Crown Royal Cask No. 16

Finally got my own bottle of this and can apply a more studied approach (versus the sips I had earlier at Whisky Live in Toronto).

First, it looks good: it has a deep brown, well-knit appearance.

Second, it tastes very good: there is a typical Canadian whisky undertone but smoothed down and enhanced by the cognac from the ex-cognac cask it was finished in. The effect is to give it an orangey taste, almost as if it was a luxury version of Grand Marnier.

I like it a lot and have already pegged it for personal use: late at night, never watered, never iced.

Proves that an old dog can have new tricks (the whisky, I mean).

Gary

Interesting. I just tried it tonight, and it had most of the benchmarks of the CR brand character (silky smoothness, and sweetness). It also had the taste of plums (!?!) which I found...confusing, as I've never had plum flavours in my whisky.

I think that plumminess is from the cognac cask. I got some orange too altough it tastes a bit different every time I try it. A nice effort, I like it.

Gary

Cracked open a bottle yesterday with a friend who is a big Crown fan:

Definitely Crown at its core but definitely different... brandy / cognac notes are clearly present at the finish. I liked it much more than my friend since it made the Crown more interesting (I find regular Crown remarkedly unexciting.

I've read from others this is very good stuff if a bit more expensive. Where in the local NKY area did you get yours and how much if I may ask?

You can get it at Old Time Liquors on Bardstown Road, Louisville, cost, $100 - what it costs in Canada, so a good deal for Americans. It is in the glass cabinet along the right side after you walk in.

It is an excellent product, I get a persistent orange note in my tastings, not sure where it comes from.

Gary

Also available at Party Source and COrk N' Bottle. Around $80, if my memory is correct.

Excellent price.

I have a vatting of CR's from different eras (including some XR and Special Reserve) and will add some 1970's Courvoisier VSOP to see if I can equal or exceed the palate of CR Cask No. 16, I think I have my work cut out for me.

Any suggestions on how much cognac to add to the CR?

Gary

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jburlowski

Also available at Party Source and COrk N' Bottle. Around $80, if my memory is correct.

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Thanks, that's where I was thinking I would try. Maybe my other whisky buddies will want to buy one together. And of course drink it together! It seems the consensus is this is a good pour. It is cheaper than going out and we get to drink what we want, not what the bar has. If the bar has what I really want I am probably gonna pay for it.

I am sampling the CR Cask No. 16 on its own, after dinner. (I never did do the emulation I intended: I did prepare the base - various CRs and other Canadian whiskies - but added bourbons and straight ryes to them and stopped there. It is very good but I am not sure Cognac would improve it).

The CR Cask 16 is good but I think it could be better. There is a persistent, "orange wine" taste to it that makes me wonder if a blending agent of some kind was added. The brandy taste is there but overlaid by the orange notes, and under that is the recognizable CR taste (dry, oaky).

A nice dram but I would have made it heavier and sweeter. It would benefit from some sweet old bourbon in particular, IMO. The finish is a little lacking, and the body. It is not bad by any means but in comparison to, say, Wiser's Very Old, it has a way to go. The Forty Creek whiskies too (any of them) offer more taste for much less money, IMO.

Gary