Crown Royal is the world’s bestselling Canadian whisky brand. Its flagship blended whisky, packaged in an iconic purple pouch and bottled at 40 percent ABV, was created in 1939 by Seagram president Sam Bronfman to coincide with a visit to Canada by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of England. For the next twenty-five years, it was sold only in Canada, before beginning to be exported in 1964. A complex blend of lighter and heavier corn whiskies as a base, flavored with Coffey-still rye whisky, modern column-still rye whisky, and a bourbon-like-mash-bill whisky, Crown Royal today surpasses all other imported whiskies in the United States in terms of dollar sales.
Originally produced at Seagram’s Waterloo distillery in Ontario, Crown Royal whisky is now made at the Gimli distillery on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. Acquired by Diageo in 2001 along with other former Seagram’s brands, Crown Royal has expanded to include other blended whiskies, flavored whiskies, and a rye whisky. See Seagram Company Ltd.
See also Bronfman Family and whisky, Canadian.
Faith, Nicholas. The Bronfmans: The Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007.
By: David Mahoney