The Naked Grouse

By Barry Bradford on December 22, 2018 • ( Leave a comment )

The Naked Grouse (40%, OB, 2018)

Category: Blended malt scotch whisky
Origin: undisclosed
Bottling: OB
ABV: 40%
Cost: £26.48

Image courtesy of Master of Malt

What they say

Whisky at its most uncomplicated.

Convention said that blended malt got its flavour from bourbon casks, used again and again. This got us thinking… What if instead, we used first fill sherry casks to add another layer of rich and fruity flavour to our malts? It didn’t just work, it was a joyful exuberance of flavour that changed the possibilities of whisky enjoyment.

So hats off (and everything off!) to Naked Grouse, for taking a liberating leap into the unknown.

What I say

Door #22 of the Drinks by the dram Scotch Whisky Advent Calendar.

Again another re-visit, the last time I had Naked Grouse was not long after it was released, sampled here 2012. This blended Malt from the House of Famous Grouse is rumoured to contain mostly or only malts from Edrington’s own distilleries, including The Macallan.

My tasting notes:

Appearance: Dark burnished copper (12/20), strong, medium legs, rare medium tears.
Nose: Caramel and apples, raisin and cherry, sweet biscuit and toasted bread cereals, a whiff of soft leather and a touch of tobacco leaf
Taste: Caramelised sugars, toffee, milk chocolate, some dried fruit, raisin and a little cinnamon & ginger spices, polished highland toffee and some sticky toffee sponge pudding.
Finish: Medium, ginger-spiced toffee and milk chocolate persist.

Overall

I’m still not convinced by this blend, it is very pleasing and all but just too polished/smooth/blendy in places that I see it as a detraction from the whole.