Diageo is adding a single malt to its portfolio of Crown Royal Canadian whiskies.

The drinks giant is launching the Crown Royal Single Malt Canadian Whisky, a move it said was "shaking up the category".

Crown Royal Single Malt, distilled at the Valleyfield Distillery west of Montreal, is made from 100% malted barley grains.

The whiskey, which has an abv of 45%, is available "nationwide" in the US with an SRP of $54.99. In a statement, Diageo said the whiskey was available "in-store and through your favourite online retailers". Just Drinks has asked for further details on the launch.

Jesse Damashek, senior vice president of Diageo's North American Whiskeys unit, said: “As a leader in whisky, we're shaking up the category with this new innovation – defined by our signature smoothness and unique, Canadian origin.”

The company said the whisky offers consumers “creamy vanilla and fruity banana, which give way to flavours of caramel, apple and baking spices, finishing with lingering hints of spice and warm cinnamon”.

According to Diageo, Crown Royal is the “number-one selling Canadian whisky brand in the world”.

In March, it was reported the building of Diageo‘s Crown Royal Canadian whisky distillery in St. Clair Township, Ontario, had not yet started.

The company first announced its plans to build a new facility for the Crown Royal brand in March 2022.

At the time, the company said construction was due to start later that year and would be complete by 2025.

The site however had shown no signs of building work having started in March, according to the regional paper, The Sarnia Journal.

When asked by Just Drinks at the time for details on the status of the project, a Diageo spokesperson said in a statement: “We continue to work in preparation for the construction phase of our new site. We look forward to sharing additional details about the project timeline at a later date.”