High-end picks are a recognition of craftsmanship and achievement

Uh-oh! Are the eighties back? With seven new Starbucks opening daily and Whole Foods all but dominating the high-end grocery business, it’s easy to see how the premium experience has materialized around us. It’s also easy to compare this trend to the credit-card flush days of the ’80s, especially with The Donald gracing our TV screens again.

Where the ’80s were about excess (and mesh sandals), the premium experience is more altruistic. It’s a trend where product knowledge and experience are the driving factors, not consumption. It’s a trend about craftsmanship, achievement and the creation of a unique emotional connection.

At over $3,000 a bottle it may not grace one of our liquor cabinets any time soon, but for a select few, the limited edition Courvousier Succession J.S. is a prize worth seeking. Encased in a carved wooden box, a replica of Napolean’s own field cabinet, this cognac is not only the finest product Courvoisier has released, it’s also a leader in the growing category of “Ultra Premium” booze. Over the past five years, this category has blossomed as liquor companies respond to a shift in consumer attitude. Gone are the value days, as today’s consumers explore high-end brands looking for “the premium experience.”

In response to this trend, companies such as Diageo, a world leader in premium beverages, have re-aligned their product portfolios. In 2006 Diageo created a Reserve Brands group to include notable luxury brands such as Tanqueray Ten gin, Jose Cuervo Tequila and our personal favourite, Johnnie Walker Blue.

Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker Blue 200th Anniversary Edition commemorates the birthday of the whiskey legend. Originally a master tea blender, Johnnie Walker applied his skill to scotch blending and created a legacy despite the fact his product is something of an anomaly; a premium blended scotch in a world of single malts.

The 200th anniversary blend is undoubtedly king of its category. For $4,400 the bottle is a limited edition Baccarat crystal decanter, snuggled in a box of soft blue leather, accompanied by a book describing the product’s origins, and the limited edition ultra buttery, cask-strength blend.

To take the premium experience one step further, last September Diageo launched a program called “Inspired Luxury” with the mandate to educate mixologists in the virtues of ultra-premium products. With the rise of cocktail culture, the humble bartender has risen in status to something of a gatekeeper, imparting trusted knowledge to the consumer, as does any sales person in a luxury retail environment.

Courvoisier

Courvoisier, not to be out done, led a select group of food and booze enthusiasts through an intimate evening atop the Four Seasons Toronto. French food, Cognac and the legacy of Courvoisier “Le Cognac de Napoleon” — yep, Napoleon’s Cognac. The coup de gras of the evening was the opportunity to sample the entire Courvoisier line including their new showpiece.

Courvoisier Succession J.S. is a limited edition created to celebrate the bicentennial of Napoleon’s crowning as Emperor of France and it consists of a blend of Cognac derived from each year Courvoisier changed ownership. Sound appealing? You may need to speak to Courvoisier, there are fewer than two thousand of these gems available globally.

Crown Royal

Our final stop on the world-tour brings us back home to Canada. Our very own Crown Royal has recently stepped up to ultra premium status by contributing Crown Royal XR (Extra Rare). XR is a whiskey blend that features some of the last remaining product rescued from their legendary Waterloo distillery prior to its destruction by fire.

“Crown Royal XR is our first entry into the luxury goods category, and is a celebration of the brand’s amazing heritage and unmatched commitment to creating the very best,” says Andrew MacKay, Crown Royal XR Master Blender. “We are seeing an increasing trend toward trading up to premium indulgences and luxuries.”

Trade up recommendations

• Johnnie Walker Blue Label, John Walker & Sons Ltd, Scotland, $ 230.15
• Courvoisier XO, Courvoisier International S.A.R.L., France, $200.15
• Crown Royal XR, The Crown Royal Distilling Co., Canada, $175.20
• Hendrick’s Gin, Wm. Grant & Sons Ltd, Scotland, $40.15
• Jose Cuervo Reserva Da La Familia, Jose Cuervo International Inc., $184.10

First published at CanadianLiving.com