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Distillery buildings in Walkerville circa 1910, By Detroit ,

Top 10 amazing facts about Canadian club Walkerville Ontario

Canadian Club is a brand of  Canadian whisky produced by Beam Suntory. It is Popularly known as CC, Canadian Club was created by Hiram Walkers and Sons, an evolution of a brand around a product that took place over the second half of the nineteenth century. Hiram Walker merged with Gooderham Worts, Ltd. It has received the royal warrants of Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V, George VI, and Elizabeth II. Hiram Walker & Sons are the only North American distiller to have been granted a royal warrant.

1. It was founded by Hiram Walker

Hiram Walker founded the 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.

Walker’s whisky was particularly popular in the late 19th century gentlemen’s clubs of the United States and Canada; hence it became known as “Club Whisky.” Walker originally positioned the whisky as a premium liquor, pitching it not only on its smoothness and purity but also on its five-year oak barrel aging.

2. ‘Hide A Case’ was an advertising campaign for the Canadian Club

In 1967, Hiram Walker & Sons launched their “Hide A Case” advertising campaign that enticed drinkers to seek out cases of Canadian Club hidden at exotic locations throughout the world, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Angel Falls, Mount St. Helens, and the Swiss Alp. It officially ended in 1971

3. It is still in use  today

The Canadian Club Brand Center (spelled with an American ‘err’) is still in use today, and if you find yourself in the area, it’s worth taking some time to stop by and take a guided tour. This ancestral home and heritage building is a part art gallery, with its Group of Seven collections on display in one of its many well-appointed rooms, and part museum, with ledger books and cooperage tools on display. Downstairs, the Canadian Club archive room houses row-upon-row of CC bottles, both genuine and counterfeit, gathered through the years (the room itself used to house a luxurious swimming pool, which is a whole other story unto itself). Bottles, minus their labels, are occasionally dredged from the Detroit River to this day.

4. It has a hidden tunnel

In the dimly lit speakeasy hidden in the basement, one can envision Al Capone’s rum-runners wheeling, dealing, and disagreeing, based on the bullet hole still visible in the brick wall and as a result of some Prohibition-era discussion gone awry (a-rye?). Also in the basement is the entrance to a hidden tunnel, where whisky shipments were illegally transported via horse and buggy under the quite shallow Detroit River and over into the U.S.

5. The term ‘bootlegger’ stems from curved-shaped CC bottles

Bottles of Canadian Club whisky for sale in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. By Brian Adler-

The term ‘bootlegger’ stems from curved-shaped CC bottles which were much more comfortable to slip into a worker’s boot than a round one. And then there was a certain sea captain and rum smuggler named Bill McCoy who demanded clean, quality Canadian Club whisky be supplied to speakeasies during The Roaring Twenties — a time when adulterated ‘whisky’ was wreaking havoc on unsuspecting folks. From that point forward, all things authentic came to be known as ‘the real McCoy’.

6. CC  became  the first to be known as the whisky of choice in exclusive Canadian and American clubs

In the mid-to-late 1800s, CC first became known as the whisky of choice in exclusive Canadian and American clubs, which is how the name ‘club whisky’ came to be. The addition of ‘Canadian’ to the name came about in 1889 as a way of distinguishing it from other types of whisky, such as Kentucky or Irish. Queen Victoria drank CC. James Bond drank CC, albeit fictitiously. More recently, the brand has been enjoying a resurgence in popularity after receiving some serious TV airtime featured in both Mad Men and, my personal five, Boardwalk Empire.

7. It has hosted  various events

Canadian Club has run many innovative promotional campaigns over the years, including ‘Damn Right Your Dad Drank It’ and the annual ‘November’ charity event. But before both of these, there was the Hide-A-Case campaign, which first began in 1967. Over the years, cases of CC have been strategically hidden the world over, and while most have since been discovered, a few have not, including one in Tonga which was hidden back in 1991.

8. It hosted the toast for the four Canadian and four American contestants’ bon voyage

Hence our gathering on this day, to toast four Canadian and four American contestants and wish them ‘bon voyage’ as they were whisked off to this remote island in the South Pacific in search of the missing case. While there, Kevin Brauch, host of the Thirsty Traveler, guided teams through a series of games and challenges, leading to the elimination of one team and then narrowing to one of the remaining members.

9. The best place to get a larger in Canada

Diamond cruise boat on the Detroit River near Hiram Walker grain elevator. Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, By jodelli ,

It is quite possibly the best place in Canada to get larger.  A case can be made for Windsor being the best place in Canada to get a lager as two of the top 3 lagers in Canada in 2018 came from the city.  This doesn’t even include the Honest Lager from Walkersville Brewery, which is popular among locals. It also helps give Windsor a trifecta that not every city can boast of: being a burgeoning distillery, wine, and beer scene all-in-one.

10. The world’s only poutine food tour

It is the world’s only Poutine food tour. Gluttony, damn tasty, dirty gluttony. Windsor’s fabulously gritty city and we make no apologies for it as we give you an authentic look at the underbelly of a great Canadian city. Wander down dark alleys covered with graffiti as you learn historical Canadian facts on your way to taste a variety of different takes on Canada’s most well-known comfort food. The Dirty Poutine Experience is the only food tour in the world that exclusively serves up poutine. Four of them. Some classic, some with a twist, all delicious.