Lot No. 40 is of course the Corby branded whisky which was first released in the 1990’s as an upscale connoisseur’s whisky for the North American market. Alas, timing is everything, and according to Don Livermore (Master Blender for Corby and J.P. Wiser’s branded whiskies), the whisky never really caught on as the market wasn’t quite ready for such a new style of Canadian Whisky.
However, with the new upsurge of interest in Canadian Whisky across North America (and in particular at the premium end of the market), Corby (the owner of the J.P. Wiser’s Brand), relaunched the whisky in 2012.
According to the bottle label:
Lot. No. 40 is crafted in small batches using rye grain in a single copper pot still aged in virgin oak barrels.
Here is a link to the Rum Howler #16 Canadian Whisky in my list of the 100 Best of 2017:
Review: Lot No. 40 Rye Whisky
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Note: To follow the countdown list of the Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017, you should follow me on twitter (Rum Howler on Twitter) using the hashtag #Top100CanadianWhisky.
Alternatively you can view the list as it grows by viewing my Reveal Page here on this website:
The Rum Howler – Top 100 Canadian Whiskies of 2017
The Reveal Page will be updated at as frequently as possible throughout the month of December.
Crown Royal Canadian Whisky is currently produced in Gimli, Manitoba, at the Crown Royal Distillery. The distillery and the brand are owned by Diageo, and I think it is fair to say that Crown Royal is Diageo’s flagship Canadian whisky brand. In 1992, a premium version of Crown Royal was introduced as Crown Royal Special Reserve. This whisky was produced from specially selected casks which were tasted and monitored closely by the Crown Royal Master Blender. These ‘premium casks’ represented whiskies with special character, and they were allowed to age longer with the aim of producing a more premium whisky. In the fall of 2008, this more premium Crown Royal Special Reserve was relaunched as Crown Royal Reserve Canadian Whisky.
Forty Creek Whisky
John Philip (J.P.) Wiser, purchased a distillery in Prescott Ontario in 1857, and began to produce 
Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye Whisky was released in 2015 by the folks who run the Crown Royal Distillery in Gimli, Manitoba. It is a bit of a throwback in style as the whisky features a heavy dose whisky produced from Canadian Winter Rye grain in the blend (almost 90% of the spirit is produced from Canadian Winter Rye grain). Winter rye imparts a robust spiciness throughout the spirit when distilled which (in my opinion) provides a much stronger ‘Canadian Whisky’ feel for this particular Crown Royal Whisky than we find with the flagship blend Crown Royal Deluxe which is produced predominantly from corn rather than rye.
The Rum Howler Blog 