Notes: A new expression of the venerable Canadian Crown Royal line, this is a maple flavored whisky which uses concentrated maple sap ( not as concentrated as maple syrup ),maple toasted oak chips, and maple staved barrels to achieve their maple flavoring of this blended whisky.Crown Royal is a blended Canadian Whisky line with many other ( and more standard, non flavored varieties of  Canadian Whisky) line extensions such as Crown Royal Deluxe, Crown Royal Black ,Crown Royal Reserve, Crown Royal XO, Crown Royal Extra Rare, and the latest, Crown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary Blend

Appearance: Medium  amber gold would be the classification if this was maple syrup, A nice warm gold.On swirling it coats the glass and eventually after a longish period of time ( compared to many other spirits)  it starts to form some legs and tears

First Impression: Heavy maple scents tinged with spirits and whiskey notes trying to sneak in past the maple

Taste: Thick, almost saplike mouthfeel on entry, quite sweet maple taste, with a dose of cinnamon followed by fairly heavy oak char,vanilla, and more whisky like notes coming through on the finish. Also the maple tends to cling and leave a slightly sticky taste after the char  and other whisky notes fade to memory. Overall a very candylike almost liqueur like whisky.

Drinks: We were part of a competitive cocktail judging which featured 18 very creative and disparate approaches to the Maple Whisky which almost all worked out well.

Bottle: Standard Crown Royal flask/horseshoe shaped bottle with their pressed glass design with a dark red label with the word “Maple” printed in gold

Other: Great on French Toast if you are still feeling social towards that regrettable hook up from last night that happened after the first half of the bottle ( Just kidding). It actually is somewhat useful for cooking when needing a maple flavored product.

Final Thoughts: I’m sorry but the concept of a flavored whiskey is just beyond me I guess…If I want to flavor a particular spirit I make a cocktail, yes, I may infuse or macerate something into a spirit to make a flavoring, or buy a liqueur but flavoring a whisky (in my mind) rather limits what you can do with it. Yes, it is not as sickly sweet as a liqueur can be, and I’m sure this will be a hit for the younger crowd transitioning from candy flavored vodkas, but for a real whisky drinker ?, No. Not what I would call a serious whisky. That being said a lot of people like it because it is sweet. Just not me.

Website: http://www.crownroyal.com

Interesting and well laid out website if a little short on details at times. Comparisons of the different whiskies, some recipes, ad a whole lot on bags, but not much on the distilleries or stills.