(한국어 시음기 밑에 있어요!)
The Naked grouse is a blended malt from the Edrington Group and actually once started life as a special edition of their popular Famous Grouse blended scotch. Seeing the rising popularity of blended malts on the market such as Monkey Shoulder, in 2011 the Edrington Group revived the name for a new blended malt that would combine the best qualities of its two wildly popular single malts; Macallan and Highland park, with some of its lesser known ones.
In order to give it that extra oomph, everything that goes into this blend is aged in first-fill sherry casks, creating the perfect pedigree for a veritable sherry bomb.
Did I mention that the bottle is real damn purdy too?
Vitals:
ABV: 40%
Colour: Caramel
Chill-filtered: Yes
Nose: Raisins and old leather at first, followed by vanilla and oak, with prunes in the background. Once the oak fades, barley tea and lighter fruit notes such as peaches appear, though charred wood still lingers in the background. 16 /25
Palate: The raisins from the nose follows through on the palate as the leading note, followed by more dried fruits such as prunes, and even hints of figs and black treacle. Black raspberries and butterscotch follow on from this, but are soon replaced by a progression of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and then finally vanilla cream with caramel sauce mixed in. 23.5/25
Finish: Short and very sweet, with vanilla and caramel. A raisin-like grape must returns at the end, rounding out this sherry bomb. 17/25
Value*: Before the Edrington group pulled out of Korea earlier in 2020 (what a dire year, eh?), this was by far and away the most competitively priced blended malt in Korea and gave the sort of bang for the buck that really is only matched by Talisker 10 here. It's a bit more expensive now, but still provides relatively good value. 18/25
Conclusion:
A fantastic budget sherry bomb that hits all the right spots. It is essentially a poor mans Macallan 12, but that's not a bad thing! It's only let down by its relatively short finish, but is quite solid in every other category.
A few drops of water bring out smoke on the palate, but the sweetness is toned down considerably.
Basic Rating: 75.3%
Price Adjusted Rating*: 74.5%
Daily Drinker: Yes. No question.
Possible pairing: A hard, salty cheese such as Parmesan should contrast with and enhance the sweetness of the naked grouse.
Where to find in Korea: Supply is currently somewhat patchy.
TLDR Version:
N: Raisins and old leather → vanilla, oak and prunes → barley tea, peaches and charred wood
P: Raisins, prunes, figs and black treacle → black raspberries and butterscotch → dark chocolate → milk chocolate → vanilla cream and caramel sauce
F: Short and very sweet, with vanilla, caramel and grape must.
V: Pretty good.
C: A fantastic budget sherry bomb. One of the best bang for your buck whiskies in Korea.
한국어 시음평:
향: 건포도, 오래된 가죽 → 바닐라, 오크, 건자두 → 보리차, 복숭아, 잘 그을린 나무
맛: 건포도, 건자두, 무화과, 검은 당밀 → 복분자, 카라멜 → 다크 초콜릿 → 밀크 초콜릿 → 바닐라 크림, 카라멜 소스
끝맛: 바닐라, 캐러멜, 포도 껍질과 함께 피니시가 짧고 매우 달콤해요.
결론: 이 위스키는 훌륭한 금액대의 셰리 폭탄이예요.
Buy / Mooch / Pass: BUY BUY BUY!
Review by Glasgowhisky
2020/08/14
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