Probably Pass

Cutty Sark Blended Malt

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Cutty Sark Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
40% ABV/ 80 Proof
$20
Available across the U.S. and select international markets

What the Distillery Says:
I’ve got nothing here and Cutty Sark’s website is damn near impossible to navigate.

What Richard Says
Nose: Apple juice, cotton fields, and old furniture.
Palate: It’s harsh and tart. Definitely not my favorite blended malt.
Finish: The finish is quick and smooth at first but then it leaves you with a very medicinal and woody taste.
Comments: I pulled the trigger on a bottle of this because it was on sale for a ridiculously low price at my local liquor store. Please don’t judge everything Cutty Sark does by this bottling. I tried it a few times and then quickly relegated it to the “whiskey sour” cabinet. I only pulled it out again so that Matt and I could review it before it was all gone.
Rating: Probably Pass

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Ancient Age

/ / Bourbon, Review / ,

Ancient Age Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
40% ABV/ 80 Proof
$8
Widely Available

What the Distillery Says:
You’ve known us a long time, and you could always count on us for quality. But even more than that, you’ve known us to make great bourbon. Well, we just got better. We’ve begun using a chill filtration system for our bourbon, which improves our color, flavor, and all around taste experience.

We’ve always taken great pride in what we put in our bottles. Now even more so.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Orange blossoms, cloves, and hints of baked cherries.
Palate: Orange bitters developing to orange zest. There’s a lot more citrus than I expected. There’s just a hint of sweetness poking around the corners.
Finish: The finish is smooth yet bitter.
Comments: The first time I became aware of Ancient Age was years ago through Stephen King’s novella Apt Pupil. Kurt Dussander, the Nazi war criminal in hiding drank bottle after bottle of Ancient Age. He described it as “cheap and good.” It’s definitely cheap. The good is subjective. I find this to be an average bourbon but it is the “orangiest” bourbon I’ve ever tried. Maybe something for the mixologists to take note of.
Rating: Average

What Matt Says:
Nose: Tart plums, dry dusty wood, burnt sugar and vanilla.  Water brings out some tart apple (almost like a Wine Sap)
Palate: Sharp and alcoholic on the sides of the tongue.  Walnut husks, cinnamon bubble gum (Big Red to be exact), an almost berry sweetness and rock candy.
Finish: The burn lingers and warms the throat.  The finish is dominated by dusty walnut husks with a sweet/sour combination that hovers just above the tongue
Comments: A smoker’s whiskey.  The finish slowly fades to a taste that is something very similar to cigarette ash.  It’s cheap.  I’ll give it that.  Perhaps one of the better whiskeys at this price point.  It certainly stands out against drams like Ten High and Rebel Yell.  If I ever become a hobo, riding the rails and hustling for my next meal, this will probably be my whiskey of choice.  Until then, I’ll stick to my Buffalo Trace and Four Roses Yellow Label for affordable bourbon.
Rating:  Probably Pass

Overall Rating:  Average

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Seagram’s 7 Crown American Whiskey

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review /

I’ve been sitting on this review for a while going back to our Gateway Series of reviews. I was waiting to see if Matt would try this one too but he’s on vacation so I’m going to publish it anyway.

In all seriousness, it was a post on about American Blended Whiskey that reminded of this old review so here it goes…

Seagram’s 7 Crown American Whiskey
40% ABV/80 Proof
$10 to $15
Available Everywhere

What the Distillery Says:

I actually couldn’t find anything.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Honey and ripe fruit. Oranges and nuts. Not an altogether unpleasant nose.
Palate: Candied rubber? Very antiseptic and spicy. Not something to drink neat.
Finish: Very hot and rough finish. Not smooth in the least.
Comments: Okay, Seagram’s isn’t exactly suggesting this be drunk straight like a fine bourbon. It’s a cheap mixer and tastes as such. It’s a very odd bastard child of something bourbon-like and something Canadian.
Rating: I’ll Pass (so bad that I’m adding another rating to our system)

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Gateway Series #12: Canadian Round-Up

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review / ,

After Crown Royal, we decided that providing two negative reviews for the remaining Canadian whiskies was a bit overkill.  So Richard took one for the team and reviewed two of the other three on our list.  I think I got off pretty easy (the Canadian Mist was my contribution).

