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Type | Canadian whisky |
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Manufacturer | Diageo |
Country of origin | Canada |
Introduced | 1939 (Canada) 1964 (US and other countries) |
Proof (US) | 80 |
Variants | Deluxe, Limited Edition, Special Reserve, XO, XR, Black, Maple, Regal Apple, Honey, Northern Harvest Rye, Salted Caramel, Vanilla, Peach |
Website | crownroyal |
Crown Royal, originally known as Seagram's Crown Royal, is a blended Canadian whisky brand created by Seagram and owned by Diageo since 2000. [1] Production of Crown Royal is done at Gimli, Manitoba, while the blending and bottling of the whisky are done in a facility in Amherstburg, Ontario.
The whisky was introduced in 1939 by Samuel Bronfman for the 1939 royal tour of Canada. The whisky was sold exclusively in Canada until the 1960s, when it was first introduced to international markets. It is the top-selling brand of Canadian whisky in the United States. [2]
Crown Royal was introduced in 1939 by Samuel Bronfman, president of Seagram, as a tribute to the 1939 royal tour of Canada by King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, the first visit of a reigning monarch to Canada. [3] [4] It was available only in Canada until 1964, [5] being introduced to the United States in the 1960s. [3]
Crown Royal is produced solely at the company's distillery at Gimli, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The production of Crown Royal uses 10,000 bushels of rye, maize and barley daily, which is sourced from Manitoba and surrounding provinces, and requires 750,000 imperial gallons (3,400,000 L; 900,000 US gal) of water naturally filtered through the limestone beneath the lake. [6]
The whisky is stored in 1.5 million barrels, [7] located in 50 warehouses over 5 acres (2 ha) of land. It is then blended and bottled in Amherstburg, Ontario. [8] [9]
Crown Royal was also produced in Waterloo, Ontario, until the distillery there closed in 1992. [10]
Crown Royal offerings have generally performed well at international spirit ratings competitions. For example, the basic Canadian whisky was awarded a string of five gold medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competitions between 2005 and 2012. [23] The Special Reserve received an editors choice gold award from Whisky Magazine and received ratings from 7¾ to 8¾ from three of the critics. [24] [25]
Jim Murray's "Whisky Bible" named Crown Royal's Northern Harvest Rye as the World Whisky of the Year for 2016. [26]
Crown Royal advertises in motor sports, horse shows, and horse racing. It sponsored the No. 17 Ford Fusion of Matt Kenseth from 2010 to 2011, [27] the No. 26 Ford Fusion of Jamie McMurray from 2006 to 2009, and has sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races since 2006. From 2004 until 2006, Crown Royal was the title sponsor of the International Race of Champions.
Crown Royal is a sponsor of the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series. In 2010, it also began sponsoring the #60 Daytona Prototype car of Michael Shank Racing in the Rolex Sports Car Series.
The brand was a primary sponsor of the Washington International Horse Show for several years in the 1990s and from 1995 to 2008 sponsored the Crown Royal American Turf Stakes, a Thoroughbred horse race run at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.
Canadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles. When Canadian distillers began adding small amounts of highly-flavourful rye grain to their mashes, people began demanding this new rye-flavoured whisky, referring to it simply as "rye". Today, as for the past two centuries, the terms "rye whisky" and "Canadian whisky" are used interchangeably in Canada and refer to exactly the same product, which generally is made with only a small amount of rye grain.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery.
The Seagram Company Ltd. was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was in the 1990s the largest owner of alcoholic beverage lines in the world.
The Glenlivet distillery is a distillery near Ballindalloch in Moray, Scotland, that produces single malt Scotch whisky. It is the oldest legal distillery in the Highlands of Scotland. It was founded in 1824 and has operated almost continuously since.
Chivas Regal is a blended Scotch whisky produced by the Chivas Brothers subsidiary of Pernod Ricard in Scotland.
