Crown Royal Maple Finished
40% ABV - Ontario, Canada
Nose: Maple candy. Maple fudge. Uh, just about maple anything! Good dose of honey, vanilla extract – the most "concentrated" that I have noted, and caramels.
Taste: It’s very sweet, and not as syrupy / thick as the nose. Lighter,... cleaner,... maple flavoured corn syrup. This is whisky, right? Joking aside, I’ve sipped on it a few times and the taste is better than the nose. Pleasant, actually!
Finish: Sweet maple candy and caramelized sugar. Some off notes of varnish and it has a woody element to it – but not drying.
Maple finished or maple flavoured? This whisky has so much maple that it’s hard to understand where the maple ends and the whisky begins. Checking information available on the Crown Royal website, it suggests that the standard blend has maple flavours added, and then that blend is finished in maple-toasted oak - a process that I am not familiar with. Shall we call it... Crown Royal Double Maple Extra Maple?
I find the standard Crown Royal offering to be on the sweet side, which may be indicative of high corn content in the blend, and the Maple Finished really takes that sweetness to the next level! It makes for an excellent dessert drink or it could be a great component of a fancy cocktail. The nose screams every flavour with a maple prefix, but the taste is actually a lot more clean and light. Not too much more to say about it... goes great in coffee!
There are a couple more maple whiskies that I have yet to review, and now that I’ve taken the time to sit down with this Crown Royal, it should make for some interesting comparisons. (Those other whiskies are Knob Creek Smoked Maple and Odd Society Maple.)
Tasting Notes (Official): Nose: Light, fresh maple combined with the signature caramel and vanilla nose of Crown Royal. Palate: An exceptionally smooth blend with an authentic light maple taste. Finish: Warm, woody caramelized note.
Tasted 30 September 2019. (Posted 3 October 2019.)
