Naked Malt | Blended Malt Scotch Whisky | 40% ABV | 70cl | Extra-Matured in First-Fill Oloroso Sherry Casks | Smooth and Fruity

While trying a few lower priced whiskies, this looked to be worth trying a bottle.It is not an expensive whisky and may not have the development of different flavours that helps define more expensive malts. It has interesting flavours in which the sherry influence is clear.It has does not have any of the alcohol harshness that is associated with young whisky nor the yeasty element some can have.It's a very nice, good value whisky without any off-putting elements. Great choice as a gift.EDIT: now on second bottle.

Right from the off I am going to say I like my whiskey. And I am a single malt man so for me blends are at best suspect...at worst abhorrent.To quote Mr Burns " I know what I hate.....and I dont hate this"Its actually really a nice drop. Its a whiskey to bring others into the fold...I can see how they have rebranded to removed the " famous grouse" part...nothing wrong with famous grouse...its just not seen as " high classy drink".The mouth feel is silky but with a wee rough bite ...hard to put a taste sensation into words. And its relatively cheap , for a price to taste ratio? This is a winner.Of course its not the best whiskey in the world. what do you expect at this price? the smoothness of a 21 year old? GTF ya snob!!But for general "house whiskey" or perhaps you like the more budget side of whiskey and looking for a wee treat ...this is your bottle!

Some people are a bit snobby about blended whiskies insisting that only single malts can be good quality. Like most things in life, this is only partly true and if a blend is done well it can be very good indeed. Blended whisky can. of course, be fairly ordinary too and that is the crux of the matter and goes to the heart of the identity issue for blends. The market leaders are the international famous blend that come in red, black and blue varieties that, to be quite honest, I can take or leave, the one that looks like a bell (because it is) that I really don't like and the famous one with a bird on that is a little sweeter than the rest and is actually not too bad.I am not too clear who makes this "Naked Grouse" blends and the label is not very helpful either. A google search reveals that it is owned by Highland Distillers Limited (part of the multinational Edrington Group) which is the same owners as the more famous, Famous Grouse. It is a little disappointing that this it has not been made in a croft by the same family for 400 years, it is, in fact a fairly new brand that has been introduced to appeal to younger people. Unlike traditional whiskies, the bottle is clear and rather than being labelled the branding is embossed onto the glass. This must surely be a more expensive production method but then perception is everything when it comes to branding of spirits. It is a tea coloured liquid and has a spicy aroma. The taste is smooth and it has a distinctive spicy aftertaste too and not as sweet as its famous cousin. Yes, OK it is not as subtle or as delicate as some of the single malts but it several times better than some of the cheaper blends on the market. I don't like the bottle presentation to be honest but it is the taste than matters and, for me, it is 5 stars.

Whisley is an aquired taste; that like cigars at first they are strange and you dont know which to buy. In the end you save wait and buy the best because anything else is a waste of money and your preciouse time. Whiskey is very much personal experiance; some are peaty some are sweet, some are bitter and strong - some they say in some malts you can smell the sea - This scotch is smoother than many single Malts, sherry casks add age and character. There is very much a revival in blended spirt - like Tea can produce great tastes. This may not be the very best but I buy it regular and it's good value and goes well with a Havana !

I am an occasional Whisky drinker, maybe only getting through a bottle or two in twelve months. In a blended whisky, Famous Grouse is always my first choice, but over the last six months or so I’ve been mostly drinking Laphroaig when I’ve had a whisky – as I said, an occasional whisky drinker, and after six months there’s still some Laphroaig remaining.I wanted to get a bottle that was more of an every day or session whisky though, and so probably a “blended”, and I was going to get a “Famous Grouse”, when I saw that the “Naked Grouse” was only £17 for a 70 cl at the time, and I thought that for a few quid more than my usual whisky of blended grain and malts I would try the “Naked” which I understood to be a blend only of malts, and by the same company as “Famous Grouse”.There were some discouraging one and two star reviews and so it was with a bit of trepidation that I sent off for a bottle of “Naked”. Well I am very pleased with the taste of the drink. Not just the taste, as the smell, I found to be good as well. I’m not a connoisseur and can’t give a whole list of flavours that I noticed, but having seen some of the tasting notes given on the Internet I can see where some people are coming from with “notes of sultanas and sticky toffee”. It’s a whisky so it doesn’t taste of sweet puddings but I see what they mean. I tasted it next to my usual “Famous” and the Famous was certainly dryer and sourer (?) but they are not like-for-like so they should be different and they were, and noticeably so.Could I give up “Famous” for “Naked"? – I suppose I could, but in reality would probably just as readily buy both again.I take my whisky with water usually, but I also tried some “Naked” neat, and also found it to be very good without watering it down at all.

Smooth and better than expected.