Official Bottlings| 40% ABV

A Closer Look At 4 Crown Royal Releases

Many Canadian whisky experts seem to hold the Diageo-Gimli distillery in high regard, but their bread and butter is best served in a Crown and Coke. However, among the millions of barrels resting on the icy shores of Lake Winnipeg, there are said to be many treasures.

The original Crown Royal blended whisky was created by Canadian whisky legend Sam Bronfman to celebrate King George VI and Queen Elizabeth’s royal tour of Canada in 1939. No surprises then from a man who considered prohibition to be an excellent business opportunity, when “Mister Sam” leveraged his connections to get several cases of Crown Royal onboard the train that transported the royal couple across the country during their month-long trip.

Today, Crown Royal is Canada’s top-selling whisky brand, to the tune of eight million cases a year globally. The distillery mainly responsible for this output is located in Gimli, Manitoba, a town of only a few thousand people. Known simply as Diageo Global Supply – Gimli, the vast, multi-warehouse complex – is about an hour’s drive north of Winnipeg. Originally built by Seagram’s in the 1960s to supplement output from the Waterloo distillery, the plant was sold to Diageo in 2001. Today, more than 1.5 million barrels of spirit sit in the distillery’s warehouses.

A blender’s paradise, the Gimli distillery produces five different spirit types: two different corn base whiskies and three flavouring whiskies (for brief refresher on Canadian whisky methods see my previous review). These five whiskies are:

• Continuous corn base whisky: Light corn whisky. Corn is cooked in a continuous process and distilled in a four-column still.

• Batch corn base whisky: Light corn whisky. Corn is cooked in batches. After fermentation and the first column still run, it goes for a second distillation in a hybrid still, which is a copper pot still with a column still on top. Similar to normal pot distillation, cuts are made with heads and tails discarded. 

• Rye flavouring whisky: A mash of 95% rye and 5% malted barley distilled in a two column continuous stills.

• Bourbon style flavouring whisky: Similar to American bourbon, this whisky is a mash of 64% corn, 31.5% rye, and 4.5% malted barley, distilled once through a column still.

• “Coffey Rye” flavouring whisky: Starts the same as the bourbon style, but undergoes a second distillation in Gimli’s special Coffey still, which is only operated once per year.

I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised that my Canadian whisky journey has not yet shone the spotlight on Crown Royal. There’s a lot of enthusiasm for the brand at both ends of the Canadian whisky intelligentsia spectrum, but not so much with the middle ground drinkers. 

With this brand lies the state of the art in Canadian blending – the blenders responsible for Crown Royal are recognized as the best in the business. They use their skills to assemble unique top-tier releases, but also must ensure ultra-tight consistency in the day-to-day blending of core range products. 

A good blend can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. Skilled blenders highlight the strengths of each component while minimising the weaknesses. Sometimes when blending mass market whisky for consistency, this gets lost and the quality of the parts may be greater than shown in the final product.

These days Crown Royal is a growing brand and Diageo has announced plans for a new quarter-billion dollar distillery in Ontario to keep up with planned volume increases. The new distillery will work in tandem with Gimli to support rising demand. It’ll be carbon neutral and zero waste, but will only produce 20 million litres of absolute alcohol per year, compared to Gimli’s 33 million.

In this review I’ll explore some of the Crown Royal lineup. I’ve curated a selection of four Crown Royal whiskies: two are core releases, and two are one-offs that give a glimpse of what’s possible from the Gimli distillery when they’re not blending for the mass market.

Review

Crown Royal Fine De Luxe, 40% ABV
£25 ($32) available widely

The standard Crown Royal, “Fine De Luxe” is a blend of all five spirits from the Gimli plant, aged in a variety of barrels for different lengths of time. The distillery uses a combination of new oak, ex-bourbon, and refill barrels aged for different amounts of time to end up with the blend of 50 whiskies that makes Crown Royal. Diageo’s Valleyfield distillery near Montreal works alongside Gimli to produce the base whisky for blending with the same flavour profile.

The branding on the core releases is several decades overdue for an update, but don’t rock the boat as they say. It might be nostalgia talking, but the bottle still looks good on a shelf, especially if yours came in the classic purple bag. 

Nose

Not a lot here. It’s tight with no sense of ethanol and the aromas don’t seem to want to rise out of the glass. Caramel and toffee dominate, with some grapefruit rind and pine needles.

Palate

Watery and sweet on entry, with initially Dr. Pepper and maple sap. Victorian jewels - of the mini fruitcake variety, soaked in brandy. A lingering round bitter green aftertaste on the sides of the tongue.

Review

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, 45% ABV
$38 readily available in Canada

The air around Northern Harvest Rye needs to be cleared. You know who “Crown”ed this bottle you know what of the year in 2016 and it subsequently took a lot of flak for (surprise!) not being the best whisky in the world. It’s not the best whisky in the world, and that’s ok. Why does everything always have to be the best in the world?

This is a 90% rye whisky blend, where the primary component is Gimli’s rye flavouring whisky. In Canada it competes directly with Lot No. 40, but is not 100% rye, nor is it pot distilled. 

Side note: I’m glad we don’t assign colour descriptors to whiskies here at Dramface, because the colour on these first two is faker than the motives of a Canadian trucker convoy. 

Nose

Barrel char, menthol, eucalyptus, oak, tart green apple. The stale air of an abandoned farmhouse with sunlight streaming in through its windows.

