The Naked Grouse

I talked about Grouse recently, and here we are, with a naked one.

And that’s what I told the officer. Unfortunately he forgot to write something down, blah blah blah, I’m not allowed at any avian sanctuaries anymore but no prison time.

A few months ago (and a lot of drams ago) I reviewed a bunch of the bird blends from Beam-Suntory Inc. However there was one missing.

The Naked Grouse is aged in first fill sherry casks, and the “theme” is based around whisky from Highland Park and Macallan.

I like some of those things. Unfortunately finding the dram at the time proved very hard for me, so I jumped ahead on the other grouse.

And then two weeks later, I found the naked grouse. And then I found the dram after the court case was over.

So, without anymore further delay, let’s see how this little jay bird tastes, shall we?

Price: N/A at the LCBO

Region: Blend

Abv: 40%

Colour: 10YR 6/8

Nose: Strawberry, cream cheese, lime, metal, sulphur, apricot

Very much a sherried dram. If I had to guess, I would say the Macallan is at the forefront, with the Highland Park’s slight peat throwing some metal notes in there.

Smells like a nice summer appetizer plate. Like fruit and cream cheese. The sulphur is a little off putting, but I’m sure there won’t be more.

Taste: Strawberry, cocoa, cream, sulphur, apple

More sherry notes. Light on the tongue, though I’m assuming that’s due to the low abv.

Also the sulphur has picked up. Without anything to really hide it, it… kinda just sits there, like a drunk fat girl hogging the pizza at a party. Not fun. Everyone should share.

Finish: Ginger, red fruit, sulphur, lemon, rosemary

Nice fini… sulphur.

Dammit, is this what happens when you’ve drank too many whiskies? You complain about sulphur? I’ve become the butt of my own jokes.

It’s hard to avoid it here though. All jokes aside, it’s pretty rough around the edges.

Conclusion: Sulphur. It ruins this dram. Few others unless it’s not your cup of tea.

I usually can handle it. It’s just part of the game. However here… without any complexity or big flavours, it takes center stage.

Ignoring it we find a really good group of background actors. Ones who went to Julliard and probably will commit suicide tonight. I don’t hate this, but I can’t get passed that one note throughout. If you can, buy a bottle. The price to quality is there. It just needs a little help.

67/100

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