Review by: dustbunna
Naked Grouse is Edrington’s ‘quality-budget’ offering, and a separate endeavor from the Famous Grouse family of blended Scotch that gave it its initial name. Back in 2017, when they ditched the grain component and turned it into a blended malt, it was said that the whisky was made up of Glenturret, Highland Park, and Macallan (those being Edrington’s active malt distilleries.) Since then, they’ve sold Glenturret and re-acquired Glenrothes, so it’s rather likely at this point that they’re using very young whisky from either of those distilleries as the base. One might be tempted to go searching for what the “blue-chip” distilleries might contribute, but as with many blends, the casks used for blending it are probably off-profile from what we know as the signature distillery character, enough so that it might be difficult to pick out even if we knew what exactly was in there.
Naked Grouse is also differentiated from the other big blended malts in that the vatting itself, a NAS mix of first-fill/refill American and European oak maturation, is finished for six months in first-fill Oloroso sherry casks. Edrington distilleries all tend to showcase natural color from the sherry influence while also using chill filtration, so without them disclosing that info, my best guess is that this is chill-filtered but without added color.
Distillery: Various.
Bottler: Famous Grouse.
Region: Scotland (blended malt).
ABV: 43%.
Age: NAS. Bottled in 2020.
Cask type: First-fill and refill American and European oak, 6-month finish in first-fill Oloroso sherry.
Price: $35 USD.
Natural Color. Chill-filtered.
Bottle open across approx. 2 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.
Nose: a big hit of artificial strawberry jam, dry grass, earth, struck matches, water brings out cinnamon, chocolate-covered cherries and nuts, a bit of mustiness.
Palate: medium body ~ a bit hot on arrival, malt, hay, raisins, sweetens and mellows a bit, roasted nuts, orange liqueur, a bit more struck match, mulched leaves.
Finish: short ~ some more sweet red fruit, more raisins, earthy bitterness, baking spices, faint mocha in the background, dried figs, menthol, white pepper.
Conclusion: This was a really pleasant surprise. It’s impressive how many of the traditional ‘sherry’ flavors come through on a young whisky with a 6-month first-fill finish, including some that I associate more with PX than Oloroso (and that artificial jam note I’ve only ever before encountered on port-finished whiskies.) It’s simple and rather rough around the edges at first, but mellows nicely with a bit of time. I would say it hits its stride around halfway, with a tiny bit of deterioration towards the heel as it begins to lose the redder fruit notes. I have no idea how much Macallan or Highland Park is actually in this blended malt, but for me it’s scoring around the same as both of those distilleries’ entry-level 12yr bottlings, and is cheaper than either one by a good margin.
Final Score: 78.
Scoring Legend:
- 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
- 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
- 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
- 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
- 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
- 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
- 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
- 50-59: Save it for mixing.
- 0-49: Blech.
Malt Runners 