Crown Royal Reserve Aged 12 Years
Crown Royal
When it comes to Canadian whisky, there probably isn’t a bottle more recognizable than Diageo-owned Crown Royal. (That’s especially true when considering blended products.) In addition to the line’s iconic entry-level blend, since the early 1990s, Crown Royal Reserve has served as the brand’s slightly elevated offering, with slightly elevated price points. In exchange, consumers got a bottle in a similar felt/velvet bag, along with what the brand marketed as an altogether — though non-age stated — older whisky.
In late 2024, Crown Royal Reserve got a facelift, with new packaging and, finally, an age statement: 12 years, displayed prominently on the font. The latest bottling will be a permanent adjustment to the Reserve offering. And it signals part of a broader trend in North American whisky, with major brands adding new and/or higher age statements to core and value products.
It’s been a busy year for Crown Royal, which is coming off a string of new releases. That includes its first-ever single malt and Crown Royal Blackberry, the latter becoming a near-immediate hit among drinkers of many stripes. Since we don’t know the average age of previous Reserve bottlings through the years, it’s tough to say how much of a step up in age this could be (if much at all).
Adding age statements to longstanding core products is something we’ve seen a number of liquor behemoths do recently. In an increasingly competitive — and some may argue oversaturated — market, big brands with well-aged stocks can seemingly afford to build value products around older whisky blends. It’s a method to help bottles stand out on crowded shelves, an additional (if implied) signal of quality product for less than super-premium dollars.
That includes Kentucky-based (and Suntory-owned) Beam, which put a 7-year signifier back on its core Knob Creek Rye. That typically retails for at or under $40. Beam also recently released a 10 year Knob Creek Rye for about $70.
It also applies to Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, another Diageo-owned brand. To the surprise of many consumers, Bulleit recently re-introduced their 12 year rye whiskey. Though likely only a limited run, those bottles carried an MSRP of around $55, making it one of the most competitively priced, decade-plus American ryes on the market. Today, it’s tough to imagine significantly smaller brands rolling out products near that intersection of age and price.
But let’s get back to the new(ish) Crown Royal Reserve, which I recently had a chance to taste and review.
Approachable, sweet, and fruity to start the nose, this 12 year whisky begins with the aroma of light caramel with hints of blueberry and blackberry jam right behind. That sweetness is clear but not terribly complex here, waffling back and forth between caramel and toasted meringue while some darker components fold in steadily: vanilla extract, almond extract, and black walnut. Over time, I’m (pleasantly) surprised by the amount of oak that develops in the glass.
A first sip brings light-but-identifiable maple syrup. That’s the predominant note for the first couple tastes, before the whisky gradually opens up into freshly baked bread, vanilla glaze, and Hawaiian sweet rolls. A tiny pop of tannic dark raisin comes just before the midpalate, which contributes to an early palate that settles into hot cross buns. Crown Royal Reserve becomes oakier across more sips, sweetness evolving from vanilla glaze to mildly smoky meringue toasted over a wood fire.
Almond extract folds in at the midpalate; combined with the continued vanilla-forward sweetness and some dried spice, it’s a little like a Biscoff cookie with cinnamon.
The midpalate eventually produces more complexity than expected based on the first sip. However, the mouth feel is a fairly clear limiter. Of course, there’s tension between what I would love to taste and the manufacturer’s likely goal. Crown is one of the world’s most famous “smooth” drinkers. While upping the proof of a base expression could impart more lasting flavor, it also risks alienating consumers who simply want a, well, smooth sipper.
The finish is on the shorter side, though with enough oak influence to leave some lingering wood tannins, toasted almond, and cinnamon sugar in the mouth and throat.
At 12 years old, Crown Royal Reserve feels like a noticeable step up from the most entry-level blended Canadian whiskies, walking a line between the (likely) target smoothness and enough flavor to actually leave an impact.
To the brand’s credit, it does offer some higher ABV blends, including the 90 proof Crown Royal Black. As the second rung up Crown’s standard ladder, this new-look, age-stated Reserve provides an elevated experience and, all things considered, does its job quite well.
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Publish date : 2024-12-22 02:47:00
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