of sucre a la creme and then candied smoked bacon to to seduce you a little bit.

The Palate: Gentle with melted confectioners' sugar. Dry Maplewood with candied sap. A film of smoke, sadly the bacon stayed behind. Honey dew melon.

Body: Light with beaded oil

To Finish: A burning honey dew scented candle. Fades away efficiently.

I keep this scotch in a decanter at home. It is inviting after a long day and sets up a comforting ritual. I don't feel like it needs to be announced. Unlabelled and ready for the eye. And for the price, it's easy to keep it readily available.

nose: very fruity, notes of prune, apricots, citrus touch, banana, baked apples, american oak, nice malt feeling, there is a very remote and minimal resemblance of peat/smoke. all in all quite strong and interesting aromas for a really affordable blend like this.

taste: some caramel and malty feeling, fresh fruits, banana, but quite one dimensional with a meaty undertone.

finish: very poor finish, disappears very quickly, after some seconds some standard malty/grainy bitterness comes through.

summary: to the nose this blend promises a lot, but after having tried it, it reveals a very poor body and character. gentle and convincing to the nose, taste-wise quite boring and a poor finish. the famous grouse has a more diluted feeling to the nose and isn't such intense and aromatic to the nose like this blend but overall delivers a more balanced performance. surely good for mixing and drinking on the rocks at some easy drinking partiy. bought for 8,99 euros - a very economic blend.

An entry level whisky, it doesn't have massive complexity or delicacy but its very decent, enjoyable and accessible blend.

• Nose: honey, grassy notes some caramel and plenty of barley sugar. With water caramel really comes through with buttery note as well, a grape note is there too, grassy notes really quieten down which is a shame.

• Pallet: barley sweet comes through first, nice light body, loads of fruitiness that didn’t come through from the nose, some more caramel moves quickly across the pallet. With water ever sweeter and lighter, but all the elements are still there

• Finish: little spicy which livens things up, caramel plays a more prominent role here, good length too. With water slightly sharper, more citrus then the neat elements, but the finish is a bit dryer with water (about a teaspoon for me)

• Mark – neat 8, with water 8

Overall: it doesn't get a massive mark but its a really solid dram. occasionally its nice to have an "easy" dram rather than really thinking and concentrating on a more challenging malt. Really good stuff

In the coming week I will be focusing on releases from Glen Grant, the famous distillery in the heart of Speyside. Before trying their single malts, let us prep the tastebuds with this Grant’s Family Reserve, their popular and cheap blend. A recent bottling in fact, the older ones I tried were not to my liking.

The nose starts of closed and slightly metallic with even some butane gas. Ouch. Some gooseberries and pineapple, but it is hard work to find it. Very malty. I am not impressed.

The attack is very watery, a tiny bit spicy and somewhat sweet. But I cannot get the idea of lukewarm lager out of my head. Underwhelming.

The finish is mercifully short.

This tasted even worse than the older bottlings I tried. Either there was something terribly wrong with my sample or else this bottle is best left alone.

Colour: gold

Body: medium, sticky

Nose: moderate wine flavours from the start, with honey and ripened barley to follow. Next to arrive are echoes of the oak, and a hint of peat. Very nice

Taste: strong flavours of wine, quite sweet, nice barley-malt grain flavours, a little licorice, and some peat. Delicious. The flavours were good at first bottle opening, but became much more robust after the bottle was open a couple of months

Finish: long and strong. The malty grain flavours exit the stage before the wine and peat flavours

Balance: the parts harmonise together well. The flavours are quite strong for 40% ABV whisky. As an inexpensive "standard" blend, I find William Grant's The Family Reserve to be quite remarkably good. It holds its own for flavours and sophistication not only among 'standard blends', but among all whiskies, including those much older and more expensive

Colour: Pale golden straw. Body: Thin long legs down the glass. Nose: Winey, vanilla, orrange zest, water added: mandarin, marmelade. Taste: spice, toffe, honey, a bit of smoke. Water added: Spice diluted,grain sweetness shines through. Finish: Long, spicy, sweet and at the very end slightly bitter aftertaste.

I stopped at the LCBO today to replenish my stock with two Scotches I hadn't tried before (the other is the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban). This is one of them, a pleasant but complex whiskey. Floral nose with honey, rather oily on the palate but tastes of grass, banana, malt, vanilla and honey. Long and smooth finish. Nothing exceptional but a very solid everyday Scotch.