Went for a dinner hosted by my sister's future father-in-law, and the kind gentleman brought along a bottle of Royal Salute's Diamond Tribute. It's a 21 year old blend, the more up-market brand from the conglomerate that also produces Chivas Regal. I'm not one who usually goes for such brands, due to a slightly snobbish belief that such blends are more marketing than substance, so let's see if I'm proven right here.
The Diamond Tribute is 21 years old, but is different from the usual Royal Salute 21. The Diamond Tribute was made to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the brand, which is also the 60th year of Queen Elizabeth's rule. Fairly long reign, eh? Let's see if this whisky is worthy of being raised in a toast to the Queen.
Royal Salute 21 The Diamond Tribute (40% abv)
Nose - Starts out big on vanilla and honey, then develops nice caramelized apple notes, which is richly overlayed with sherry. The sherry is quite rich, really. I think a lot of the whisky that went into this must have been from good, sweet sherry casks. Probably from Speyside. Smells pretty smooth, hardly any alcohol tickle. With time, some suggestions of oak.
Palate - Sweet and smooth. Vanilla and honey again, then quite a lot of fresh apples, with a few cherries thrown in. Again, quite richly sherried. Sweet and spiced. Mm. A little hint of oranges too. Eh...nothing much to add, I'm afraid.
Finish - Not too long. Some spices linger, and a little oak tannin, but not drying. Orange and apple, and no more.
Overall - You can tell that I'm not too impressed. Smooth, easy drinking, sure. Nice packaging and a beautiful bottle, definitely. Keeping in character with the Chivas and Royal Salute line of whiskies, yes. But, I probably won't pay almost $400 (at DFS) for this. Good, easy, tasty, but not much character or complexity, I feel. Or maybe I was already pre-disposed to not like it much, and this entire blog post is just confirmation bias at work.
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