Murray's review of Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye

[Quaich1]

As a Canadian, it pleased me to find out that the 2016 edition of the Whisky Bible picked a Canadian blended whisky as the #1 World Whisky for 2016:

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye , 45% abv, 90% Rye

Here are my taste notes from today-:

Color: Amber
Body: Full

Neat:

Nose: A melange of McIntosh and Granny Smith apples sweep in with a flourish and quick-step creating an apple orchard in Autumn. The weight of the rye expresses itself at first with an unexpected delicateness but starts to build into characteristic rye influences commensurate with its' 45% abv. Health conscious cereals flood into the picture. Hints of Robertson's marmalade arrive with generalized citrus hues. Honeysuckle works its way in , almost unnoticed at first. The apple motif waxes and wanes but never leaves, just becoming a revolving figure and ground. Buttermilk pancakes hot off the griddle are served later.

Palate: A big hit of rye influence, instantly warming; the citrus notes expanding; initially quite smooth. As the expression opens, a peppery viscous foundation exerts itself into prominence latching onto the primary grain quality. The rye at this point is really superb.

Finish: Long, drying, Grandma''s old-fashioned apple pie, inviting spices waltzing with the rye tones; metamorphosing into the breakfast porridge from my youth, calming and enjoyed. With time, the apple cornucopia suddenly vanishes leaving the dignity of rye on a pedestal where grain is King.

Comments: This is a high quality Canadian rye. Forget about the reasonable price. Judge it on its own merits. There is a balance here not easily achieved. The complexity is underscored from nose to palate to finish. It is elegant not pedestrian, flirtatious not aggressive and fulfills expectations by preparation not luck.

My Rating: 95.5 A little lower than Jim's 97.5


****Since the #1 pick in the Whisky Bible always generates interest, I decided to put it in this section of the Forum where more folks will see it.
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"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[opelfruit]

Thanks Murray.

I had a large sample of this along with various other Canadians ahead of a shop stock order, outcome of the tasting was which ones to stock.

Needless to say that I don't have anywhere near your experience with Canadians, I've tasted very few.

As your notes, I found this very fruity and certainly orchard spice breakfast cereal. Whilst it's balanced it was a let down on what I expected from a high Rye whisky. Smooth it was, and that's nice........nice. I finished 3rd on my list, behind Alberta Premium and Collingwood 21yo, both of which I found had more character and just a bit more......I don't know, class maybe.

It's a very nice whisky, I'd give it a solid 80, maybe pushing an 85, but then that's the batch I had and my tastes
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[William]

Cheers Murray great notes as always.
_________________
There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

[jcarrick]

I wonder if we will now see it this side of the water and at what price

[opelfruit]

The Whisky Exchange had it stocked a while back for about £50 I think (or there abouts). Needless to say that it's not in stock anymore.
_________________
"Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough."

[William]

Sounds like a great dram Murray and we rarely get something so good in this price range, I wish it was readily available here.
_________________
There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

[Quaich1]

[James T]

Yes great review Murray as descriptive as ever, shame we cant get hold of it here.

[Samson]

The Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye is a decent whisky, I have gotten through about 3/4 of a bottle now, but it doesn't strike me as the best, yes I think it is good, personally I would rate it 85/100 on my personal scale of how good a whisky is. For the price I am more than happy and have a couple of more bottles in the cupboard.

[Quaich1]

Another 1538 bottles now filtering through the LCBO stores as of today.
_________________
"Always carry a large flagon of whisky in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake."
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)

[MoBigga]

It's a decent whisky. I can still get it for US$29 in the US, a good value considering its designation as 2016 World Whisky of the Year