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.
Loch Lomond 12 Year
Named after the iconic Scottish loch it sits next to, Loch Lomond arose over two hundred years ago in 1814. Sadly closed in the mists of history, the distillery was resurrected again in 1964 before going quiet again twenty years later. Ever resilient, though, production began again in 1993 and has continued ever since under the helm of Master Distiller John Peterson and Master Blender Michael Henry. Loch Lomond is unique in that it regularly produces single malt, single grain and blended whiskies due to having three sets of stills. The distillery also has their own cooperage on site, one of four distilleries in Scotland to do so. About 10,000 barrels are repaired or re-charred there each year. A recent push has seen their offerings expand into new markets, especially their single malts like this 12 year offering.
J. P. Wiser’s 18 Year
J. P. Wiser was a Canadian businessman in the late 1800s who went about building a spirits company centered around whisky. A lot of the mythology around Wiser involves the dedication to the craft of making whisky, specifically that the time it takes to mature is more than worth it. Wiser’s company has been bought and sold a few times since he founded it and the brand is now part of the Hiram Walker portfolio, which in turn is part of the Pernod Ricard conglomerate. As with many, though not all, Canadian whiskies, any information about the blend or maturation is very difficult to come by.