Continuing along our  Whisky in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1940-1945 — the second world war.  If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them

Despite the classy packaging with a crown shaped bottle and often wrapped in a richly purple velvet bag, Crown Royal has admittedly lost some of its high class image over the years. Today, the classy image that Crown Royal cultivates in its packaging and advertising feels very phony. The truth seems to be a 3,400,000 litre cash cow in a very marketable glass container. Of course this means nothing when it comes to the actual quality of the product in the bottle. Crown Royal the whisky has some very admirable …

Continuing along our  Cigars in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1930-1939 — the great depression.  If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them

Continuing along our  Whisky in History series (via images from the Life Archive), we now cover 1930-1939 — the end of prohibition.  If you missed the earlier posts, you can find them

When you’re first getting into cigars, and you would like to try something beyond the cheap brands in terms of flavour and experience, there’s a good chance your local tobacco shop will point you towards a Padrón. This brand has established itself as the source of good value, high quality entry level cigars. José Orlando Padrón, coming from a long family history of tobacco growing in Cuba, started his own cigar company in 1964 using American tobacco. As his market changed he needed a more reliable supply of materials and …

Owned by Pernod Ricard, Aberlour was founded over 180 years ago, with its distillery rebuilt on several occasions after fires in the late 1800s.  While their whisky is often overshadowed by neighbour Macallan’s sherry-cask offerings, Aberlour still produces over 2 million litres per year; given Aberlour’s distinctive yet smooth honey and heather character, I’m surprised it is not more.   Their A’bunadh offering is one of my (and my wife’s) favourites, and the 10 and 12 year’s price point (both under $60 in Vancouver) make both a great purchase on all …