Grant's Summer Orange Spirit Drink

Grant's Summer Orange Spirit Drink

Region: N/A

ABV: 35.0%

Price: TBC

Nose

You’ll be surprised to hear we’re initially getting some dried orange peel and a hint of lemon. It’s a dry orange that reminds us of Cointreau. Going back to it and we’re going to have to describe it as a whole citrus menagerie. If you really dig deep you’ll find some almond behind the scenes, along with a backbone of American oak. But honestly we’re finding the citrus is really masking the cask and spirit. Finally, there's some young spirit notes in the background. Pleasant, but one dimensional.

Of course this hasn’t been designed to have an overly complex nose it’s all about producing something accessible and tasty. Which leads us to the important question how does it taste?

Palate

We’re getting a lot more of the vanilla and American oak flavours on the palate. There’s a fair amount of sugar here. It goes down pretty easy due to the lower ABV, although there is a warmth at the end making it clear you’re drinking something with a bit of alcohol. It’s a bit like Cointreau mixed with whisky. There’s a grapefruit-esque bitterness on the finish as well.

For a beginner, it would be a good way to introduce whisky to them, where it focuses on the sweeter, citrus flavours without any overbearing alcohol. We’ve had a lot of friends who have tried whisky and have not been able to pick out certain notes due to them not being able to get past the spirit / ABV / burn. 

Conclusion

As this is not a whisky, we’re not giving it a rating, but it seems accessible and with the warm summer months coming up, it could be a good option for your non whisky drinking friends.

Now Grant’s themselves recommend this is Served with soda or lemonade and some ice. Of course we’re nothing if not thorough here at TwoWhiskyBros and by that we mean we had lemonade handy…

50ml Grant's Summer Orange + 75ml Schweppes Lemonade

On first sip, we’re very impressed. It’s perfect for someone who wants a sweeter, easy going drink. It removes some of the harsh notes that non-whisky drinkers battle with in their mixed drinks. We didn’t have any garnishes on hand, but a bit of orange peel would go nicely. Super accessible and refreshing.

Saying that we’re not the target market for this so we gave this to some friends who are very familiar with mixed drinks / cocktails and both were impressed suggesting this is a competitor to southern comfort and lemonade, and could become a staple like a Jack and coke. While our other friend suggest it doesn’t even need lemonade and it’s tasty as is.

If you’re interested in picking up a bottle this should be available in shops soon.

Sample provided by William Grant & Sons.

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