Crown Royal Regal Apple Flavored Whisky

Review: Crown Royal Regal Apple Flavored Whisky   (78/100)
Review by Chip Dykstra (AKA the Rum Howler)
Posted March 27, 2015

Crown Royal’s new Regal Apple Flavored Whisky beverage is (according to their website) a blend of hand-selected smooth Crown Royal whiskies infused with natural apple flavors. The apples flavour apparently is derived from natural Regal Gala apples which are a red and green varietal with a mildly sweet flavour profile. According to Wikipedia (which is usually more accurate than it is given credit for) the Gala apple was ranked as the number 2 most favoured variety on the US Apple Association’s list of most popular apples in 2006.

To capture the essence of the Regal Gala apple, the apples are set in a mixture of water and alcohol. The mixture is then distilled and specific selections from the distillation are collected based on aroma. The aromatic fractions are blended to achieve the resulting apple flavor characteristics of the Regal Gala apple.

The new apple flavoured spirit from Crown Royal is bottled at 35 % alcohol by volume. The Crown Royal Regal Apple was launched on November 6, 2014, and will slowly be making its way across Canada and of course throughout the USA during 2015.

In the Bottle 5/5

Crown Royal Whiskies have a rather unique presentation. They use a nifty/elegant crown shaped bottle with each brand having its own distinctive shape. For my bottle of the Crown Royal Regal Apple, the whisky was also housed in a nifty apple green coloured cardboard box (shown above).

As well, each variety of Crown Royal utilizes a ‘crown’ shaped gold coloured screw cap to close the bottle. I like the presentation very much, and in the flavoured whisky category, this is the best bottle presentation I have seen to date.

(BTW: Crown Royal Regal Apple is produced at 35 % alcohol by volume.)

In the Glass 7.5/10

When I poured the Crown Royal Regal Apple into my glencairn, I noted the whisky has a golden amber colour which is inviting and attractive. When I tilted my glass and gave it a slow twirl, I saw a light sheen of thickened whisky left on the inside of the glass, the crest of which released medium-size droopy leglets which moved slowly down the inside of the glass.

I was disappointed at this point, as the spirit seemed oddly out of sync with the breezes showing more astringency than I would have predicted based upon the lower alcohol content. The air above the glass as I expected carried a distinctive tart green apple scent but this was tainted with menthol and sugar which to me gave the initial aroma a striking resemblance to candied apple cough drops.

As I let the glass sit, I noticed some of the whisky scents breaking through the tart apple and sweet menthol. I could detect some fine wood spices and a bit of the punky fruitiness of a typical Crown Royal whisky. I also recognized some red licorice and mango fruit in the air as well, although I suspect these impressions are more a result of the apple and fruity Crown Royal whisky scents melding together creating new impressions and not the addition of other fruit flavours within the whisky.

Time in the glass gave the flavoured whisky some redemption, but not enough to make me completely happy.

In the Mouth 46.5/60

The impressions I had on the nose were similar to my assessment upon the palate. I taste a dominant flavour of tart green apple underlain by a less dominant menthol-like sweetness. Other fruit flavours such as peach and mango are hinted at in the flavour profile as is some sweet cherry licorice. Again, I do not believe these are real additions to the whisky, merely interactions between the underlying Crown Royal Whisky and the tart apple flavour.

My score is kept down in this section as the spirit has a medicinal quality about it which marred the apple and whisky combination. I cannot help but to think of cough drops again.

In the Throat 11.5/15

The sour tartness of the apple flavour puckers the palate during the exit. However, the finish is surprisingly short as far as apple and whisky flavour is concerned, although impressions of sweetness and menthol do linger upon the palate.

The Afterburn  7.5/10

I really think this apple flavoured whisky is going to be a hit or miss prospect for most consumers. Some consumers are going to really like the mixture of Crown Royal Whisky and the tart green apple flavour, while others will be like I am, quite mystified as to the appeal. On the positive side, I did notice some nice whisky flavours of wood spice and butterscotch pushing through the apple flavour. On the negative side, I found that these whisky flavours which pushed through seemed to interact with the apple flavour and the overall sweetness of the spirit in a manner which I found unappealing.

I suspect the nifty Crown Royal decanter (which is really nice) will sell quite a few bottles of spirit to curious consumers, it remains to be seen whether these consumers will return for seconds. You may read some of my other Liqueur and Favoured Spirit Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.

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Suggested Recipe

Regal Apple Tonic

2 oz Crown Royal Regal Apple
4 oz Tonic Water
splash Orange Curacao
Ice Cubes

Add ice to a tumbler or rocks glass
Pour Crown Royal Regal Apple over the ice
add a splash of Orange Curacao
Complete with Tonic Water
Stir and Enjoy

Note: If  you are interested in more of my original cocktail recipes, please click this link (Cocktails and Recipes) for more of my mixed drink recipes!

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As always you may interpret the scores I provide as follows.

0-25 A spirit with a rating this low would actually kill you.
26-49 Depending upon your fortitude you might actually survive this.
50 -59 You are safe to drink this…but you shouldn’t.
60-69 Substandard swill which you may offer to people you do not want to see again.
70-74 Now we have a fair mixing rum or whisky.  Accept this but make sure it is mixed into a cocktail.
75-79 You may begin to serve this to friends, again probably still cocktail territory.
80-84 We begin to enjoy this spirit neat or on the rocks. (I will still primarily mix cocktails)
85-89 Excellent for sipping or for mixing!
90-94 Definitely a primary sipping spirit, in fact you may want to hoard this for yourself.
95-97.5 The Cream of the Crop
98+ I haven’t met this bottle yet…but I want to.

Very loosely we may put my scores into terms that you may be more familiar with on a Gold, Silver, and  Bronze medal  scale as follows:

70 – 79.5    Bronze Medal (Recommended only as a mixer)
80 – 89.5     Silver Medal (Recommended for sipping and or a high quality mixer)
90 – 95         Gold Medal (Highly recommended for sipping and for sublime cocktails.)
95.5+            Platinum Award (Highest Recommendation)