Naked Malt

This is one of the more surprising purchases I've made. Yesterday I stopped at Total Wine to refill the gin shelf and, while I was there.... So I grabbed this $37 bottle of Naked Malt thinking I was buying Naked Grouse, which I've never had. Got home and decided it would be the evening pour. Great decision! My immediate reaction was that this is Johnnie Walker Green Label in disguise. It's a cheery copper pour with a sweet nose of sherry, malt, apples, and slight pears with a blush of baker's chocolate. Really quite nice and devoid of ethanol and coarse grain whisky notes. On the palate this is all of that and a bowl of orchard fruits with sweet raisins, dark chocolate, sherry notes that brim with fruitcake, some baking spices and a touch of bitter wood. Really impressive presence for a neat pour of a blended scotch whisky. It reminds me a bit of Compass Box Spice Tree, but with the spice toned down and the fruit/sherry amped up a bit. Very tasty. I don't know a thing about this bottle. I haven't read a word and I don't know where its from or how it came to be. But for half the price of the JWG, this is definitely a sleeper and a great find. Really liking this one! This is a well-above average pour that, in my humble opinion, is punching way above its weight class in the value-for-money arena. I think this might be a good candidate for a scotch cocktail but at this very moment this could be my daily sipper. If push came to shove I could live with WT101 bourbon as my sole bourbon. The same goes for WT101 rye. Both are good enough that I wouldn't feel like I was missing anything. This bottle could supplant Johnnie Walker Black as my daily pour for scotch, and I like the JWB quite a bit for what it is. Nake Malt has no peat influence, where the JWB does, but they are fighting for shelf space at the same price point. I honestly think this Naked is the more accomplished of the two. I'll read up on this later. Right now I'm enjoying it and suggest you do so as well. This is solid.

Would you believe me if i tell you that after having tasted 931 whiskies, i realized that i have never had a Naked Grouse from the Famous "Famous Grouse"? Well that is no longer an issue for me since i had it already. And guess what, i liked it a lot. Bottled at 43%abv. On the nose, it is very bourbonish; Banana and fancy, very fancy red fruit syrup. Caramel and floral. Cherry syrup, this is so syrupy. Thick Honey and Apricot peel. Some prunes after a couple of sips. On the palate, Honey, peaches and mild saltiness. Fruit spices if that even exists. Apricot peel. Aftertaste, it had a wonderful stack of hay, best hay/tobacco leaf note ever. Very cowboy. Western. Very interesting aftertaste. Refined hay. Overall, i dont think this one is expensive, nor rare, but man, it was very rewarding. It is the most "bourbonish" scotch ever. I dont usually tend to like this type of drams, but Naked Grouse is so well delivered, that i truly enjoyed it.  My score for it was a solid 86 over 100.

The aroma is sweet and filled with oloroso sherry notes, raisins, red berries, almonds, malt, apple, and chocolate. When tasting, it immediately hits you with red fruit, followed by raisins and sherry. There’s nutty and fried red fruit hints as well. As it develops further, it hits you with malt and dried fruit forward sherry with some oaky undertones. It’s like a trail mix with dried grapes and cranberries, almonds, and cereal. As it finishes off, it leaves raisin, prune, sherry, peppercorn, cinnamon, and clove with a hint of chocolate and caramel. The mothfeel of the whisky is light, but with the lightest hint of oiliness. Overall, I beleive that this is superior to Monkey Shoulder, being much less musty while having most of the same positive flavors. It’s nowhere near Aberlour 12, but is the closest you can get while spending close to half as much.

Rebranded Naked Grouse is what we have here. Poured neat, nose is malt, canned peaches, prune, buttery apple turnover with some barrel. Good mouthfeel brings on palate of malty sherried fruits, a pinch of ginger and charred wood. Its blended together well and provides a simple tasty blast. Finishes with fading dried red fruits, barrel woods, char and malty sugars. This is a wonderful inexpensive sherry finished vatted malt. Not super complex or deep but supremely enjoyable.....85/100........The value here is great and this is one of the top dog budget scotches. Better than Monkey Shoulder for sherryheads and a no brainer repurchase.....The Mac is strong with this one

Nose: I felt an unusual sourness in the smell, which at first seemed unpleasant since you don’t expect to smell it in whiskey, but then I began to like it. Taste: good full-bodied, soft, buttery and again with an acidity that is reminiscent of pickled apples or greenish plums. At first it was unusual, but then I really liked it. Aftertaste: medium-long, sweetish spicy with oak notes, everything as it should be for a good scotch. Bottom line: this whiskey will definitely be memorable and it is excellent for its price. The direct competitor that I drank is Monkey Shoulder and it is clearly forgotten much faster, although it is good in its own way. 4.5/5

An intense, Blended Scotch Whisky by The Famous Grouse Distillery in Scotland. It is 1st matured in American & European oak casks then finished for an extra 6 months in “naked” Oloroso Sherry casks that haven’t held Whisky before. It has an aromatic birth with notes of grain, wood, fruit, herbs & spices; while a complex & oily life add notes of cherry compote, buttered granary toast, malt, peach, sultanas, sticky toffee pudding, raspberry jam, Victoria sponge, custard, crème caramel & sherry; that led to a rich & spicy death of medium length with notes of pepper, oak, cocoa, smoke. January 2024