- Crown Royal
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For the 2001 album by Run DMC, see Crown Royal (album).
Crown Royal 
Type Canadian whisky Manufacturer Diageo Country of origin Canada Introduced 1939 Proof 80 Variants Limited Edition, Special Reserve, Cask No. 16, XR, Black Crown Royal is a blended Canadian whisky, 40% alcohol by volume, 80 proof. The brand is currently owned by Diageo, who purchased it when the Seagram portfolio was dissolved in the year 2000.[1] It is the top-selling Canadian whisky in the United States.[2]
Contents
History
The reigning monarch King George VI, and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, visited Canada in 1939. Crown Royal was introduced that year by Seagram as a tribute to the royal visit. It was available only in Canada until 1964.
Production
Diageo global Crown Royal supply plant, Gimli, Manitoba, Canada
Today, Crown Royal is produced solely at the Crown Royal distillery at Gimli, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was also produced in Waterloo, Ontario until the plant there closed in 1992. Daily production of Crown Royal uses 10,000 bushels of grain and requires 750,000 imperial gallons (3,400,000 L; 900,000 US gal) of water.[3] The whisky produced at the Manitoba distillery is stored in 2 million barrels, stored in 46 warehouses, over 5 acres (2 ha) of land. The whisky is then blended and bottled in Amherstburg, Ontario.[4][5][6][7]
2006 sales of Crown Royal amounted to over US $500M.
In January 2007, production of Crown Royal was nearly interrupted as a result of a labour dispute at the Gimli distillery. Fifty-two of the 53 workers at the Manitoba distillery, members of United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Local 200D, voted on January 23 to strike as soon as February 1.[8] However, subsequent negotiations resulted in approval by nearly 75 percent of the workers, the night before the strike deadline, of a new three-year contract.[9]
Brand variations
Crown Royal Special Reserve was introduced in 1992. The finest young whiskies are chosen and aged for a longer period than the original. Once mature enough they are then blended to produce Special Reserve.[10] Oct 2008 Crown Royal Special Reserve was re-launched as Crown Royal Reserve using the same bottle as the Special Reserve with a new label and packaging.
In 2006, Crown Royal XR (Extra Rare) was introduced in the US by allocation and the Canadian market (initially, only in Ontario and Alberta). Available in Quebec since January 2008. This limited-release special blend of Crown Royal is sold in numbered bottles, and is made from the last batch of whiskey distilled at the Waterloo distillery. After mothballing in 1992, the Waterloo distillery burned down in 1993, with only a small amount of whisky being left behind.[11] It received a 7¼ and 7¾ from Whisky Magazine critics.[12]
Crown Royal Cask No. 16 was introduced late 2007. It is made from over fifty blended and individually aged whiskies in 12 year old cognac barrels. These barrels are made of oak from the Limousin forest in France. The whiskies are designed to have a cognac type of finish with notes of rye, grain, and fruit.[13]
The newest variation is Crown Royal Black. Launched in April 2010, the drink consists of a higher alcohol content (90 proof) as well as a darker, thicker liquid, while still retaining smoothness. This new variation is, on average, US$5 more than the signature Crown Royal "De Luxe".[14]
The suggested retail prices for Crown Royal products, as of 2010, are: US$25 for Crown Royal "De Luxe", US$30 for Crown Royal "Black", US$45 for Crown Royal "Reserve", US$80 for Crown Royal "Cask No. 16", and US$129 for Crown Royal "XR".[15]
Ratings
Crown Royal offerings have generally performed well at international spirit ratings competitions. For example, the basic Canadian Whisky was awarded a string gold medal at the 2005-2007 San Francisco World Spirits Competitions.[16] The Special Reserve received an editors choice gold award from Whisky Magazine and received ratings from 7¾ to 8¾ from three of the critics.[17][18]
Consumption
Crown Royal is often mixed with another, usually non-alcoholic, beverage for added flavour such as ginger ale and cola. Common names of these beverages include: Blacktooth Grin, Crown Sidecar, Crown & Soda, Crown & Coke (rye and coke), Crown Lemon-Lime, Crown & Ginger Ale (rye and ginger), and Crown Fizz. A mixture made with Royal Crown Cola is called a Royal Wedding, an RCCR (Royal Crown Crown Royal), or a Pair of Kings (Pair of Queens if served with a maraschino cherry). Another mixed drink made with Crown Royal is to drop a shot of Crown into a glass of Red Bull energy drink; this is known as a LeBomb James, Chili Bomb or Bouncing Betty; a variation of this consists of half Crown Royal and a flavored schnapps in the shot, called a Vegas Bomb.
