🥃 Whisky Auctioneer

The nose is well done, but it sorely lacks fullness. Grainy cereals, hot wood, melting caramel. Some forest berries, bark, spices, licorice, lemon zest, a drizzle of vanilla. Dried fruits, figs, dates, apricots. The palate is a bit unremarkable, but not bad, pepper and alcohol. A touch of molasses. The spices rise. Green apple. The finish is short, but quite pleasant, cola, licorice and amadou, Armenian paper. Peanuts. It's pastry in retro-olfaction, almost creamy. For a Blend, it's not bad, it's even almost drinkable. What bothers me is that the nose is really very light. https://ilikesky2020.blogspot.com/2024/06/grants-family-reserve.html

Once tasted and you can hardly call this whiskey. This must be made to mix in coctails, as whiskey this really does not mean anything.

Very accessible whiskey, low level. Small price, also small range of flavors.

It’s quite drinkable, a floral muffin flavor with caramel, but still a bit harsh.

For the price a good everyday whisky. On the Grant's website they say to do 50 % water and 50 % water ... i did 30 water and 70 whisky and it was quite enjoyable...

Not bad, but not great, either. Grant’s Family Reserve is simply a solid, traditional, blend that delivers on one’s expectations for a whisky in this price range.  Definitely worth the price.

This is a decent and appealing blended Scotch that offers a bit more than its competitors in the low-price range. The nose is soft and light, featuring toffee, citrus notes and hints of cinnamon. It's very much a Speyside style of a blend. Grant's Family Reserve tastes strong, sweet and spicy, and there is an apple note coming through. However, it's very young whisky, and the occasional metallic note can't be hidden. As a mixer, Grant's goes well into Coca Cola. Yet, this whisky can certainly be drunk neat, if your expectations are in accordance with its price. RATING: 2.5/5.0 stars ≙ 72 pts → SUBPAR

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sweet and slightly floral nose, rough glenfiddich on the palate, rough and bitter alcohol finish. think of it as a bad version of glenfiddich 12 concocted by someone who had one dram too many, drinkable but will not be missed *+20% water really makes this shine... +3 points overall

Terrific price - quality. Ofcourse this is meant to be a mixer, but drinking it neat is no punishment.

Quintessential cheap blend!. Some good flavours of sweet red apples, some vanilla and a touch of sherry. The let down arrives in the form of an alcoholic nip that gives away it's youth.

Grants 2021 Family Reserve v 1970 Grant’s Standfast 70 proof white label. Family reserve 2021 WB ID 146441 Standfast late 60`s early 70's bottle with Glenfiddich Crest on the neck label, only older bottles had this WB ID 180207 Nose 2021 Marmalade, brown toast, peanuts? But more fruit this time round, kiwi,mango and peach syrup, olive oil, faint yeast, but different to last time i can smell the grain that is mixed in with some vanilla 1970 This is really good as I am getting the same DNA as the Family Reserve just more of everything. There is something mineral about this one, it almost has an industrial, dirty gritty quality with all the smells of an engineering workshop (I used to work in them) There is the old musty chemical smell that is the hallmark of long OBE and it adds to the complexity. There is some mandarine , yellow plum, a big cereal note from the grain, industrial cleaning products, that sort of thing. Taste 2021 Really creamy with a lovely fruit edge, on sweet green apple, plum with hints of mango, what I like about this is the balance of the grain that adds some toffee sweetness, there is a hint of ginger and other spices with a dash of sweet peat and the sherry content is also well defined. 1970 This has a minerality of a level that is very rare in any whisky, it has a dirty side, like the nose suggested , it is oily, mouth coating but not too heavy. There is an excellent sweet icing note like on the tiny round biscuits sold in a bag with a blob of icing on the top that kids used to get. There is some peat that mixes beautifully with the sherry, a little spice note, sweet caramel, faintest hint of chocolate lime sweets, There are hints of ginger pudding and then the grain bites your tongue and adds a little oomph if you will. Excellent, i am blown away by this to be honest Finish 2021 Candy sweetness mixed with Highland Toffee, remaining sweet, very nice This is so inofensive, anyone could drink this, I like it 1970 Not a long finish, remaining sweet, spicy and then right at the end a hint of chemical which knocks it down a few points possibly even slightly soapy? Not sure what it is to be honest, possibly burnt rubber so hard to decipher Not a spoiling taste but an unusual one more than anything , could be the OBE. RESULT 2021 82/85/84 1970 86/88/85 The latest Grant's is an easy sipper, not complicated , on the sweet side and in my view worth the purchase. The 1970 has a much greater depth of profile, being quite mineral and earthy, almost dirty which is something I like in a whisky.

