Canadian Club
Encyclopedia
Canadian Club is a brand of whisky
from Canada
. Popularly known as C.C., Canadian Club began production in 1858. It was established by Hiram Walker
, and was known as Walker’s Club Whiskey. The brand is now produced by Beam Inc.
.
movement gathering momentum and Michigan
already becoming "dry", Walker decided to move his distillery across the Detroit River
to Windsor, Ontario
. From here, he was able to export his whisky, continue to perfect the distillation process and start to develop Walkerville
, a community that Walker financed and sourced most of his employees from.
Walker's whisky was particularly popular in the late 19th century gentlemen's clubs of the U.S. and Canada; hence it became known as "Club Whisky". Walker originally positioned his Club Whisky as a premium liquor, pitching it not only on its smoothness and purity but also the length of the aging process (Walker’s whisky was aged in oak barrels for a minimum of five years). This was revolutionary at the time, as all of the U.S. bourbons and whiskies were aged for less than a year.
Club Whisky became very popular and American distillers petitioned for the inclusion of the word “Canada” on the bottle to distinguish it from their competing whiskies, thinking it would halt the popularity of Walker’s. This backfired, only making Club Whisky more exclusive. Walker saw this and changed the label again in 1889 adding the word “Canadian” to the top of the label, distinguishing Walker’s recipe for his whisky from the other processes of the time (Scotch, Irish and U.S.). Hiram blended corn and barley in addition to rye before putting it in the barrels for maturation, a recipe that is now renowned throughout the world as that of Canadian whisky.
In 1890, the word “Canadian” was moved down from the top of the label and incorporated into the name of the whisky. This, however, was only temporary, as three years later the logo was changed again, transforming from a bold font into the scripted typeface that we see worldwide today (See logo above).
It was not until the American government introduced the Bottled in bond
law in 1894 that the people of America really started drinking Canadian Club. It was thanks to the passing of this law that all whiskey labelling had to include maturation time. This re-affirmed the fact that aging whisky was not just a fad and that, generally speaking, the older the whisky, the better the quality.
Walker's distillery went to his sons upon his death in 1899. Over the years, the family has branched out into other businesses. At one point, the Walkers employed almost the entire population of Walkerville, where they built police and fire stations, brought in running water and installed street lights. In 1890, the Canadian government acknowledged Walkerville as a legal town. It was incorporated into Windsor in 1935.
During the years of Prohibition
, one of the distillery’s most important clients was Chicago gangster Al Capone
. He smuggled in thousands of cases of Canadian Club via a route from Windsor to Detroit.
Canadian Club has received the royal warrant
s of Queen Victoria
, King Edward VII
, King George V
, King George VI
, and Queen Elizabeth II
. Hiram Walker & Sons was the only North American distiller to have been granted a royal warrant.
The Walker distillery remains in production in Windsor. Hiram Walker's main production is now Wiser's Whisky (Canada's best-selling whisky family), Polar Ice Vodka, Lamb's Rum and Malibu Rum. Canadian Club is still produced in the distillery under contract with the French owners Pernod Ricard
.
Canadian Club is now part of the Jim Beam
portfolio. It is its No. 4-selling alcoholic product, behind Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, Sauza tequila and DeKuyper cordials.
, Angel Falls, Mount St. Helens
, and the Swiss Alps
. The Mount Kilimanjaro case was not discovered until a Dutch journalist happened upon it in the mid-1970s. A small number of cases, such as one hidden above the Arctic Circle
, were never found.
The first "Hide A Case" campaign officially ended in 1971, and a second was started in 1975. This campaign used cases hidden in locations intended to be easier to access, such as in Death Valley
and on top of a skyscraper in New York City
. This second advertising campaign ended in 1981; between it and the first effort, a total of 22 cases were hidden and at least 16 recovered.
The "Hide A Case" campaign has been revived for 2010. According to the contest website, there is a $100,000 grand prize, among other prizes, for the contest's latest incarnation.
This is the most popular of the Canadian Club range, a basic brand. Often used as a mixer, the whisky typically matures for, as the name suggests, six years. It is sold in more than 150 countries. The product sold in Australia and New Zealand is 74 proof (37% abv).
The reserve line is matured for a decade, according to the company, to give it a richer flavor.
A 12-year-old whisky.
Matured for six years and distilled to 100 proof (50% abv), supposedly to give it a stronger, richer flavor.
Double matured, first in white oak barrels for at least eight years, then casks from the Sherry wine region (Spain). It is 82.6-proof (41.3% abv) and is touted by the company the finest in the Canadian Club range.
