Seagrams Crown Royal Canadian Whisky 1 l

Seagram’s Crown Royal is a luscious blended whisky produced in the Canadian village Gimli close to the Lake Winnipeg. It has a fantastic golden amber sheen and a mild and mellow aroma.

On the nose sweet and harmonious notes of toffee, vanilla and a slight spiciness from the rye can be detected. The body is well-balanced, full and robust. On the palate the spiciness of the rye is a little stronger and mingles with sweet flavours, fruits and nuances of oak. Towards the end the rye and oak flavour stays on even though it is not becoming bitter.

The Seagram’s Crown Royal was launched in 1939 and has been created as a tribute to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. They went to Canada that particular year and therefore it was the right moment to honour the royals with a truly great Canadian whisky.

Until 1964 the Seagram’s Crown Royal was not sold outside of Canada but started then its expansion on the international market.

This mild, sweet and fruity dram is a blended whisky. It is made of rye, milled maize and malted barley. Especially maize is a typical ingredient in Canadian as well as American whiskies.

It leads to a smooth character of the final product. The Seagram’s Crown Royal aged in new and in seasoned white oak casks. The whisky has no age statement but in former releases the oldest dram of this blend matured for 35 or 30 years. Today there is no exact indication of how long the different parts aged.

Until 1992, the Seagram whiskies were not just produced in Gimli, Manitoba, but also in Waterloo, Ontario. After the distillery in Waterloo was closed, the facilities in Gimli remained as the only stills of the company. Today the whole business is part of Diageo.

• San Francisco World Spirits 2010 – Gold