Crown Royal® Canadian Whisky was originally introduced in 1939 (by Samuel Bronfman of Seagrams) as a special whisky bottling to commemorate the Royal tour of Canada by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in that year. Until 1964, the whisky was only available in Canada; however, today it is available world-wide and is in fact the number one Canadian whisky brand sold in the USA. Crown Royal is currently produced in Gimli Manitoba, at the Crown Royal Distillery which (since the dissolution of the Seagrams portfolio in 2000) is owned by the spirits conglomerate Diageo.
Cask No. 16 is according to the company website,
“handcrafted from more than 50 different aged Canadian whiskies and then finished in Cognac Oak casks from the Limousin forest in France”
Although rumours persist as to the demise of this outstanding blend, I note that as of the end of 2015, it remains listed on the Crown Royal website as part of the Crown Royal Family, and is readily available in my home Province of Alberta.
Here is a link to the review of the #50 spirit on my Rum Howler Top 100 Spirits Countdown.
#50 – Crown Royal Cask No. 16
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You may follow my Countdown list of the 100 Best Spirits here: The Rum Howler 2015 – Top 100 Spirits
Pierre Ferrand Selection Des Anges is blended solely from aged eaux de vie produced within the 1st Cru de Cognac, specifically the Grande Champagne Cognac appellation of France. Although the final spirit has no age statement, according to the information provided to me, the Cognac is blended to achieve an average age of 30 years.
Amazingly, the manner in which the agave juice is extracted from the piñas has an impact upon the distilled flavour of the final tequila. Tequila distilled from the juice which was extracted from a stone wheel Tahona has a noticeably softer and earthier flavour than tequila distilled from the juice extracted by a roller mill. Part of the reason for the difference in flavour may be that when the juice which has been extracted from the piñas which were crushed by the Tahona Wheel, the left over fibers from those piñas are placed in the fermentation vats along with the juice. The fiber and juice mixture is fermented for 72 hours in a wooden fermentation vat, where apparently some of the flavours from the fibrous material makes its way into the fermented wash.
When each separately distilled whisky is ready, they are blended and then aged for a second period of time to allow the different whiskies flavours to marry in the barrel prior to bottling. Incidentally, all of the barrels used for maturation of the whisky are refill America Bourbon oak barrels. As all of the mashing, distillation, aging and blending was done at the same Bangalore distillery in India, the whisky is a true single malt which represents the fusion of two different whiskies.
The Appleton Estate Master Blender’s Legacy was produced to recognize three generations of Appleton Estate Master Blenders, Joy Spence, the current Master Blender, Owen Tulloch, the previous Master Blender, and, David Morrison the current protégé of Joy Spence. All three blenders have set their mark on this luxurious rum which is a blend of rums which range in age from 18 years to 30 years.
The Rum Howler Blog 