A master blender is an individual who develops specific blended spirits using a combination of spirits with different characteristics. For example, in the Scotch whisky industry, master blenders choose which single malts and grain whiskies to combine to make particular brands of blended whisky. A master blender is not the same thing as a master distiller, although one person may do both jobs at small craft distilleries. As the name suggests, the blender creates blends using spirits from different casks and is responsible for making sure the product remains consistent across different batches, while the distiller is either directly responsible for the mashing and distilling of spirits or simply holds the title as the administrative and marketing figurehead of the company.
Canadian Club is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by Suntory Global Spirits, an subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walker and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the nineteenth century. Hiram Walker merged with Gooderham & Worts, Ltd. in 1926, yielding Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, Ltd.
Joseph Emm Seagram was a Canadian distillery founder, politician, philanthropist, and major owner of thoroughbred racehorses.
Single barrel whiskey is a premium class of whiskey in which each bottle comes from an individual aging barrel, instead of coming from blending together the contents of various barrels to provide uniformity of color and taste. By contrast, some other whiskeys, even ones that are not blends, may be combined from more than one batch, or even from differing years to achieve consistency. The whiskey from each barrel is bottled separately, with each bottle bearing the barrel number and in most cases the dates for the beginning and end of aging. Each barrel is believed to contribute unique characteristics to the finished whiskey.
Forty Creek is a brand of Canadian whisky produced by the Italian beverage company Campari Group. The distillery is located in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada. The brand and its distillery were privately launched in 1992 by John Hall, a first-generation whisky maker and the owner of Kittling Ridge Wines & Spirits, and were purchased by Campari Group in March 2014 for CA$186 million. Forty Creek Barrel Select is the main whisky produced under the Forty Creek brand name.
Alberta Premium is one of the few remaining 100% rye grain rye whiskies produced in North America. The brand is owned by Suntory Global Spirits, an subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan.
J.P. Wiser's Whisky is a Canadian whisky producer and one of the oldest in the country, established in 1857. Since 1935, it has held a majority stake in Corby Spirit and Wine. In 2005 the international Liquor company Pernod Ricard took ownership of both companies. Hiram Walker & Sons Limited currently produce J.P. Wiser's Whisky at their Windsor, Ontario, distillery.
Nelson's Green Brier Distillery is a whiskey distillery located in downtown Nashville, Tennessee that produces different varieties of Tennessee whiskey and bourbons. The distillery offers daily public tours and tastings as well as a large mercantile shop with bottles, barware and apparel available for purchase. In July 2023, Nelson's Green Brier Distillery opened a newly renovated distillery restaurant and full-service bar at their 1414 Clinton St. Nashville, TN 37203 location. The same facility also now offers four new private event and dining spaces available to rent for corporate functions, weddings and celebrations of varying sizes.
Chivas Brothers is a Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky. It is owned by Pernod Ricard since 2001.
It has been common practice in the whisky industry for more than a century for distilleries to sell barrels of whisky to blenders and independent bottlers as a means of making additional income. In fact, some distilleries exist solely to serve independent bottlers, and do not market any brands themselves.
Sazerac Company, Inc. is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is owned by billionaire William Goldring and his family. As of 2017, it operated nine distilleries, had 2,000 employees, and operated in 112 countries. It is one of the two largest spirits companies in the United States, with annual revenue of about $1 billion made from selling about 300 beverage brands.
Royal Stag, also known as Seagram's Royal Stag, is an Indian whisky launched in 1995. It is available in many countries across the world in various pack sizes. It is Pernod Ricard's best selling brand by volume. It is a blend of grain spirits and imported Scotch malts. It is commonly available in 1 L, 750 mL, 375 mL and 180 mL bottles and also available in 90 mL and 60 mL bottles. The brand is named after a species of deer famous for its antlers, that is also featured in its logo. It is produced in several company-owned as well as bottler-owned distilleries. It was the first whisky brand launched in India that did not use any artificial flavours.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky: