|
Edrington
rebrands Naked Grouse as Naked
Malt but it is still the same sherry
rich blended malt whisky in the bottle.
Naked
Grouse was first introduced to The
Edrington Groups Famous Grouse whisky
portfolio (if memory serves me right)
around 2011, it was originally launched
as a premium sherry rich Scotch Blended
Whisky containing a blend of grain and
single malt whiskies including two of
Edrington's most renowned single malts,
Highland Park and The Macallan.
At that time the new sherry rich Naked
Grouse with its first fill sherry cask
influence represented quite a
significant departure from the usual
style of Scotch blended whiskies, but
one which caught the interest of
normally devout single malt whisky
drinkers.
In 2017, Edrington took the Naked Grouse
out of The Famous Grouse portfolio and
relaunched it as a standalone brand with
a very different flavour and personality
than its predecessor, the grain whisky
had now been removed from the blend and
it was now a Blended Malt, containing
amongst others, single malts from
Edrington's Highland Park, The Macallan
and The Glenrothes distilleries.
The single malts were blended together
by Edrington's Master Blender and then
added to the first-fill sherry casks to
further marry and mature for at least a
further six months, the whisky then went
through a final chill-filter before
bottling.
The result was Naked Grouse, now a
sherry rich Scotch Blended Malt with a
buttery toffee scent on the nose which
is malty and reminiscent of orchard
fruits. On the palate sultanas, rich
fudge and cooked apples come through,
followed by a finish of soft spice and
toasted oak.
 Now 2021, Edrington have rebranded Naked
Grouse as Naked Malt, which makes sense
really as they had already taken it out
the The Famous Grouse portfolio back in
2017 although it still carried the
Grouse name until now.
There has been no change to the whisky
you will find in the bottle with this
latest
rebranding, it is simply a new name,
Naked Malt, which will be presented with
a new contemporary look.
Diane Stuart, Naked Malt Master Blender,
commented: "Naked Malt is blended using
some of the finest Scottish single
malts, each selected for its quality and
individual flavour. Every cask of Single
Malt Scotch whisky selected for our
blend is nosed to ensure it meets our
exacting standard.
"By extra maturing Naked Malt in
first-fill Oloroso sherry casks, we
deliver quality and intensity of flavour
enviable in the contemporary whisky
category. We create the perfect balance
of sweet, fruity character from the
American oak with the rich, dried fruit
and spicy notes from the European oak to
produce Naked Malts signature flavour.
But what matters most is that you enjoy
it whichever way you like."
Bottled at 40% ABV and priced around £27 Naked Malt
will be replacing Naked Grouse on the
whisky shop shelves going forward but as
I said it is the same whisky, just a new
name and new look, you will find it available from specialist
online whisky retailers such as
Amazon,
The Whisky Exchange and
Master of
Malt
|
