Once again, G-LO was out on the interwebz and his efforts produced several samples of Crown Royal Maple. The bottle tells me that this is Crown Royal’s fine deluxe maple flavored whisky. From the description at their website, the Crown Royal Maple is “a master blend of premium whisky finished with maple-toasted oak for a uniquely smooth finish”. Crown Royal was produced in 1939 especially for the visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth by Samuel Bronfman, then president of Seagram’s. Over the course of the next 60 years, the brand continued to flourish and became the bestselling Canadian whisky in the US. When the Bronfman family divested itself of the Seagram’s portfolio, Crown Royal was acquired by Diageo.
Here is what Crown Royal has to say about the Maple:
The legendary taste of Crown Royal with a touch of natural maple flavor. Our master blender finished our celebrated whisky with maple-toasted oak to yield a uniquely smooth experience. It’s a perfect blend of Crown Royal’s signature caramel and vanilla nose with the elegant aromas of light, fresh maple that creates a flavor profile that finishes on an authentically warm and woody note. Whisky Started, Maple Finished.
We found the Crown Royal Maple to have the following characteristics…
Limpd’s Tasting Notes
- Appearance: Orange marmalade with lots of legs.
- Aroma: Maple, maple and maple.
- Taste: Syrupy sweet with a little hint of spice (cinnamon, black pepper) and a soft, smooth finish.
- ABV: 40%
If you have ever wondered what Mrs. Butterworth and Aunt Jemima do to kick back after a hard week of selling pancakes, this is it. I imagine the ladies on quite a syrupy bender with this interesting blend of the top-selling Canadian whisky and maple flavoring. I suppose some might find this to be just too sweet and to have had the mild kick of Crown Royal further softened. However, I think this blend might bridge the gap between a liqueur and a whisky.
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G-LO’s Tasting Notes
- Appearance: Pretty much looks like Maple Syrup in a glass.
- Aroma: Maple syrup dominates the nose, but I also get a touch of baking spices (vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg) along with a smattering of pipe tobacco.
- Taste: Slightly syrupy mouthfeel, but definitely not as viscous as I was expecting. That maple syrup sweetness is front and center but it doesn’t completely wash out the whisky flavors. Once the sweetness subsides a bit, the baking spices kick in and are actually quite warming. Sweet maple syrup and cinnamon backed finish that lingers for about a minute. Maple syrup and vanilla aftertaste.
- ABV: 40%
The last time I drank anything similar to this was when I picked up a bottle of Sortilege (a maple syrup and Canadian whisky liqueur) for my Papa when I was in Montreal way back in 1995 (for you F1 fans out there, I was there for the Canadian Grand Prix and witnessed Jean Alesi’s first and only F1 victory. A great weekend in a great city!). Although the Crown Royal Maple isn’t nearly as sweet as that stuff, it definitely leans towards the dessert drink side of the flavor spectrum. I actually didn’t find it to be as sweet as I was expecting, and am impressed to taste some actual whisky flavor coming through. While it’s a touch too sweet for me to drink straight, I did try it on ice with some club soda and found it to be pretty good. It will probably work even better with some Barritts Ginger Beer served over ice with a wedge of lime.
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Thanks again to Joe Clarkson of Taylor Strategy for sending us this sample!
