Aged for a minimum of 13 years in new, charred, American oak barrels, and bottled at 45% ABV. Vital Stats: Canadian whisky with a bourbon-like mash bill of 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% barley malts. Crown Royal Noble Collection 13-Year-Old Blenders’ Mash (image via Diageo) Tasting Notes: Crown Royal Noble Collection 13-Year-Old Blenders’ Mash It has as its mash bill a mix of 60% corn, 36% rye, and 4% barley malt, and has been aged in new, American oak barrels for at least 13 years – making it the oldest age-statement release from Crown Royal to date. While apparently only a name change, we still reviewed both the Bourbon Mash and the Blenders’ Mash earlier this year.Ĭrown Royal notes that both the regular Blenders’ Mash and this 13-year-old are in some way inspired by one of the five whiskies used to make the Crown Royal Deluxe blend, but the two expressions are technically distinct.Īside from the obvious named aging difference, the 13-year-old Blenders’ Mash is the third installment of the Noble Collection, which is an annual, limited-release series by Crown Royal. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) for first allowing Crown Royal to use the term, and then changing its mind too late for Crown Royal to change its label for the first release. In the wake of Crown Royal’s misadventure in briefly selling Canadian-made “bourbon” in the United States earlier this year, the famous whisky brand has forged ahead with its bourbon-inspired offering that’s now dubbed “Blenders’ Mash.”Įarlier this summer – months after Crown Royal parent Diageo agreed to give up the name “Bourbon Mash” – the distillery announced the release of a limited-release, premium version of the whiskey that triggered the uproar: a 13-year-old Blenders’ Mash.Īlthough it seems like an oversight for Crown Royal to have used bourbon for a non-American whisky released in the United States, the true blunder seems to fall on the U.S. Confused to what we are talking about exactly? Read on to understand more. When is the name of a whisky not a whiskey? When it is a Canadian corn-forward whisky which originally had bourbon in its title as the result of a labeling snafu by the U.S.