Canadian Club

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canadian Club at a liquor store in Iizaka, Fukushima, Japan

Canadian Club (also commonly known as just C.C.) is a Canadian brand of whisky. Canadian Club was created by Gooderham and Worts. It is currently being produced by Beam Suntory.[1]

History[change | change source]

Canadian Club started being made in 1858. The first distillery was created in Walkerville, Ontario. They decided to create the distillery in Walkerville because of the good quality of the local grains that were there.[2]

The whisky was popular in the late 19th century in gentlemen's clubs of Canada and the United States. It was known as "Club Whisky" because of this. After it became very popular, American distillers decided to petition to include the word "Canada" on the bottle to identify it from their competing whiskies. By doing this, they thought that it would stop the popularity of the whisky. However, this made the whisky even more exclusive. In 1889, Walker changed the label and added the word “Canadian” to the top of the label. In 1890, the label was changed again, with "Canadian" being moved down from the top of the label and incorporated into the name of the whisky.[3]

During the Prohibition years, one of Canadian Club's most important clients was gangster Al Capone. He would smuggle thousands of cases of Canadian Club through a route from Windsor to Detroit.[4]

The whisky has received royal warrants from Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Hiram Walker & Sons were the only North American distiller to receive a royal warrant.[5]

References[change | change source]

  1. "Canadian Club Whisky". Beam Suntory. Retrieved 2014-11-26.[permanent dead link]
  2. "The Early Days". Canadian Club Whisky. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
  3. "Club Whisky". Canadian Club Whisky. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
  4. "Gangsters, Bootleggers & The Real McCoy". Canadian Club Whisky. Retrieved 2014-11-26.
  5. "Getting The Royal Treatment". Walkerville Times. Retrieved 2014-11-26.

Other websites[change | change source]