Forced Eviction

Today I had to evict the last mouthful of Crown Royal Special Reserve. This was to make way for a couple of new tennants and to harvest the cool purple bag.

This bottle was purchased from BevMo so that we could compare it with my personal favorite Canadian whiskey, Forty Creek Barrel Select. At $40 the Crown Reserve is a pricey 750ml bottle. For that price you get 2 liters of Jameson or a bottle of Red Breast. More importantly, you could get two bottles of Forty Creek. 

As is often the case with fine spirits, the price is not a good indicator of quality. Prices fluctuate from location to location and by bottle size but that usually only accounts for a couple of dollars. In this case we've got a brand that is selling for twice as much as its competitor.

Whiskey Magazine gave Forty Creek Barrel Select scores of 8 and 8.5 where as they gave the Crown Reserve 7.5 an 8.25. Those guys are paid to do this and I'm just a computer geek with a pallette but we agree there. John Hall's creation is smoother, sweeter and more favorful than the Crown Reserve. Factor in the price and Forty Creek becomes the hands-down winner in this face-off.

So we say farewell to the bottle in the velvet purple bag, probably to not meet agin for a very long time.

Crown Royal Special Reserve is a good Canadian whiskey that surpasses the flavor of the original. The core flavors are the same since this comes from the same stock. Great care was obviously taken selecting these barrels and giving them extra time to mature. This variety also includes a rye note is somewhat surprising from Crown Royal. The nose is initiallly sharp with sweeter scents following. No smokiness, and a very smooth drink with oak clearly coming through with vanilla and toffee tones coming late.

I guess that the gauntlet has to be throun down somewhere, so from one to ten, this is a 5.25.