Crown Royal

Crown Royal Virtual Tasting

I recently presented a virtual tasting on YouTube with Crown Royal National Brand Ambassador Stephen Wilson.  In addition to a brief history of the brand, we taste through some of Crown Royal’s blends: Deluxe, Black, Reserve and the limited edition Cornerstone Blend.

So, grab a glass of your favorite Crown Royal, sit back, and enjoy!

Crown Royal XO and XR Canadian Whisky Reviews

This past Christmas a friend of mine at work struck up a conversation with me about whiskey.  Specifically Crown Royal.  She’s a fan of their standard Crown Royal  blend, and asked my opinion regarding Crown Royal XO and XR.  Unfortunately, I’ve never tasted either so I couldn’t help her out.  I reached out to the folks at Crown Royal, and they kindly sent over samples for me to try.

Crown Royal XO

Photo courtesy of Crown Royal.

Photo courtesy of Crown Royal.

Crown Royal XO is a blend of over 50 whiskies owned by Crown Royal.  The matured whisky is then finished in ex-cognac casks.  It’s bottled at 40% abv and available for around $50.  The cognac barrel finishing is evident on the nose.  The nose is soft and sweet, as expected from a Crown Royal.  However, there’s a slight dry or astringent oak, vanilla and a touch of maple syrup.  The low abv softens the palate a bit and brings about fruit, caramel, and a little oak spice.  It feels a tad more complex than the standard blend.  The finish is rather light and short, leaving behind vanilla custard.

This is a step up from the standard Crown Royal blend.  However, it still comes across a bit light to me.  Beefing up the alcohol percentage to 43% or 46% would help this release, in my opinion.  Nonetheless, if you’re just looking for a light, sweet whisky, this would be right up your alley.

7.5/10

Crown Royal XR

Photo courtesy of Crown Royal.

Photo courtesy of Crown Royal.

Part of the Extra Rare series, this blend of Crown Royal XR features some of the last whisky from the now closed LaSalle distillery.  Crown Royal Master Blender Andrew MacKay was aiming for a richer blend when creating Crown Royal XR.  That richness is something the LaSalle distillery is known for producing.  Bottled at the standard 40% abv, Crown Royal XR smells great.  Thick maple syrup and rounded rye spice (as opposed to a sharp rye spice) dominate the nose.  This is Crown Royal we’re talking about, so it’s still a light nose.  Taste-wise, the entry isn’t an immediate sweetness.  Instead, a slight sharp grain note quickly develops into a rich, sweet syrup.  Some spice pops up along the way, along with a touch of dry oak and vanilla.  This whisky has a moderately long finish full of sweet and spicy oak.

There’s a nice complexity in this release, and it may be among my favorite Crown Royal blends.  Not my favorite though… that title still belongs to Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel.  Still, this one holds up in the glass, and is a worthy pour for fans of Crown Royal.  A bottle of Crown Royal XR should run cost about $130.

8/10
(Note: Review samples were provided by Diageo.)

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye Named 2016 World Whisky of the Year

 

Quite an honor for Crown Royal.  It’s a solid pour of whisky.  My review here, and the full press release below.  Cheers.

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye

NORWALK, Conn., November 19, 2015 – Renowned whisky writer Jim Murray today announced Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye as the 2016 World Whisky of the Year, marking the first time a Canadian Whisky has received the honor. The recognition comes at a time when both the Canadian and Rye whisky categories continue to gain popularity amongst whisky aficionados and consumers alike.

“Crown Royal Northern Harvest pops up out of nowhere and changes the game,” said Murray of the whisky, which he awarded a record-tying 97.5 out of 100 points. “It certainly puts the rye into Canadian Rye. To say this is a masterpiece is barely doing it justice.”

Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye was first released in the U.S. in early 2015. The variant showcases the distinctly Canadian rye whiskey featured in the traditional Crown Royal Deluxe Blend that consumers have grown to love throughout the last 75-plus years. The latest variant to be introduced by Crown Royal, Northern Harvest Rye (90 proof, 45% ABV) is the brand’s first ever blended, 90% rye whisky and embodies a smooth and spicy flavor profile that can be mixed into traditional rye cocktails or enjoyed neat or on the rocks.

“Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye showcases the rye whisky that has been such an integral component of the Crown Royal Deluxe blend since 1939. This is a testament to the unbelievable blending and distilling that’s been taking place in Gimli for over 75 years,” said Yvonne Briese, Vice President of Crown Royal. “We are thrilled that Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye has been named World Whisky of the Year!”

The recognition comes on the heels of the launch of Crown Royal’s new campaign titled “The One Made for a King.” The creative, which will run across TV, print, out of home, digital and social, was developed to share the 75-year-old brand’s royal origin story and liquid credentials with consumers. To view the TV spots, please visit www.YouTube.com/CrownRoyalBrand.

In addition to being named 2016 World Whisky of the Year, Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye received a double gold medal at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye is part of Crown Royal’s vast portfolio of variants for whisky lovers to enjoy, including Crown Royal Regal Apple, the #1 innovation launch across U.S. Spirits over the past 12 month period, according to Nielsen and NABCA (Source: Nielsen xAOC 52 weeks through 10/10/15, NABCA 52wk ending 9/30/15),  and Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel, a double gold recipient and winner of “Best Canadian Whisky” in the 2015 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.

Diageo is proud to add this incredible honor to its Hall of Fame of award-winning whiskeys globally. This year alone, Diageo has earned more than 300 awards across the World’s Best ranks for its Canadian, Scotch and American whiskeys. Today at Diageo we are celebrating!

While raising a glass of Northern Harvest Rye in honor of this award, Crown Royal reminds consumers and whisky aficionados to please drink responsibly.