Launched in Australia in April 2001, this ready-to-drink beverage is a pre-mixed blend of six-year old Canadian Club and ginger ale. It is 10 -proof (5% abv) and is sold in a 330ml bottle. This beverage is also available in New Zealand, also coming pre-mixed with cola.
Canadian Club is also produced in limited quantities in older agings (15 years and up) for special markets. For the whisky's 150th anniversary in 2008, a 30-year-old version has been released in a very limited bottling.
Whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Popularly known as C.C., Canadian Club began production in 1858. It was established by Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker was an American grocer and distiller, and the eponym of the famous distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in the mid-1830s...
, and was known as Walker’s Club Whiskey. The brand is now produced by Beam Inc.
Beam Inc.
Beam Inc. is a spirits company established on October 4, 2011 from the remainder of the Fortune Brands holding company after it sold and spun off various other product lines to form a business focused exclusively on spirits and directly related products...
.
History
Walker founded his distillery in 1858 in Detroit. He first learned how to distill cider vinegar in his grocery store in the 1830s before moving on to whisky and producing his first barrels in 1854. However, with the prohibitionProhibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
movement gathering momentum and Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
already becoming "dry", Walker decided to move his distillery across the Detroit River
Detroit River
The Detroit River is a strait in the Great Lakes system. The name comes from the French Rivière du Détroit, which translates literally as "River of the Strait". The Detroit River has served an important role in the history of Detroit and is one of the busiest waterways in the world. The river...
to Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
. From here, he was able to export his whisky, continue to perfect the distillation process and start to develop Walkerville
Walkerville, Ontario
The former town of Walkerville Ontario, Canada is now a heritage precinct of Windsor Ontario. Incorporated in 1890, the town was founded by Hiram Walker, owner and producer of Canadian Club Whisky. Walker planned it as a 'model town’ ) that would be the envy of both the region and the continent...
, a community that Walker financed and sourced most of his employees from.
Walker's whisky was particularly popular in the late 19th century gentlemen's clubs of the U.S. and Canada; hence it became known as "Club Whisky". Walker originally positioned his Club Whisky as a premium liquor, pitching it not only on its smoothness and purity but also the length of the aging process (Walker’s whisky was aged in oak barrels for a minimum of five years). This was revolutionary at the time, as all of the U.S. bourbons and whiskies were aged for less than a year.
Club Whisky became very popular and American distillers petitioned for the inclusion of the word “Canada” on the bottle to distinguish it from their competing whiskies, thinking it would halt the popularity of Walker’s. This backfired, only making Club Whisky more exclusive. Walker saw this and changed the label again in 1889 adding the word “Canadian” to the top of the label, distinguishing Walker’s recipe for his whisky from the other processes of the time (Scotch, Irish and U.S.). Hiram blended corn and barley in addition to rye before putting it in the barrels for maturation, a recipe that is now renowned throughout the world as that of Canadian whisky.
In 1890, the word “Canadian” was moved down from the top of the label and incorporated into the name of the whisky. This, however, was only temporary, as three years later the logo was changed again, transforming from a bold font into the scripted typeface that we see worldwide today (See logo above).
It was not until the American government introduced the Bottled in bond
Bottled in bond
Bottled in bond refers to American-made spirit that has been aged and bottled according to a set of legal regulations contained in the United States government's Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits Bottled in bond refers to American-made spirit that has been aged and bottled according to a...
law in 1894 that the people of America really started drinking Canadian Club. It was thanks to the passing of this law that all whiskey labelling had to include maturation time. This re-affirmed the fact that aging whisky was not just a fad and that, generally speaking, the older the whisky, the better the quality.
Walker's distillery went to his sons upon his death in 1899. Over the years, the family has branched out into other businesses. At one point, the Walkers employed almost the entire population of Walkerville, where they built police and fire stations, brought in running water and installed street lights. In 1890, the Canadian government acknowledged Walkerville as a legal town. It was incorporated into Windsor in 1935.
During the years of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, one of the distillery’s most important clients was Chicago gangster Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
. He smuggled in thousands of cases of Canadian Club via a route from Windsor to Detroit.
Canadian Club has received the royal warrant
Royal Warrant
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, so lending prestige to the supplier...
s of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
, King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
, King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
, King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
, and Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. Hiram Walker & Sons was the only North American distiller to have been granted a royal warrant.
The Walker distillery remains in production in Windsor. Hiram Walker's main production is now Wiser's Whisky (Canada's best-selling whisky family), Polar Ice Vodka, Lamb's Rum and Malibu Rum. Canadian Club is still produced in the distillery under contract with the French owners Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...
