Ah, the legendary Import, Crown Royal Blended Canadian Whisky. Who doesn’t remember getting out of College or finally getting a decent check and ordering Crown & Coke? No more Jim, Jack or even worse, you hit the big time. Well at least that is how it felt back then.
Crown comes in the very well known, elegant and ornate screw top bottle blanketed in a cool little purple felt bag, they then put the whole thing into a purple and gold foil box. CR sells for around $25 for the 750 ml, bottled at 80 proof and is widely available. It does not have an age statement, and we could not find one online.
Side note, CR was introduced in 1939 when King George the VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Canada. It was named for the royal visit and was only available in Canada until 1964.
NOSE
Todd: Mild and clean with very slight aromas of oak, citrus, tobacco, varnish and bananas. Was not that impressed.
Ron: Light smells of spice, citrus and ethanol. Strange, I also got a plastic aroma with a hint of chlorine, like in a pool. I guess it could have come from the plastic 375ml bottle.
TASTE
Todd: Seemed hot for just 80 proof, was pretty smooth after a little ice melted. Got the varnish/paint that I got on the nose. Also tasted a little spice and some Rye.
Ron: I thought it was smooth neat, even though it did taste a little better with one cube melted. Not much flavor, maybe a little citrus and some type of light wood.
FINISH
Todd: Medium with no noticeable difference in taste.
Ron: Medium and flat. That’s all I can say.
OVERALL
Todd: It has been years since I drank the standard Crown Royal. The last time I did, I thought it was somewhat bland, I was stuck trying to figure out what the draw was 30 some years ago. This tasting did nothing to help solve that puzzle. Is it possible that since it was not available to the U.S. as an Import until 1964, that it created a status as being elite like Cuban Cigars are today? Who knows.
Ron: A very popular Whisky due to clever and ingenious marketing. It has very little flavor and no complexity. Just a smoothness about it.
Nose 3 out of 5
Taste 7 out of 10
Finish 3 out of 5
Total score 13 out of 20 Barrels
We decided to taste this because a while back we had Crown Royal’s Rye expression and really liked it. You can read the review. This stuff is just like every other Canadian Whisky, smooth but boring. Having said that it is the best of the regular Canadian Whiskys. So if you are Canadian and want to show some pride and don’t like Rye or don’t want to spend the money for the higher Crown expressions, this is for you. For the rest of us, there are a lot of Bourbons and Rye at or below that price that are, in our opinion, much better.
Bottom line, the only reason to keep a bottle of Crown Royal around, much like we said about Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve and even Jack, is just the sheer popularity of the product.