Crown Royal Blenders Select

The Blenders select was discussed on the last episode of the whisky topic if you're into listening to podcasts.

It's an LCBO only release, a blend of just two components 7 & 9 yr old whiskys vatted together. It's focusing on their Coffey still rye (which is very similar to a bourbon mashbill) not sure if it's uniquely that distillate or if there is another of their component whiskys included. It's actually out at a decent proof of 45%abv.

I don't remember offhand the number of cases but the Diageo rep mentions the number was fairly high.

I applaud the LCBO for making the effort to source special releases lately, between last barrels, dissertation and this. You have a good trifecta to represent the variety of styles Canadian whisky has to offer.

On the other hand bitching and complaining ahead feel free to skip they do such a poor job of promoting these releases, there's no special info capsule on the website, the product page is devoid of any tasting notes or mention of it being an exclusive product. Heck it wasn't even listed under Canadian whisky last week when I was searching for this.

They must hire the same person who's in charge of marketing the SAQ single barrel releases... Ok rant over and I didn't mean to make such a long post.

@cricklewood,

Crown Royal Blenders Select is the 45% abv batch version of Crown Royal Hand Selected Barrel 103 proof single barrel. This is as close to bourbon as you can get with a Canadian made whisky....the ancient Coffey still cranks out very special juice.

@paddockjudge thanks for clarifying the details. Since the report confirmed this was a blend of 7 & 9 yr old whisky does anyone know what the average age of the casks used for hand selected barrels generally are? Is it about the same?

@paddockjudge It’s too bad, though completely unsurprising, that this whisky is only available at the King & Portland location. Friggin’ bunch of citiots running the LCBO. Shame. Shame. Shame.

@OdysseusUnbound , Yep, the top knots are too tight at the LCBO.

@paddockjudge If you had to choose between Forty Creek Heritage and Gooderham & Worts Little Trinity, which would you choose? What are the taste differences?

@OdysseusUnbound _ I've not consumed enough of the G&W Trinity 17 YO to make a comparison with FC Heritage. My last taste of Trinity was in May, at S of T. During my visit to the Hiram Walker distillery in September I was focused on other labels...and refocused on a few in particular: L13 Legacy, W35, Lot No 40 CS, W15, Dissertation, barrel samples ....

@paddockjudge Good that you're not boasting.... You would never want to make the rest of us jealous...

@Nozinan _ it was a huge sacrifice! I had to put my life on hold for three days....especially the non-travel day.

@paddockjudge

Do you hear that? It's the world's tiniest violin and it's playing just for you...

@Nozinan I'll drink to that!

@OdysseusUnbound _ Livermore said his pick of the bunch from NBC Rare Release was G&W Trinity 17 YO.

@paddockjudge I just ordered a G & W Little Trinity. What the heck; why not just try to get them all?

@OdysseusUnbound because some of them are really expensive?

@Nozinan Yeah but it’s only money. You can always make more, right? Besides, the really expensive one (JPW 35) is sold out anyway.

@OdysseusUnbound While I admit to rolling my eyes at your frequent "citiots" rantings, I thought I'd do you the favour of mentioning that Barrel Select is now available online. It appears to be rolling out across the province as well, so it might make it to your neck of the woods eventually.

lcbo.com/lcbo/product/…

@Nelom Apologies for my rantings...though to be fair, if you lived in cottage country, you'd get sick of Torontonians too. They invade during the summer, and I'll just stop right there.

Thanks for the info.

@OdysseusUnbound That's not really a fair assessment.

Some Torontonians, like me, are too clueless to leave the city for the cottages in the summer....

Hey! Hang on there...who am I calling a Torontonian? I'm from Montreal...

@OdysseusUnbound Cobourg is a beach and marina town. We may not get as many people from the city as you folks, but the population explosion during the summer months is real so I can definitely sympathize with the frustration that that can bring. Much like many Torontonians can find tourists annoying too. It's just part of life when you choose to live in a place others are attracted to.

Anyway, enough about that. I've gotta go order a couple of bottles of Blenders Select.

@Nozinan I should be clear, not all Torontonians are "citiots". In fact, many of the "where is the gluten-free, organic, non-dairy, vegan, free-range, paleo, fair-trade, sustainably sourced, non-GMO ice cream?" crew come from Oakville or Whitby. And I would never insult a Montrealer. As pitiful as the Habs are this year, I LOVE Montréal. I'm not a big-city kind of guy, but I would move to Montréal in a heart-beat if my wife was willing.

"Citiots" appears to me to be a charmingly catchy and clever term, but I am sure I would not find it good-natured if it were being applied to me. A similar one I liked when I spotted it in Maine was a rest-room graffiti referring to "Massholes" = people from Massachusetts. This was an urban-entitled vs small city perspective analogous to Midland vs Toronto.

@Victor Maybe you didn't take the graffiti literally enough. After all, is it not the role of a washroom to provide a receptacle, aka a hole, for a certain type of mass?

@Victor And I’m not even in Midland: I’m in Victoria Harbour. And the term is not intended to hurt, it’s an expression of exasperation e.g. “Can you believe that citiot left his Beamer running AND parked in a handicapped space? Then he cut in front of everyone in line while yelling at his wife on the phone. Ugh.” Anyhow, if I came across aggressive or negative, I will cease and desist the use of the word. I’m sorry.

@OdysseusUnbound, bien entendu. I've been to Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong. Some day I hope to see Victoria Harbour, Ontario. I'll bet you've got great pickerel there. Plenty of great pickerel in that whole region.

@Victor We do, but they’re harder to come by than the more common Northern Pike.

@OdysseusUnbound This is the wrong thread for Northern Pike. This is is CR Blender's Select.

I think the thread you are looking for is either CRNHR or NBC...

Got me one of them Crown Royal Blender's Select. A bourbon by any other name...

Now I gotta get me one of these....

@OdysseusUnbound Do I detect FOMO? This has cost me a lot of money.... I am slowly learning I don't need every expression...

Of course, now that I've developed a taste for some Canadian whiskies, I am starting to experience FOMO and FORO... I may need to go offline for a while...

@OdysseusUnbound, there is an abundance of CRBS available, no urgency for this one. I rec'd a gift card and a bottle of CRBS. I was keen to try this one....reminiscent of a Four Roses OBSV and a recent batch of Jefferson's Reserve.

Is there a German word for a sadness you feel when you realize there are no bottles of Wiser’s 35 available online, and quite a few in store, but nowhere near you?

WisersVerzweiflung perhaps?