Canada

Crown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary

Crown Royal has a proud history in Canada, created the year King George VI and Queen Elizabeth first visited Canada. The occasion is the stuff of Canadian legend. To mark the 75th anniversary of that visit in 2014, Crown Royal released this celebratory whisky. As with many blended whiskies all over the world, it is difficult to find specific information about what the exact mixture is, but rumor has it that of the 50 or so different whiskies Crown Royal has to draw from, there is a greater amount from their Coffey still rye and created by Master Blender Andrew Mackay. Along with being very popular in Canada, Crown Royal is the best selling Canadian whisky in the US market. This Crown Royal Monarch, like all royalty, comes with a golden crown.

By Adam | February 15, 2018 | Foreign | No Comments |

The original Lot No. 40 was released by Corby Distributors in the late 90s under the Canada Whisky Guild series but discontinued it a few years after the turn of the century. Because of the small window of release and amount produced, bottles of it became rare and highly sought after. The brand was reintroduced in 2012 as a premium rye and has continued ever since to great acclaim. Unlike some Canadian whiskies called ryes, Lot 40 is made of 90% rye and 10% malted rye. Nothing that isn’t rye, in other words! Lot No. 40 supposedly refers to a plot of land in Ontario that was the home of Joshua Booth, a Canadian pioneer and politician, and an ancestor of one of Hiram Walker’s distillers. Recently, Hiram Walker has released a cask strength Lot No. 40, which quickly sold out its initial first run.

By Adam | December 26, 2017 | Foreign | No Comments |

Pike Creek is a relatively newer Canadian spirit that first saw light of day several years ago when the spirit was finished in Port casks and released by Corby Distillers along with Lot 40. After a couple of years, reportedly due to sourcing issues, the Port casks were replaced with rum barrels. This attention to finishing is in part due to their master blender, Dr. Don Livermore, whose PhD is appropriately enough in wood science. This focus on the wood gives the distillery another element to make their whisky stand out. Pike Creek has been labeled by some reviewers as a “high-end” whisky, and maybe that is true when compared to regular Canadian blends, but we sure hope this attention to details becomes the new normal.

By Adam | October 12, 2017 | Foreign | No Comments |