Famous Grouse Married Strength

This Famous Grouse was married – hence the name – in so-called marrying tuns. It contains 70% grain whisky, from four grain distilleries, upholstered with Macallan, Highland Mark, Glenrothes, Tamdhu, Glenturret, Glengoyne, Bunnahabhain and a few others. Nothing is known about the age of the whisky, but I presume most will be between 6 and 8 years.

The nose is very mild on sweet malt and marzipan. The fruit is limited to sultanas, apricots and a hint of peach. Not much else. A hint of smoke, but not very outspoken. I had expected more of this.

It is equally mild on the palate, but a whole lot sweeter. Loads of caramel, apricots again, a hint of pineapple and toffee. You can taste the malt. Mildly spicy, but again rather unimpressive. Clearly some sherry casks were used, but it is far from a top dram.

The finish is the best part of this blend, with sweet fruit and a nice smoky backbone.

Well, this is very much a middle-of-the-road blend, to be honest. My expectations clearly were way to high.

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