Far up in the windswept expanse of Manitoba, the Gimli Distillery sits quietly beside the vast inland sea of Lake Winnipeg. The terrain is flat and seemingly endless, where golden fields of rye and corn yield grains destined for one of the most ubiquitous whiskies on earth. The cold winters, warm summers, and steady prairie breezes play their part as the spirit rests in long rows of white warehouses stretching across the landscape, their interiors carefully monitored to coax consistency from the extremes.

The brand itself was born of pomp and pageantry. In 1939, as King George VI and Queen Elizabeth embarked on their Canadian tour, Samuel Bronfman of Seagram’s created a whisky fit for the occasion—bottled in a regal decanter, swathed in purple cloth, and christened Crown Royal. It remained a domestic treasure for years before finding international fame in the latter half of the twentieth century. Ownership passed to Diageo following Seagram’s dissolution, yet Gimli remains the sole source of Crown Royal's vast output, shipping countless litres south for bottling.

Production follows the Canadian tradition of separating mashbills: each grain—rye, corn, and barley—is distilled individually on towering continuous columns before aging in a variety of oak casks. These include new charred barrels, once-used bourbon casks, and on occasion, more exotic wood that adds gentle layers to the final marriage. The result is a meticulously blended whisky composed of dozens of component spirits, known for its soft vanilla sweetness, subtle rye spice, and silky mouthfeel. Chill-filtered and coloured for uniformity, Crown Royal embodies a polished, reliable expression of Canadian blending expertise, as comfortable on a cocktail bar shelf as it once was on a royal train.