Crown Royal Single Malt Canadian Whisky

Crown Royal Single Malt Canadian Whisky 45% ABV

Rich, with nutty cereal notes, hints of caramel and vanilla, then sweet fruits, soft peppers and bracing spices showing herbal tones and soft oaky notes.

To say Crown Royal is Canada’s best-selling whisky, both at home and abroad, is to miss the point. Yes, Crown Royal sells more than the next six top-selling Canadian whiskies put together, but its very success leads many people to forget about other lower-volume high-end whiskies that Crown Royal releases each year for connoisseurs.

Single malt whisky is no innovation of course, and barley whisky is nothing new for Crown Royal. But what if pure malt spirit is distilled, not in a pot still, but in a short all-copper column, like a copper beer still or bourbon still? And what if the spirit is matured in brand-new, virgin white oak barrels, not in the blistering heat of Kentucky, but in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec where cold Canadian winters allow maturation to take its time? And what then, if blenders select mature barrels by flavour, and blend their contents to create a 100% malted barley whisky that is true to the Crown Royal house style?

Diageo, which owns Crown Royal, already produces an impressive range of Scotch single malt whiskies, from the dainty Dalwhinnie to its muscular cousin, Lagavulin. Recently it has also seen success with two American single malts, one from Balcones, the other from Bulleit. It was inevitable then, that eventually they would leverage those achievements to craft a single malt Canadian whisky.

The result is a wonderful new tasting adventure – malt whisky with so many layers tightly integrated into a complex whole. Yet, unlike so many Canadian single malts, this is definitely not Scotch and it is not “finished.” Everything you taste is 100% whisky, and assuredly Crown Royal – a Canadian single malt whisky true to the Crown Royal house style.

Nevertheless, those who still expect a Canadian addition to Diageo’s Classic malts may need a second dram to get the gist of this whisky. And do take one. Opportunities to expand your palate with unanticipated tasting experiences in well-crafted whisky are rare, and this is one of them.

Distilled to approximately 66% ABV in a short copper column still at Diageo’s distillery in Valleyfield, near Montreal, cold Canadian winters ensure that the spirit matures more slowly than it would in Scotland or Kentucky, and leave the oak more an accent than a flavour.

Rich, almost nutty cereal notes. Hints of caramel and vanilla precede sweet fruits, soft peppers and bracing spices with herbal tones on a mildly oaky framework. Adding water reveals more nuances including fresh, crisp, green apples. Complex overall, and tightly integrated. Feels like Crown Royal without the bourbon overtones.

Bottled at 45% ABV.

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