I never got any "Munich" flavor out of caraMunich malt, as it's more of a crystal malt.
But you got me thinking- I'm going to go into the basement and taste sample the grains.
I have Munich, caramunich, caramunich III, and crystal 60L. I will take a little sample of each and see if they taste totally different or similar, and report back!
I was wrong- I had CaraMunich II, not III.
Anyway, I know crunching the grains isn't the same as mashing, but here is how they compare to eat other when I ate them:
Munich II- the sweetest of the grains. Sweet, and light. Real "malt" flavor.
Briess crystal 60L- sweet, but with a tinge of toasty/burnt flavor to it.
CaraMunich- more burnt tasting than expected. Not sweet at all, but lighter colored than the Briess crystal 60L. It didn't really taste very good, although I love it in a recipe.
CaraMunich II- closer to the same color as the Briess crystal 60L, but also with a burnt flavor very much like the CaraMunich. No real sweetness, but more of a roast/burnt flavor.
The "best tasting" of these was the Munich II.
So I went to Weyermann's website and found this:
Caramunich® Type 2 - origin of the word
Question We need to know origin of the word, Caramunich and something information of use to advertise about CARAMUNICH.
Answer Caramunich® is a trademark of Weyermann Specialty Malting Company. Please do not forget using the ® for Registered trademark whenever using the name Caramunich®. The prefix CARA represents Caramelized and makes clear that all Weyermann Caramel Malts are produced in the Weyermann Roasting- and Caramelization Drums. By using this unique and patented technology Weyermann Caramel Malts show a perfect caramelisation and fine caramel flavour and aroma. munich represents dark malts (Munich Beer type). Please have a look at the product specification and production description of the Weyermann caramel malt production at our website. "Cara means that these products are caramel or roasted malts (Carafa® & Carafa® special) produced in roasting drums. Caramel malts are produced from green malt (directly after germination) in special designed roasting drums. In a saccharification step (70°C) the starch is converted into sugar. Then with higher temperatures these sugar is caramelized. For Carafa® roasted malt, special produced kilned malt is roasted in roasting drums (temperatures > 250°C).
So it looks like Caramunich means "crystal dark malt".