Grant's Family Reserve

Tomba, I was disappointed to read your relatively low rating of Grant's Family Reserve!

I have become quite the fan of this budget blend recently and would certainly give it higher than a 74. For me, the nose is really a big reason why I enjoy this bottle. I can sit with a glass and just enjoy the aromas for a good half hour before even taking a sip. I wouldn't disagree with you regarding the finish, but personally when enjoying a budget blend I never really expect a lot when it comes to the finish.

Oh well! I guess that's the great thing about whisky and people's palates... everyone has their own opinion! Great review. Thanks.

For this price it's honestly a terrific supermarket/grocery-store blend! I don't think the rating is that low compared to other bottles, especially single malts. Some people give different marks to their whiskies by classifying them in different categories. I think ralfy.com does that (blend marks and single malt marks). As on connosr we just have a single rating bar I thought the rating should correspond to an overall balance... malts, blends, bourbons, and so on.

But hey! It's just my opinion out of a thousand and I don't take it to seriously with the whisky-tasting. It's fun and it should remain this way! Great hobby and great liquid passion!

I guess that's why I consider your rating quite low, I was assuming that you were scoring this on a 'blend' scale as Ralfy and others tend to do. Having said that may I ask you then, if you are giving this bottle a 'blend' score, what would you rate it?

And yes I would agree, great hobby and great liquid passion!

Maybe an 82? I can't complain for this price and it's totally alright for the money!

There is a lot of marmalade and apricots in there, very sweet, also a sort of strange protein/umami feeling, but taste-wise it still has a strong alcohol note and rather sharp and quickly disappearing aromas. For me the FG gives me a more balanced and an overall smoother sensation of higher quality than Grant's.

Everyone has different tastes and influences. I grew up in an area with a lot of wine and grappa and lots of different clear distillates, so I prefer whiskies with a solid distillation process and standard cask maturation, simple and clear. I personally don't like this strong sherry notes or heavy american oak notes in malts. It's nice for finishing and adding some depth to whiskies, but for me it often outbalances them. It gives them a "liqueur" touch making them to sweet. At a certain age of sherry maturation it isn't a distillate (aqua vitae) anymore for me, but rather a liqueur. But for vin santo, marsala and sherry and so on fans it's obviously heaven! A quality distillate with ex bourbon cask maturation and just a touch of fortified wine is okay for me! I wouldn't be surprised if some blend masters or distillery managers add some chopped wood or liquid sherry to their blends/whiskies to give them more pep! Sacrilegious words!! :)

Got better with time when the bottle was open for 2-3 months or so. The smoky touch became more evident and the young metallic/alcoholic note disappeared a bit. This time better than the Famous Grouse.