• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

The Famous Grouse Malt Whisky

AVB

Jesus of Cool, I'm bad, I'm nationwide
Joined
Nov 14, 2003
Messages
22,942
The Famous Grouse Malt Whisky, 10 yo, 80 proof, 750ml, standard tall bottle, tube packaging, about $27.
Famous%20Grouse%2010.JPG

081304Maltncanister_feat.jpg


The Famous Grouse is Scotland's top selling blended whisky and some of thie products have done well in tasting events compared to other blends. This however, I don't believe will do as well.

This malt is the Grouse's first foray into the world of vatted malts (single malts mixed together without any grain alcohol) and they do have a solid base to start with. Macallan and Highland Park are both major parts of this malt but something must happen along the way to change these fine single malts into whatever Matthew Gloag & Son did here.

The nose is reminiscent of Macallan with its sherry overtones and Highland Park with a slighly salty sea air quality, not bad at all. Tasting is somewhat different as a harsh alcohol bite jumps to the fore, surprisingly strong considering this is only 80 proof. A sherried sweeness is under the alcohol but well down in the profile the same with any flavor of the sea. The finish is long and has a slight peat to it.

Now if you have read this far, I will take you Dear Reader to part two of the review. Those that know me and my reviews know that I drink my scotch neat except for a very few 115+ proof ones and then it is usually over ice. Normally I wouldn't have thought about adding water to an 80 proof dram but in the interest of covering all the bases I decided to give it a try. The first attempt was a failure as I added too much water and just drowned everything out. Ahhhhh, but the second attempt was perfect. 2 shots of Grouse and 10 drops of water.

Whatever was wrong with this was immediately fixed. The smoothness of the Macallan and the slightly salty Highland park came out in the tasting. Alcohol harshness shrank and allowed the flavors to come forth. This is more like it, now this dram was worth buying.

Overall, not the best vatted malt available but at 30% less then JW green it has it's place. If you are looking for a mixing scotch like Dewar's or like your scotch over ice, take the step up to The Famous Grouse Malt Whisky.
 
Hmmm, very interesting result.
 
I wonder what the other scotch drinkers think, the peanut gallery has been sorta quiet lately. :(

golfgar said:
Hmmm, very interesting result.
[snapback]206853[/snapback]​
 
I really liked Famous Grouse, actually the only "blended" Scotch I do like. I always had it over a single cube, so I never encountered what you did. On the other hand, it's been quite some time since I've had any, so perhaps they changed the blend somewhat?

anyway, now you've got me curious. :angry: :laugh:
 
This isn't the normal blended Grouse. It is the vatted 10 yo Grouse that just came out last year.
 
AVB said:
The nose is reminiscent of Macallan with its sherry overtones and Highland Park with a slighly salty sea air quality, not bad at all. 

I like the sound of that.

At that price point I might give it a try. The only blend I keep in the house is JW Black. This might be a nice change-up for those hot evenings on the patio when I need something over ice.

I saw the gold reserve in the local store for the first time last week. I did not even know it existed.
 
Much better then the standard Dewar's.

Ralph said:
I saw the gold reserve in the local store for the first time last week. I did not even know it existed.
[snapback]208644[/snapback]​

Edit: This didn't read quite right. I mean that the Gold Reserve Famous Grouse is much better then the standard Dewar's as a point of comparison.
 
Was looking through the reviews and found this one. This is the only scotch I have now. I keep the blended around in the 1/2 gallon size for the more frequent samplings, the 10 year for the occasional taste. I haven't tried nearly the number of bottles our reviewer has but of the ones I've tried Famous Grouse suits my taste. Check out this link High Times they have several on sale.



EDIT : Noticed the link doesn't work, just go to the site and do a search for Famous grouse. At 53.00 I'm going to try the 18year old.
 
Wascal, do you drink it (the 10yo) neet or add water and or ice? Do you notice the same differece that I did?
 
I'm just a hard core drinker. :laugh: Pour a shot and toss it down. :thumbs: I really don't have much to compare it to. Have drank some Glenfiddich which I like, and some Pinch which I didn't. Don't care for the heavy peat taste in some scotches.


Actually, the 10 year on the rocks very good. I usually swirl around a bit to let some of the ice melt before drinking.
 
Yeah I usually drink them neat myself but once in a while some ice for the high proof ones.
 
Top