🥃 Chivas Regal

Chivas Regal is a brand of blended Scotch whisky from Chivas Brothers, which has belonged to the French group Pernod Ricard since 2001. The brand itself was created in 1909, and its roots go back to a grocery shop in Aberdeen opened in 1801. The heart of all the blends is malt whisky from the Strathisla distillery in the town of Keith in Speyside.

In 1836 the brothers James and John Chivas came to Aberdeen, and James became a partner in a local grocery and wine shop. In 1843 the brothers received a royal warrant to supply the court of Queen Victoria. The name Chivas Regal appeared in 1909, when the blender Charles Stuart Howard created a 25-year-old blend for the US market. In the mid-twentieth century the Canadian company Seagram bought the company and acquired the distillery in Keith, renaming it Strathisla; in 2001 these assets passed to Pernod Ricard.

Under the Scotch Whisky Regulations 2009, blended Scotch whisky is a mixture of single malt and single grain whiskies, each of which is distilled and aged for at least three years in oak casks in Scotland. In the bottle it is at least 40% ABV, and the number on the label is the age of the youngest whisky in the blend. Strathisla, founded in 1786, gives the blends their malt base.

The range: Chivas Regal 12, Extra 13, 18 and 25 years, XV, Mizunara, and Ultis, a blend of malt whiskies only, with no grain whisky.

Why it matters to you. The word “Regal” is part of the brand name, not a mark of quality or age. Age is guaranteed only by the number on the label, and it refers to the youngest whisky. Ultis is a different type of Scotch (blended malt), so look for “Blended Scotch Whisky” or “Blended Malt Scotch Whisky” on the label. The WHO reminds us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.