In 1858, Hiram Walker began distilling whisky in Walkerville, Ontario, then a little town just north of Windsor. Although he did not introduce his signature Canadian Club whisky until the 1880s, from the beginning, Walker used a process that involved blending several component whiskies according to a still-secret formula, then putting the resulting blend to age in barrels made of white oak. Walker experimented with ageing this “barrel blended” whisky for 5, then 6, and then 7 years, before finally settling on 6 years as the standard. More recently, various older versions, including 10, 12, 15, and 20 year olds, have been introduced to expand the range.

Some thirty-odd years ago, someone at the Hiram Walker distillery in Walkerville selected 89 real “honey” barrels of standard barrel-blended Canadian Club, and set them aside for long ageing. Whoever that person might have been ‘“ master blender, barrel jockey, or prankster ‘“ he (or she?) is owed a great debt of gratitude. Over those thirty years, the angels that visit the CC warehouses in Pike Creek, Ontario have consumed more than half of that whisky, leaving the equivalent of only 39 barrels of the golden liquid behind.

In 2008, when preparations for the 150th anniversary of Walker’s distillery were in full swing, his successors decided that the time had finally come to pull those old honey barrels out of the warehouse and to bottle their contents. The result? A supply of an astounding 2,560 six-bottle cases of this special Canadian Club 30-year-old edition.