Grants whisky… much beloved of corner shops all over our fine island(s). At 130 years old, and with 6 generations of heritage, there’s more to what they offer than you might think. We get our hands on the ‘signature’ blend and see what this 130 year old distillery thinks its signature should look like.
Verdict: well, it’s not much on character, but easy drinking and rather economically priced. If there’s any such thing as a blended ‘table whisky’, this could be it…
Rating
Price
£18,50 (ish)
In a Nutshell
Light, sweet, and the slightly understated. You probably won’t taste anything new here but you will probably get a great deal…
The whisky wants to know how far you’ve really got
Grant’s site proclaims “If you’ve got this far in life without owing anybody anything, how far have you really got?” A good question, and I suppose one in reference to the fact that the 130 year young whisky brand is still family owned and run.
Onto their 6th generation and with a credible claim to being ‘SCOTLAND’S OLDEST CONTINUOUSLY FAMILY-RUN, BLENDED WHISKY MAKERS’ (they sure love using capitals on their website…), Grants is actually one of the younger of the distilleries. Though, as the world’s third largest scotch whisky brand, that hasn’t stopped them.
If you ever been to an off-license in the UK you’ll have noticed Grant’s distinctive triangular bottle (which does not apply for some of their rarer and lesser known expressions). What you probably saw was the Grant’s Family Reserve – with its red label and accessible price tag, much beloved of people drinking purely for the sake of it, but a pretty enjoyable dram all the same.
However, the Family Reserve is but the gateway to what is an varied and vibrant portfolio of firewater. Grants have some lesser known and more premium offerings such as the ‘elementary’ (coming in such chemistry oriented offerings as oxygen, carbon and copper – each representing the process used in production, I think. And yes, they have a 25 year.
The one you’re looking at now is the Grants Signature, another entry level whisky (priced slightly higher than the Family reserve). Initially available only in Tesco, and presumably priced to compete with the likes of Johnny Walker Red, Grant’s has never positioned itself as an ‘elitist’ whisky brand and this might be an interesting step up from people who have enjoyed the Family Reserve and want to try something else without pissing off their bank account…
We Drink It, Stuff Happens
First Impressions
The colour is light gold, I think it is erring on the younger side? The legs, not so viscous. The nose has much less heat than I expected (dare I say…seductive?) There’s dried dark fruit, and some woody smoky notes. Nothing too unusual here. Sweet and not all that spiritous. It hints at being ‘easygoing’
Nose
Has a rubbery, young note. Honey and cardamom, nothing unusual here really. Eventually there’s baked brown sugar or some kind of toned down alcoholic vanilla spongecake (which you might or might not discover after some time, some acclimatisation and some dilution from water).
Palate
‘Light and quite sweet’ is an impression that hits your tongue quite suddenly. Cardamom, honey, Woodsmoke and a little TCP. You’ll probably get the aforementioned caramel notes (but none of those advertised ‘biscuit notes’). It feels ‘easy-going’ but not like it’s saying too much. Some say it’s crisp, I’d disagree – though I would say ‘tangy’ (a word I will abuse in this writeup).
The raisins and sultanas and dried fruit come out a little after you swallow and it sits a little.
Might just be me (and it usually is) but those woody notes turn to just a little smoky bacon after acclimatising. People will probably describe it as ‘smooth’, which i suppose is true. You can see what they’re doing here – and it works!
Finish
Is short to medium in length – more towards medium. There’s a little tartness to go with that sweetness, awwwwww yiss – it’s all about the dried fruit and sweet spice. It soon tails off to grapes (MORE TANGY) and raisins… becoming to semi immortal red fruit, fresh peaches and grapes… plus the barest hint of that pseudo-spongecake. You tell yourself… ‘hmm, that was mild and I don’t think I got all of it’ and so you take another dram…
Jack starts adding water to it
Take one: 7 drops to a dram makes it a little thin and sweet, though it doesn’t diminish the sweetness of woodsmoke. Too much water.
Take two: I try again with a few drops less and it works better. At this point it is sweet and mild with not too much complexity..and very easy to drink. This feels, basically, like amplifying the premise of this rather moreish dram
Note: Adding water almost annihilates the finish. You get just a little of that grape(?) feel lingering now.
Verdict
As an inoffensive, ‘simple but good’ flavour profile, this is, to me, what the Family Reserve should have been. Want a good cheap whisky? Spend a few extra quid (which is almost inconsequential in whisky terms) and get this over the Family Reserve. A great ‘table whisky’.
In terms of the overall experience, it does feel a little one dimensional and focused on easy drinkability over complexity or novelty – but I think that’s what they were going for. I like it and could drink it all day :3