Crown Royal can also be mixed in equal parts with banana liqueur to make a "King Kong" (Crown Royal being the "King" and banana liqueur being the "Kong"). The King Kong can be served as a shooter or "on the rocks."
Very common in the U.S., Crown Royal is also enjoyed "on the rocks" or blended with 7-Up or sour (Squirt, Graf's 50/50, etc..)
In the US South, Crown Royal may be served with Sun Drop, a southern tradition known as "making Sundrop dark".
In the James Bond novel Carte Blanche, by Jeffery Deaver, Bond orders a cocktail made with Crown Royal. From Chapter 18: "Bond decided on a cocktail. 'Crown Royal, ice, a double, please. Add a half-measure of triple sec, two dashes of bitters (later specified as Angostura) and a twist of orange peel.'"
Advertising
Among its advertising venues, Crown Royal advertises in various motor sports events and cars. Crown Royal sponsors the #17 Ford of Matt Kenseth, and the Crown Royal 400 race in NASCAR.
Crown Royal Cask No. 16 is a sponsor of the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series. In 2010, Crown Royal XR also began sponsoring the #60 Daytona Prototype car of Michael Shank Racing in the Rolex Sports Car Series.
From 2004 until 2006, Crown Royal was the title sponsor of the International Race of Champions. Crown Royal was a primary sponsor of the Washington International Horse Show for severals years in the 1990s and since 1995 has sponsored the Crown Royal American Turf Stakes, a Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Churchill Downs.
Crown Royal is the official shot of the Sunset Bay Beach Club, in Irving, New York.
Crown Royal is product-placed in the music video for Big Boi's 2010 single Shutterbugg, as well in the 2011 J-Lo promo video for the single On The Floor, the latter of which also contained product-placement for Swarovski and BMW.
See also
References
- ^ The Bronfmans: The Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram; Nicholas Faith; Thomas Dunne Books - May 30, 2006 - ISBN 0-312-33219-X
- ^ January/February 2001 CANADIAN WHISKY, Beverage Net SPIRITS BUSINESS. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ Crown Royal
- ^ "Crown Royal whisky is distilled in Gimli, but bottled further east, in Amherstburg, Ont. Wayne Hurst, mayor of the southwestern Ontario town - population 22,000, 25 kilometres south of Windsor - says the bottling plant plays an important role in the community. He, too, would like to leave a mark on millions of bottles of booze."
- ^ Business Edge News Magazine - businessedge.ca - Ontario Edition - Towns look to leave mark on booze bottles
- ^ "The Amherstburg plant blends and bottles the company's top-selling Crown Royal whisky for both domestic and international consumption."
- ^ Layoffs land at Diageo
- ^ UFCW Press Release. "Crisis Brewing at Crown Royal as Strike Deadline Looms at Distillery". Market Wire/CCN Matthews. http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=207366. Retrieved 2007-02-11.[dead link] http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=207366
- ^ Sun Media. "Distillery workers OK pact, averting strike". Winnipeg Sun. http://www.winnipegsun.com/Business/2007/02/02/3506034-sun.html. Retrieved 2007-02-11.[dead link]
- ^ About Special Reserve, CrownRoyal.com Special Reserve. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ About Crown Royal XR, CrownRoyal.com Crown Royal XR. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ Crown Royal XR Extra Rare, WhiskyMag.com Whiskies. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ About Cask No.16, CrownRoyal.com Crown Royal Cask 16. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ Promotional information booklet made for launch of Crown Royal "Black"
- ^ See previous reference
- ^ "Proof66.com Website". http://www.proof66.com/display.asp?frm=y&t=whiskey&sel=Canadian%20Whisky&att=&tab=ratings&varsort=aggScore_hl. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Crown Royal Special Reserve, WhiskyMag.com Whiskies. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
- ^ Crown Royal SR Special Reserve, WhiskyMag.com Whiskies. Retrieved January 4, 2008.
External links
Categories:- Canadian whisky
- Diageo brands
- 1939 introductions
- Brand name alcohol products
- Canadian alcoholic beverages
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