Palate

Excellent flavour experience. Vanilla leads to oatmeal raisin cookies and oak spiciness; cloves and baking spices. Fruits are present as well; apple juice and grilled peaches. Menthol, and a medicinal cough syrup note. Long and slightly astringent finish with chilli flakes.

Review

Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel, Single Barrel Bottled for Norman’s Liquor, purchased in Sarasota, Florida, 51.5% ABV
$50 barrel pick

A hand-selected barrel is a single barrel bottling made entirely of the Coffey rye flavouring whisky and aged in new charred American oak. This is the most unique spirit produced at Gimli and is a big component of the house style in many Crown Royal blends.

Nose

Thick and sweet; cotton candy, nut brittle, Portuguese custard tarts, juicy overripe bruised plums, and a hint of lemon oil. The sweetness is balanced perfectly by an almost too aggressive ethanol harshness. There’s some eggnog with nutmeg as well, which brings additional depth.

Palate

Confectioners’ sugar and overripe fruits. There is a nice weight and viscosity provided by the elevated ABV. Cinnamon, caramelised peaches, cream, and that stick that comes with fun dip candy. Transitions to a good level of industrial machine shop harshness that sits high in the mouth. Water smooths it out but doesn’t modify the flavours.

Review

Crown Royal Noble Collection Winter Wheat, 45% ABV
2021 Special Release, $100, Sold out

The winter wheat special release do not represent one of Gimli’s standard spirits. There is limited information available, but we do know a bespoke mashbill of 51% wheat, 39% corn, and 10% malted barley was used in the blend. As a blended Canadian whisky, it’s unclear whether any other spirits, or perhaps even wine was added. 

So if wheated mashbill bourbons like William Larue Weller and Pappy Van Winkle are good, this should be even better, right? If this mashbill was made in the United States, the wheat content would classify it as wheat whisky, not a bourbon. 

This special release won whisky of the year at Davin de Kergommeaux’s Canadian Whisky Awards in 2022. The packaging looks good and up to date compared to the others (with a real cork too!). As usual with the big distillers, I’m left wishing there was more information on what’s in the bottle. You’d think they could be a little more liberal with the details for a one-off release. Sigh.

Nose

Unripe banana, stewed dark cherries, dusty old bourbon, raspberry jam. Water brings out candied pecans and banana bread with chocolate chips. Fresh sourdough bread and butter after some time in the glass.

Palate

Liquorice candies and fudge enter with a silky smooth round but light mouthfeel. Beautifully balanced sweetness that has no spice or edges, yet the structure is clearly defined. Candy apple, berries, vanilla, a little bready, and just the perfect amount of new charred oak. 

More complexity comes with water but I can’t seem to put words to it. The liquor is like a haunted house version of a bourbon complete with cobwebs and dusty empty spaces. The echoes of bourbon ghosts playing down the halls and hiding in the closets. With no rye kick this has a slick and smooth and cool feeling to it. I’m happy this wasn’t bottled at cask strength because the nuance could have been missed. An argument against high alcohol bottlings. At 45% ABV this is just right.

The Dregs

The fine de luxe army is deployed into the world with a specific mission – and that mission is accomplished with authority. Two fingers in a tumbler with ice, mixed with cola, or in a rye and ginger, this stuff slays in the arena of mindless drinking. Sipping neat, it is what it is, smooth and simple without harsh tones.

Lot no. 40 fans take note, the Northern Harvest Rye is coming to steal the $40-ish all purpose drinkin’ rye spot on your shelf. With slightly higher ABV and slightly lower price, once you take away the expectations of the world's best and enjoy it for what it is, this whisky is a real pleasure. And at a price where you won’t hesitate to explore cocktails or home blending. This is now my default when I mix a Manhattan, and that’s not a put down.

The hand-selected barrel is fantastic for a few reasons. It’s a single barrel release using a single spirit from the Gimli arsenal, which is something they should do for all five of their reference spirits. The other is the pure uniqueness of the Coffey still spirit. If you have tried Nikka’s Coffey grain whisky you may have a sense for the character, but the Gimli Coffey still whisky is less user-friendly and has more of an industrial feel than the Nikka.

My memories are still haunted by the Winter Wheat, it deserves the awards, and I’m glad I bought a second bottle for future enjoyment since it’s no longer on the shelves. The price holds it back from a higher score, but I’ll still be on the lookout for this year’s noble collection release.

Now that I’m convinced of the quality that can be produced at Gimli, I’ll end with a plea to Diageo and the Crown Royal team on the treatment of products coming from this distillery. Please Diageo, please. Make all five spirit types regularly available as single barrel bottlings. Your warehouses hold elite level whiskies and their release in this format would only elevate the brand. And please start telling us what’s in the bottle on the label, especially for special releases. 

So to summarise: single barrels, and details on the liquid. As many as you can spare. That’s all. Thank you from the connoisseurs.

Tried this? Share your thoughts in the comments below. AM

Other opinions on this:

In Search of Elegance (Fine de Luxe)

In Search of Elegance (Northern Harvest Rye)

In Search of Elegance (Hand Selected Barrel)

In Search of Elegance (Winter Wheat)

Whisky Neighbour (Winter Wheat)

For a rundown on the Gimli distillery, check out Jason’s (In Search of Elegance) overview video and tasting flight.

Got a link to a reliable review? Tell us.