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for € 10 solid, there are whiskeys for 2-3 times, which are not much better, in any case, not only to endure with coke or even for the spout, you can put a clear conscience at a party or to barbecue

Taste in the big blind tasting test that Nethar prepared for me. I received a total of 19 samples of 30ml, numbered only. In the first place, I only knew that it was mostly about BenRiach, but that there were some of the other outlets among the samples. Nethar also suggested that some samples could be repeated. I accepted the offered challenge and placed my head on an imaginary block. How else should you defend your scoring and your approach to the assessment than such a practical test. Even though I know it's almost impossible to hit everything, because on the one hand, the tastes and preferences can change slightly over the years, it's often up to you what you had to eat before the test and probably the mood and other factors. Some of the bottles in the test were for me the first time, most of them only as samples a few years ago, but it would be more interesting. I used the tips, apart from my experience and memory, to compare with old reviews and degustation notes, but only after writing my impressions. After sending the results of my tasting, Nethar declassified the identity of the individual bottles. It turned out that BenRiach was only nineteen (53%) of nineteen samples, nine (47%). The fact that it will be "mostly BenRiach" was strictly observed. The ratio of other whiskeys in the test was much higher than I personally expected, and I was ready for different lotteries. However, we know each other. Nethar's great thanks for all the samples and the chance to go through this test and see for yourself how much I can or can not rely on my olfactory and flavor cells and then you on my reviews.

I do not like it.

I called this H2H `The Dirty Dozen`, not in a derogatory way but because all 12 of these blends (latest versions) are all under £20 the actual price points here are £13-£20 UK sterling All these bottles are available either in supermarkets or on line and all, apart from the Highland Black have no age statement. I wanted the 11 NAS bottles to be tested against the Aldi whiskey, as I have heard decent comments about the Aldi whiskey and at £12.99 it was the cheapest here, the most expensive was the Bushmills Original. I was only originally going to do Scotch blends but thought in the interests of fair play to have a couple of Irish in the mix. RESULT , all bottles are 2021 releases 1st - Highland Black Distiller’s Reserve 8 year 40% Aldi 2nd - Grant’s Family Reserve 40% 3rd-The Famous Grouse 40% (mini) 4th- High Commissioner 40% 5th-Bell’s Original 40% 6th- Scottish Leader 40% 7th - JW Red Label 40% 8th- Teacher’s Highland Cream 40% 9th -Jameson triple distilled 40% 10th- Black Bottle 40% (mini) 11th- Bushmills Original White label 40% OB 12th- Dewar’s White Label 40% There were common threads through most of these whiskies, they were quite light, many had green apple notes, some had vanilla and many of them were much sweeter than a single malt which was to be expected. My palate is suited to blends, probably because they are generally sweeter but also because I am very sensitive to woody bitterness and sulphur, which you do not get with young blends. My scoring may surprise some but, on this site many punters seem to like to knock blends and give them low scores for the sake of it. In my view this is because it is seen as the right thing to do to show you are a single malt person, to show you are a knowledgeable drinker, which is bollocks of course. I see comments like bland, no taste, no finish and score likes 28, 32, 40 etc, which in my view are unfair and show that people are just following the well-trodden curve to bash cheap blends. I see many times in supermarkets, men of a certain age just walk up to the whiskey Isle and just go straight to the Bell’s, Teacher’s or Whyte Mackay, they know what they like and stick to it., they cannot all be wrong, they are looking for value in their budget, they have been drinking for many years, and know a good buy when they see it. In this tasting there was only one complete duffer with and that was the Dewar’s White Label, and the Bushmills original was better but I would not purchase either of these again. Sure none of them were big on depth of profile or multi layered, that is the whole point of a blend, an easy sipper. For what it is worth I would be happy to buy the top 9 bottles in this tasting again as a repeat purchase. This was a fun tasting, before I started I was expecting the Famous Grouse, Teacher’s and Bell’s to do ok and was also expecting the Aldi Highland Black to score high because it is meant to be good at its price point. I have been honest in my assessment, The Highland Black as £13 is great value, tastes nice and is a good daily sipper and deserved to be on top. The Famous Grouse and Grants were all good and substantiated why they are so well regarded. The High Commissioner pleasantly surprised me and is worth an honourable mention. If you do not like really sweet whiskey blends like this will not be for you especially the JW Red Label, which is syrupy sweet, similarly if you like your tongue ripped out by massive peat or swamped by old woody sherry, this sort of whiskey will not interest you. Finally, there is definitely a place for Scotch whiskey blends or Irish Whiskey and as prices for daily drinkers increase, whiskey like this may come into focus with some people more and more

