We’re 5 years into Dewar’s Champions Version releases, and for 12 months 5 this 19 12 months previous is being uniquely completed in Calvados apple brandy casks — “a nod to Pennsylvania’s historic apple brandy custom.” (Related as a result of the a hundred and twenty fifth U.S. Open was held at Oakmont Nation Membership in Pittsburgh.) That’s the upshot, so let’s dive in.
Dewar’s The Champions Version 19 Years Outdated (2025) Evaluate
Calvados could be a dominating affect, and whereas the nostril right here is unquestionably apple-centric, it’s not apple-overwhelming. Layers of caramel, toasted grains, vanilla, and baking spice are all Dewar’s-appropriate, the cereal notes more and more heavy with time in glass. Atop all of it are layers of dried apple chips and Apple Jacks cereal, partaking however understated.
The palate doesn’t push the apple agenda a lot, and the whisky takes on a considerably grittier, chewier high quality than anticipated. Almonds, toasted coconut, and layers of vanilla-infused breakfast cereal are all par for the course, whereas the fruit evident on the palate is a bit vague. Right here the palate comes throughout as extra apple-adjacent, pushed extra by apple hardwood than apple fruit, resulting in a toasty, barrel-centric end. If there’s something notably fruity right here, it’s a chewy little bit of purple apple fruit that lingers on the again for some time.
All instructed, it’s a superbly acceptable whisky that may offend nobody, however I simply don’t really feel just like the Calvados barrel has had the impression that Dewar’s most likely needed. Then once more, possibly it did.
86 proof.
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