Australia first to launch Canadian Club 8 Year Old

Australia has been chosen as the first market to launch Canadian Club 8 Year Old.

Beam Suntory says Australia is "a priority market for 8 Year Old, with Canadian Club leading growth in the New Age Whisky category, experiencing year-on-year growth, at more than eight per cent in the last year."   

The product joins a portfolio that includes Canadian Club Original 1858, Spiced, 12 Year Old and 20 Year Old.  

Canadian Club 8 Year Old has a higher rye and barley content than the Original 1858 and is distilled and matured in char-treated American white oak barrels to create a rich, smooth flavour. 

“We are investing in packaging and innovation for all Canadian Club full bottled spirits to help consumers better navigate our range and provide a more premium offering as Australians look to trade up their drink,” says Tiffany Madsen, Marketing Manager, Canadian Club.   

“Through the introduction of 8 Year Old we are able to increase our range of age statement products within our portfolio, enabling more experienced drinkers to step up from the 1858 and explore a more developed whisky.” 

The launch is perfectly timed for Father’s Day.  

“We’ve seen a move away from traditional dark spirits, with consumers seeking a lighter more versatile offering, which is what Canadian Club provides – a smooth and easy drinking liquid,” Madsen added. 

With notes of English toffee and soft oak, Canadian Club 8 Year Old has a warm and lingering dry finish with an enduring presence of caramel and vanilla.  

The extra aging of Canadian Club 8 Year Old, combined with a slightly higher rye content creates a richer, smoother flavour that has the versatility to be drunk neat, as a highball with soda and fresh lime, or with a favourite mixer.

CC leads Canadian whisky revival

Canadian Club has been credited with leading a Canadian whisky revival over the past decade.

While Canada has been making whisky for over 200 years, it had fallen out of favour with critics and consumers in the early 2000s. 

Canadian Club launched a “Damn right your dad drank it” advertising campaign in 2007 that brought the amber liquid back into favour. Once Don Draper was spotted coolly sipping CC on TV’s "Mad Men" its popularity went through the roof.

Now connoisseurs are waking up to how delicious Canadian whiskies can be.

“They are really, really well made,” says Davin de Kergommeaux, author of Canadian Whisky: The Portable Expert. “They’re robust and flavourful and they have that elegance you only find in Canadian whisky.”

Additionally, by law in Canada, whisky must be aged a minimum of three years in barrel. Most are also multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits and a smaller one of rye, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles.