Near where I live there is Chivas vehicles everywhere. Each morning I see tankers moving liquid around the country and company cars displaying the Chivas brand making their way to work. On my way to the gym I pass what is, at least for now, a Chivas office as well.

I have tried a number of different Chivas owned single malts (Tormore, Strathisla, Ballentines. Glenlivet, Miltonduff and Aberlour) but never the blended branded which has their name on it. The Chivas Regal.

The Chivas Regal line has been heavily invested in since Chivas Brother’s was bought by the French company Pernod Ricard from Allied. There is now a complete line up of age stated releases and a palette of special releases to choose from. For my first investigation though I have the 12 year old entry level version which is also the most widely available option.

The Dram

Widely available for under £30 in the UK this is a blended Scotch whisky including grain and malted barley. All the whisky is at least 12 years old and bottled at 40% ABV with colouring for consistency. All this of course is already known by regular readers to this blog. Other than that there is no interesting information about the whisky itself.

Tasting Notes

Colour – Whisky colour

Nose – very perfumed and floral like of wild flowers. Honey and vanilla are in here as the standard whisky notes you would expect. There is a general underlying note of dough and fresh baking with nutmeg and cardamom for interest as well.

Palate – the texture isn’t too bad but the overall impression is of a watered down delicate and flavourless whisky. The nose was full of promise really vibrant and effervescent but it was all promise and no action. There is some chilli spice though.

Finish – The finish is incredibly short and abrupt with more chilli’s and bitter lemon rinds to boot.

Final Thoughts

The nose on this is great and actually reminded me a lot of Glenturret for some reason. I was instantly transported back to the tour I did in January this year. Not really sure why but senses and memories can be funny sometimes.

I understand why people like this whisky and I appreciate the expert engineering to get a whisky which is well boutique’d (is that a word) but also inoffensive to drink. Not really meant for drinking on its own but to add layers to a long drink this is a good product for that purpose. In terms of blends I do rate for drinking see the Ballantine’s from the same company.