.
Canadian Club is now part of the Jim Beam
Jim Beam
Jim Beam is a brand of bourbon whiskey produced in Clermont, Kentucky. It is currently one of the best selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 , seven generations of the Beam family have been involved in whiskey production for the company that produces the brand, which was given the name...
portfolio. It is its No. 4-selling alcoholic product, behind Jim Beam bourbon whiskey, Sauza tequila and DeKuyper cordials.
Advertising
In 1967, Hiram Walker & Sons launched their "Hide A Case" advertising campaign that involved enticing drinkers to seek out cases of Canadian Club that had been hidden at exotic locations throughout the world. Locations included Mount KilimanjaroMount Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro, with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira, is a dormant volcano in Kilimanjaro National Park, Tanzania and the highest mountain in Africa at above sea level .-Geology:...
, Angel Falls, Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is south of Seattle, Washington and northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a...
, and the Swiss Alps
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
. The Mount Kilimanjaro case was not discovered until a Dutch journalist happened upon it in the mid-1970s. A small number of cases, such as one hidden above the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
, were never found.
The first "Hide A Case" campaign officially ended in 1971, and a second was started in 1975. This campaign used cases hidden in locations intended to be easier to access, such as in Death Valley
Death Valley
Death Valley is a desert valley located in Eastern California. Situated within the Mojave Desert, it features the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Badwater, a basin located in Death Valley, is the specific location of the lowest elevation in North America at 282 feet below...
and on top of a skyscraper in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. This second advertising campaign ended in 1981; between it and the first effort, a total of 22 cases were hidden and at least 16 recovered.
The "Hide A Case" campaign has been revived for 2010. According to the contest website, there is a $100,000 grand prize, among other prizes, for the contest's latest incarnation.
Types
Canadian club comes in seven varieties. All are 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume) unless otherwise noted.- Canadian Club 6 Year Old / Canadian Club Premium
This is the most popular of the Canadian Club range, a basic brand. Often used as a mixer, the whisky typically matures for, as the name suggests, six years. It is sold in more than 150 countries. The product sold in Australia and New Zealand is 74 proof (37% abv).
- Canadian Club Reserve
The reserve line is matured for a decade, according to the company, to give it a richer flavor.
- Canadian Club Classic
A 12-year-old whisky.
- Canadian Club 100 Proof
Matured for six years and distilled to 100 proof (50% abv), supposedly to give it a stronger, richer flavor.
- Canadian Club Sherry Cask
Double matured, first in white oak barrels for at least eight years, then casks from the Sherry wine region (Spain). It is 82.6-proof (41.3% abv) and is touted by the company the finest in the Canadian Club range.
- Canadian Club Dry
Launched in Australia in April 2001, this ready-to-drink beverage is a pre-mixed blend of six-year old Canadian Club and ginger ale. It is 10 -proof (5% abv) and is sold in a 330ml bottle. This beverage is also available in New Zealand, also coming pre-mixed with cola.
Canadian Club is also produced in limited quantities in older agings (15 years and up) for special markets. For the whisky's 150th anniversary in 2008, a 30-year-old version has been released in a very limited bottling.
Popular culture
- Canadian Club is ad executive Don Draper's beverage of choice on the AMC television series Mad MenMad MenMad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
.
- In the prohibition era HBO television series Boardwalk Empire (with executive producer Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
), Canadian Club is the imported liquor of choice. The opening credits sequence features an ocean full of Canadian Club bottles washing up at lead actor Steve BuscemiSteve BuscemiSteven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi is an American actor, writer and film director. An associate member of the renowned experimental theater company The Wooster Group, Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films including New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs,...
's feet.
- It is mentioned in And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their TanksAnd the Hippos Were Boiled in Their TanksAnd the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks is a novel by Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs. It was written in 1945, a full decade before the two authors became famous as leading figures of the Beat Generation, and remained unpublished for many years....
by William S. BurroughsWilliam S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
and Jack KerouacJack KerouacJean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
.
See also
- Gooderham and Worts Distillery
- Hiram WalkerHiram WalkerHiram Walker was an American grocer and distiller, and the eponym of the famous distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in the mid-1830s...
- Harry C. HatchHarry C. HatchHarold Clifford "Harry" Hatch was a self-made millionaire industrialist from Prince Edward County, Ontario specializing in the business of wine and spirits....
- Canadian whiskyCanadian whiskyCanadian whisky is a type of whisky produced in Canada. Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles...
- WhiskyWhiskyWhisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...
- Distilled beverageDistilled beverageA distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...