Review: Crown Royal Noble Collection – Rye Aged 16 Years   92.5/100
a review by Chip Dykstra (Aka Arctic Wolf)
December 13, 2020

Crown Royal Canadian Whisky is currently produced in Gimli, Manitoba, at the Crown Royal Distillery. The distillery and the brand are owned by the spirits conglomerate, Diageo, and I think it is fair to say that Crown Royal is Diageo’s flagship Canadian Whisky brand.

The Crown Royal Noble Collection is a series of whiskies that have been released on an annual basis since 2016. The Collection showcases Crown Royal whiskies with new flavour profiles by blending different components of the various whiskies that go into the Crown Royal blend and/or using different finishing techniques in maturing the company’s flagship whisky.

According to the distillery:

Each release has provided an opportunity to highlight the artistry and skill of the Crown Royal Master Distillers and Blenders, who are dedicated to their craft of creating extraordinary whiskies inspired by the brand’s long and rich history.

The Crown Royal Rye Aged 16 Years is part of the Noble Collection and showcases Crown Royal’s rye whisky. This is a blend of Crown Royal Rye Whiskies all of which have been aged for no less than16 years.

The final spirit is bottled at 45% alcohol by volume.

In the Bottle 5/5

I need to apologize for my shoddy photography which has caused a dark blurry spot on the bottle shot to show on the upper part of the bottle’s label. That’s my bad skill as a photographer not a flaw in the bottle presentation which in my opinion is just about perfect. According to the press release I was given for the whisky:

Crown Royal Noble Collection Rye Aged 16 Years is packaged in a sleek bottle with a crystal-cut style base and a resealable cork top. The canister is a rich, deep purple to match the classic Crown Royal regal purple, and the iconic thick, purple bag with gold accents encases the bottle, making this whisky the perfect gift to commemorate special occasions and holidays.

I couldn’t have said it better myself which is why I used their words instead of mine.

In the Glass 9.5/10

Colour: Rich Copper

Legs: Thicked leglets droop from the crest falling slowly as mid-sized legs

The breezes above my glass of Crown Royal Noble Collection Rye Aged 16 Years has a firm oak and rye aroma with both the spicy accents oak sap and rye grain on full display. I sense impressions of maple topped graham wafers and hints of chocolate riding alongside. Lovely notes of butterscotch and vanilla have merged with almond notes bringing about an impression of marzipan and underneath all of this are impressions of raisins and apricot. I should mention the baking spices which appear alongside the oak. Cinnamon clove, and ginger all seem to be present with hints of herbal menthol and licorice further back. As I allow the glass to breathe the notes seem to merge together forming a wonderful potpourri of olfactory goodness,

In The Mouth 54.5/60

At 45 % alcohol, I was expecting the Crown Royal 16 Year Old Rye to give my tonsils quite a whack as I sipped. However, the whisky is remarkably smooth and although I taste a bevy of oak and rye spice (and baking spices) there is very little if any alcohol burn accompanying the spicy thrust. There is a lovely underlying maple flavour with hints of menthol that serves extremely well as a counter balance to the spice. Hints of milk chocolate and vanilla add to the richness of the whisky and under it all are impressions of canned fruit (apricots marmalade) as well as hints of raisins. A lightly nutty marzipan lies underneath and I am trying to decide whether I even want to add an ice-cube which in the end, I did not.

In The Throat 14/15

The medium bodied whisky has a long finish which is filled with vanilla and milk chocolate. Burly rye grain and oak flavours add a richness to the exit that is truly satisfying.

The Afterburn  9.5/10

The Crown Royal Noble Collection – Rye Aged 16 years is a tremendous whisky. My temptation was to score it even higher, however I settled at an overall score of just over 90 putting it into that range of whiskies which I will be tempted to hoard away from my friends and keep to myself.

You may read some of my other Whisky Reviews (click the link) if you wish to have some comparative reviews.

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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)