Crown Royal Regal Apple Flavored Whisky Review

Color: Bright gold; a little darker than apple juice, but in the same ballpark.

Nose: Apple juice combined with artificial apple-flavored candy—think Jolly Ranchers—with a hint of whisky in there as well. It smells like an apple candy aimed at adults.

Palate: Intensely sweet, like an apple dipped in honey and then perhaps sprinkled with a little sugar for good measure, or maybe an apple Jolly Rancher melted down and blended with some whisky. A mild kick on the back of the tongue is a helpful reminder that it does indeed contain alcohol. A thick, syrupy mouthfeel pairs appropriately with the syrupy flavor.

Finish: Sweet and quite mild, with hardly any alcoholic bite, which isn’t surprising. The level of sweetness indicates a lot of sugar, which would smooth out any heat from the whisky.

How much you enjoy Crown Royal Regal Apple is probably inversely proportional to how much you enjoy whisky. That sweet-as-candy flavor, said to come from actual Regal Gala apples, goes well in a punch or a cocktail whose purpose is to mask the alcohol. If you’re looking for anything resembling an actual whisky experience, you’re better off looking elsewhere. 

But Regal Apple drinkers likely know what they’re getting and what they’re not. This is not a complex spirit worth savoring (at 70 proof, it’s not even a whisky, legally speaking), and it’s silly to judge it on those merits. Taken as an apple-flavored whisky, rather than an apple-flavored whisky, it delivers. It’s pleasant and goes down easily as a chilled shot; served as a highball with sparkling water or ginger ale, it really delivers, with a taste not unlike sparkling apple cider.

There are apple-flavored whiskeys whose apple flavoring is more subtle, and the overall flavor more balanced, namely Clyde May’s. Regal Apple is primarily for drinkers who don’t like the taste of alcohol, and/or for gifting—it’s hard to beat the opulent-looking bottle in the velvet bag.