Crown Royal -- XR -- worth $169/bottle?
 

Title says it all...is it really that good? I have like CR for its sweet taste but was never a fan for drinking it straight up.

What do you all think?

Hvae never had the XR, but if you're going to mix it into something, then the answer is almost certainly no.

XR is expensive due to rarity rather than quality. Most tastings rate the CR Special Reserve as better than the XR (at 1/3 of the XR price); however XR is much rarer as it is the last batch of whisky from the Waterloo distillery (which burned down in 1993 -- so there will never be any more made). Whether there is a difference between Gimli and Waterloo is a different question. I am quite happy to pay through the nose for special cognacs such as Paradis, but XR seems to be a waste of money. The SR is just as good if not better.

so should one buy the bottle as a collectors edition and just never touch it??

Hmmmm......

Crown Royal, at any level, falls into the same category as a popular description of some hereabouts, "All hat and no cattle".

Copying the methodolgy with which Doyle Dane Bernbach long ago brought Chivas Regal to substantial popularity and increased sales, it's simply a whisk(e) carefully blended (and liberally colored and sweetened) to appeal to a particular flavor profile, realtively bland and with little "edge". I'm sure that the up-market "reserve" versions are even more carefully prepared from selected and aged distillates, but watching most of those who drink it choosing Coke, 7UP and similar mixers, I tend the think that DDB was right, the same people who want to mix name brand cognac with Coca Cola are suckers for a fancy labels, "exclusive" advertising and market position and a high price, whether for blended Scotch or an innocuous blend of spirits - mostly Canadian type - so mildly flavored and 'smooth'.

Just as there are 100s of single malts from Scotland, many of unique appeal, there are no end of straight Bourbons, limited in production and all sorts of prices, aged and selected for the palates of those who seriously appreciate well flavored whisk(e)y.

You may like the flavor of Crown (and like even better the fancy grades of the product), but even sipped straight and at room temperature to me it's almost characterless (and that may be a big part of its success).

For a hat-less and cattle-less occasional whiskey sipper (up, or sometimes on the rocks) could you recommend a few of your favorites?
Since I don't drink it often, and am not close to someone who does, I am otherwise at the mercy of the marketing machine ;)

Honestly, I could not care about the Crown -- I just saw the bottle at the liqour store and got curious -- that is all.

My wife loves the regular stuff over coke and a twist of lime !!

Up on the top shelf of the Bourbon section of your friendly booze-mart should be a selection of "premium" whiskey, several from the Beam distillery, one from Jack Daniels and some others, mostly slightly smoother and more flavorful selections from records of tastings of various casks on the aging racks. Knob Creek comes to mind. There are two general categories, those labelled "Sour Mash", most with a sweet yeasty back note, and the ones that ain't.

A good place to start....(Below the premium shelf). Dickel makes two mass- but not very mass - market products. The older and better comes with an ivory parchment label, and is a whisky of some character, not near so sweet as Jack Daniels Black, once a premium, now more "up-market redneck", or Maker's Mark - a lot of hat and a few cattle in my eyes, an extra $2 for the red wax.

Bourbons(and Tennessee whiskeys) lend themselves to side by side comparison, with a modestly priced label as a "benchmark" for comparison.

The traditional "baseline" for comparing Bourbons used to be "Old Crow", a harsh, edgy inexpensive bottle, but today's drinkers look for smoother results, and Jim Beam is likely a better place to work up from. There are literally dozens of Bourbons, from cheap to heftily overpriced "single barrel" bottlings. "Wild Turkey" has always seemed to me to be an "over-promoted" whiskey, quality ranking well below price.

I like Woodford Reserve myself.

Fwiw, many airlines have selected Woodford Reserve as their premium bourbon (and use Maker's Mark as the non-premium). Maybe selected based on quality but more likely on brand recognition, still it is an endorsement of sorts from independent tasters.

Best hands down bourbon value is Evan Williams ($15+ for 750mL).

The only $150+/bottle worth its lick IMO is Macallan 18y. For everyday drinking, Lagavulin 16y.

evan williams is a kick in the balls.:td:

just that awful

its just a ripoff of jack to me

crown is my choice...

Esquire magazine rated Evan Williams pretty good. It's actually not bad at all.

See http://www.esquire.com/features/drin...ap-liquor-0209

The real "resemblance" between Evan Williams and Jack Daniels is that both are "Sour Mash" products with the sweetish, "yeasty" flavor of that fermentation method. I actually prefer Evan Williams, less sweet while still 'yeasty", to the almost cloying sweetness of Jack Daniels. Try Dickel #12, another Tennessee Sour Mash like JD, far less sweet but with a heavy aromatic body and "nose".

"Crown" is not Bourbon (or Tennessee Whisky) at all, nothing more than a heavily flavored and colored blend of principally "Canadian" style whiskeys.

It's only noticeable virtue is that it's "smooth", not much a of virtue in the eyes of folks who enjoy the spectrum of aromas, flavors and "edges" in real whisk(e)ys not so carefully formulated and marketed to appeal to folks whose pocketbooks are thicker than their palates are sophisticated.

Want to duplicate "Crown" at home? Prepare in an iron skillet a little homemade caramel, and mix a teaspoon of it into about 6 ounces of much cheaper "Seagram's 7 Crown " . Shazaam, cheap "Crown Royal"!

I think Crown has a great taste, I also like many other whiskies and will try any offered to me, but Crown, and I've had all the current versions of it, is my favorite. XR is very good and to answer the question that started this yes, buy even if only as an investment, because an unopened bottle of XR is gonna keep shootin up in value. See how I did that? I answered the question of the original post and also gave my opinion without sounding like a snoody prick who thinks they have remarkable taste, and you dont... some people