Canadian Club Blended Canadian Whisky
40% ABV/80 Proof
Nose: Citrus, vanilla, and burnt tire.  This smells pretty awful.
Palate: I would say that the only good thing about the palate on this is that it got the taste of Seagram’s 7 and Black Velvet out of my mouth from the same tasting but that’s not an improvement.  This is like industrial drain cleaner.
Finish: The finish is actually the best part.  It is rather smooth but the after taste is too reminiscent of the palate.
Comments: Wow, this was not a pleasant experience at all.  I know we pledged to review the often over looked entry level stuff as part of the Gateway Series but I can only hope that if you’re reading our site then you’re drinking better than Canadian Club.  Please tell me you are.
Rating: Possibly the worst whisk(e)y I’ve ever drank.

Black Velvet Canadian Whisky
40% ABV/80 Proof
Nose: Juvenile oranges and rubbing alcohol with notes of sweet vanilla.  Agitation make the nose almost industrial.
Palate: On the palate this tastes like unaged grain alcohol.  Very little flavor and very rough.
Finish: It actually finishes rather smooth on the throat but it leaves a hornet’s nest in your mouth.
Comments: Every time I see this somewhere I think of that Alana Miles song about Elvis.  Unfortunately this doesn’t resemble the King in any way, shape, or form. Don’t bother.
Rating: I’ll Pass (so bad that I’m adding another rating to our system)

Canadian Mist Blended Canadian Whisky
40% ABV/80 Proof
Nose: Really nice right after the pour, like high-rye bourbon.  Sweet, toffee, and caramel.  When agitated, the nose becomes antiseptic (rubbing alcohol).
Palate: Not much to it.  It tastes more like a honeyed Lowland Scotch than anything from North America.  The flavor is very delicate.  What little flavor is present, is honeyed and cereal with an oily mouth feel.
Comments: This seems like it would be a good mixer.  It stands out among the other gateway Canadians in that it is not retched.  That being said, it is like whisky light.  This could be a true gateway whisky for folks unaccustomed to drinking alcohol with flavor.
Rating:  Average

So, there you have it.  The Canadian round-up.  You may think that we are being unfair to our Northern cousins, but we cannot help our tastes.

We still have a few more gateway reviews on the way, so stay tuned.

Slainte
Matt & Richard

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Gateway Series #11: Crown Royal

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review /

Crown Royal Fine De Luxe Blended Canadian Whisky
40% ABV, 80 Proof
Around $25, Widely Available

What The Distiller Says:
The distinct blend of 50 full-bodied whiskies has captivated senses for 70 years and continues to be a staple of our portfolio. Though created in 1939 to celebrate the visit to Canada of King George VI and his Queen Elizabeth, Crown Royal remains approachable and unpretentious to the everyday drinker.

What Matt Says:
Nose: Caramel, hazelnuts, vanilla, and mint. There is also something sour lingering in the background (smells like stomach acid). Water opens up the rye notes (mint and spice) to create something quite lovely.
Palate: Not bad upfront, with toffee sweetness, but turns woody and bitter. Although Richard Paterson suggests holding whiskies “long in the mouth,” I would not suggest doing that with this particular dram. It becomes thoroughly unpleasant, not unlike chewing the shrapnel from a barrel explosion. While water helps the nose, it kills the flavor (which may be a good thing).
Finish: Smooth and oak-y with a hint of mint. Water kills the mint.
Comments: Supplying Redneck high school girls with low cost purses for 70 years, Crown Royal is probably as known for it’s purple velvet bag as for the whisky inside. It is a shame really, Crown Royal is actually capable of producing good whiskies. The standard expression is not one of them though. It is not the worst whisky in the Gateway Series, but I cannot recommend it.
Rating: Probably Pass

What Richard Says:
Nose: The nose seems surprisingly alcoholic for an 80 proof whisky. I get fruitiness on the nose reminiscent of fruit brandies. There is also just a hint of nuttiness that I can’t quite place.
Palate: Peppered oak lollypops? Seriously. Sickly candy sweetness on the front of the palate. As the drink settles into the palate it turns to peppery oak. Not in a good way. The longer you hold it on the palate, the worse it gets. Definitely drink it quickly.
Finish: The finish starts out not too bad but the burn kicks in and punches above it’s 40% ABV. The after taste is rough, woody, and unpleasant.
Comments: My early experiences with Crown Royal really turned me off to the drink altogether. That said, I tried to give Crown the benefit of the double. For my trouble I found all the things that originally turned me off of Canadian Whisky. The only way I’ve found that I can tolerate Crown Royal is in a Red Snapper.
Rating: Probably Pass

Overall Rating: Probably Pass

Crown Royal is really our first major departures from one of the whiskey writers we both most identify with, John Hansell. He gives standard Crown an 88/100. I can’t fathom how. It just goes to show you that everyone’s palate is as individual as their fingerprints.

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