Chivas Regal Extra Review


“A Blend With a Mission”

Whisky Review # 678

Country: Scotland
Brand: Chivas Regal Extra
Type: Blended Whisky
Age: NAS
Alcohol By Volume (ABV): 40%
Maturation: A mix of Refill Bourbon- and Oloroso casks.
Chill Filtration: Yes  
Price Range: On average US$ 40 (January 2018)
Buying Advice:😀 Good Price/Quality Ratio. Very mainstream though!

Colour: Light Amber (Artificially Coloured)

Nose: My first impressions are Fresh Wood, Grain Alcohol and Vanilla. The Extra is a blend of Grain Whiskies (Around 70%) and Single Malts (Around 30%). A substantial part of the Single Malt content matured in Ex-Sherry casks. I also think some first fill Ex-Bourbon casks were used to compensate for some of the very young whiskies that are part of this Blend. The Sherry casks are noticeable via rather discrete notes of Dried Fruit (Raisin, Apricot), Dairy and Chocolate. I also find Cereals, Buttered Toast, Brown Sugar, Caramel, Banana, Orange Peel, Apple, Honey-Melon, Pepper, Cinnamon and a few Herbs. On the Nose, the Extra is Sweet, Thin and slightly Boring. No Off-Notes though.  

Palate: Quite Thin and Mainly Sweet with a few Bitter Oak notes. I find Toasted Cereals, Brown Sugar, Vanilla, Caramel, Toffee, Marzipan, Dried Fruit, Nuts, Apple, Banana, Grain Alcohol, Refill Oak, Dried Herbs, Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger and Milk Chocolate.    

Finish: Thin, Middle-Long, Bitter-Sweet and Dry. The Bitterness of the Oak is more noticeable towards the end. I find Grain Alcohol, Refill Oak, Orange Peel, Grapefruit, Caramel, Marzipan, Cereals, Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Chocolate and Nutella.     

Drinking Advice:

The Chivas Regal Extra does not improve with added Water. 

Rating: 78  

Nose: 20 - Taste: 19.5 - Finish: 19 - Overall: 19.5

Image result for chivas regal extra

General Remarks:

The Chivas Regal Extra was launched in 2015, at first as Travel Retail only. In the meantime it is widely available around the world. Price wise it is positioned between the 12 and the 18 Years. Taste wise it's better than the 12 Years in my opinion. The NAS Spirit is compensated with more Sherry casks and some Fresh Wood. The resulting Blend with Strathisla and Aberlour as the most important Single Malts in the mix is a bit boring and extremely Middle of the Road. At the same time it's inoffensive, without off-notes and reasonably priced. Perfect for beginning Whisky drinkers. A Party Whisky!   

Drinking Experience Neat: Okay

Drinking Experience on the Rocks: Good 

Conclusion: It's interesting to see how a better quality Wood and the addition of extra Sherry casks can enhance the quality of NAS Spirit. In fact, the Extra is more pleasant than the regular Chivas Regal 12 Years. It's also more expensive but in this case I think both producers and consumers will benefit from this new twist to an old story. The Price/Quality ratio is quite reasonable. The new Chivas Regal Extra is not interesting enough as a sipping Whisky as the Grain Alcohol keeps calling the shots. But it should do well as a Party Whisky and it might inspire a lot of beginning Whisky fans to have a closer look at the wonderful world of Whisky! A Blend with a mission!

Jan van den Ende                                                                 January 18, 2018

Strathisla the Heart of Chivas

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