30/03/2021 Grand Royal

Grand Royal Special Reserve (43%, International Beverage Trading Company, LM006/0281N 6027): a souvenir from FN's trip to Myanmar. Nose: as I remembered it, it smells like a cheap blend -- which it is, I guess. Faint wood polish, flat cola, tinned cola, to be precise, as it smells rather strongly of tin. Not-so-well-integrated alcohol, despite the low ABV, maybe toffee, in an industrial way. Imagine being trapped inside the Quality Street plant, and being stuck at the Toffee Penny line, where they fill tiny metallic moulds with hot, liquid toffee (in my imagination, that is how it works!) Antique cutlery, a drop of tincture of iodine (what?), line-drying linen and rusty laundry pins in the sun. Unusual, if not particularly unpleasant. Some kind of grease too (hair? Barbour? Engine?) Mouth: the attack is flat and feels diluted -- which it is. Soon, flat cola and that ever-present tin catch up, before toffee clings to the front of the mouth, just inside the lips. There is a strange mix of cola sweets and coffee grounds too. At a push, one may detect candied orange peel, faded almost beyond recognition, bar the sugary side. Finish: more of the same -- tinned flat cola, toffee, and even the coffee grounds make a comeback. There is nothing vile about this; it is just not very interesting either. Caramelised orange segments, without the appeal of marmalade. I will stand by my earlier judgement that this could be served at any random bar anywhere in the world that only stocks one whisky for the odd lost stranger, or for late-night whisky sodas. 5/10 (Thanks, FN)