Basic whiskey for drinks. Taste of cereals, vanilla and toffee.

The nose on this is quite different to the 7 blends that preceded this one. There is quite a lot going on, breakfast marmalade, toasted brown bread, a slight nutty aroma, a little olive oil, very faint fresh pineapple and rice pudding, now that is something different. The flavours on the nose come through on the palate but there is more fruit on show and then a little cream, ginger cake, spice and a little sticky toffee note. There are no real issues with this one, nothing wrong with it for the price. This was the 8th of 12 in a H2H for blends under £20

There are certainly worse blends in this price range. It has a pleasant smell and is very easy to drink due to its softness. But don't expect too much.

Nothing interesting

Sprittig with miss notes. For cocktails and coke, there are cheaper whiskeys.

does what you would expect of a whisky is this range.

Tasted on March 27th, 2021 during a blind tasting with the friendly Mr. Z. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Ru6Rd7Sng&ab_channel=FriendlyMr.Z)

Not good

For mixes only

All-Day Blend. Cheap and good for all purposes, including cooking

Good price-quality ratio. A mixture without complication.

Good value for money.

Good for parties, when your only goal is to get drunk. Good for mixing with coke.

Yeah, pretty good whiskey, unpretentious, it's a decent drink for these money ...

Memories of Harry

I am still working my way through this 1ltr bottle. It is good, but I can not say it is one of my "go to" scotches. I am someone who likes a little more of that peat / smoke taste. Nose - This is a "sweet" scotch and sweet on the nose as well. Sherry, port and a grain / sweet cereal smell is what I got the first time. In fact a lot of that cereal smell. I personally like this, oh and some apple. It also had some dried fruit to it as well. Taste - sweet..right off. More fruit, vanilla, and sherry tastes. It does have some smoothness to it.  Add a bit of water to it and it really smooths it out. But be careful not to add to much otherwise you will drown out the flavors. Finish - kind of ended quickly with some spice / vanilla lingering. This is a good scotch, don't get me wrong, but it I really like the sherry cask #2 t blend that Grant's has put out. That is really good. This is a good scotch to share with friends with a lot of good flavors and aromas. Presenation - your typical triangle Grants' /Glenfiddich bottle. Would I buy this again? No not for personal consumption, but I would buy it as a gift because it is a nice scotch, just not my personal taste. I spent 15,000 colones here in Costa Rica for a 1 liter bottle.

Small price, according to the whiskey. I am very satisfied with that. Always a bottle open.

A simple, uncomplicated blend!

Grant's is one of the best selling Scotch blended whiskeys in the world. The company behind this handsome blend is William Grant & Sons, who have more than a century of experience in making blended whisky. Grant's has matured in three different casks: new oak, American oak and refill American oak. In my eyes it is a mix whiskey. I therefore gave it away after tasting 1 glass to my brother-in-law who likes to drink whiskey in the cola.

Not good

Nope

My notes from 19-11-2013