128.8 Proof, 750 ml

Mister Sam Blended Whiskey A Tribute To Canadian Whisky Legend

The mighty Sam Bronfman, Seagram’s first master blender, revolutionized the art of blending as he built his Seagram Company into a massive spirits empire. Our Master Blender, Drew Mayville, comes from this Seagram master blender lineage. Before he came to Sazerac, Mayville was the last master blender at Seagram’s and his mentor was Seagram Master Blender Art Dawe, who worked directly with Sam Bronfman. Mayville created this perfect blend through experimentation and precision and it is fittingly bottled at our Old Montreal Distillery in Montreal, Quebec.

“Distilling is a science; Blending is an art”
Samuel Bronfman

“Mister Sam Blended Whiskey is a limited release from the Sazerac Company which pays tribute to Sam Bronfman, the late Seagram’s patriarch. Seagram’s, based in Canada, was once the largest spirits company in the world. Today, Sazerac owns 15 iconic Seagram’s brands and its former distillery in Montreal. This whiskey was crafted by Sazerac’s master blender Drew Mayville who happened to also be the fourth and final master blender for Seagram’s. This is a blend of American and Canadian whiskeys under the Sazerac umbrella of brands. This will be an annual release with the 2019 edition available in the US and Canada beginning April 2019.” The Distiller 96 Points

“There was a time in the annals of North American whiskey lore that a man by the name of Sam Bronfman played a pivotal role in the development of this brown spirit. Bronfman, also known as “Mister Sam,” was a Canadian businessman who came to have ownership of Seagram’s, at one time the largest and most successful distilled spirits company in the world. Now, in a tribute to him, spirits giant Sazerac has debuted the premium Mister Sam blended whiskey.

Mister Sam, according to those behind it, brings into focus the whiskey industry legacy of Bronfman. An immigrant to Canada from Imperial Russia in the late 1800s, Bronfman initially founded a company known as Distillers Corporation in 1924. Four years later, in 1928, his company acquired Seagram’s from the namesake’s family and, in the subsequent years, turned his renamed enterprise into a whiskey powerhouse that continued as such for many decades to come.

Where Sazerac comes into play in all of this is that ties between them and Seagram’s were formed in the 1940s, when Sazerac’s owners became one of the first distributors of Seagram brands in the United States. Today, Sazerac owns 15 former Seagram’s brands including the iconic Seagram’s V.O., Seagram’s Five Star, and Seagram’s ’83, along with its own distillery in Montreal.

The whiskey blend that is now a tribute to Bronfman was created by Sazerac’s Master Blender Drew Mayville, whose career included a 22 year stint at Seagram’s where he was the fourth and last master blender under the Seagram dynasty. Mayville is said to have had the vast array of Sazerac’s American and Canadian whiskey stocks at his disposal while developing this whiskey.

“I was thrilled to be able to work on the blend for this exciting tribute whiskey,” said Mayville in a prepared statement. “Mister Sam was known to say ‘Distilling is a science; Blending is an art,’ and he’s right.  Creating the elusive perfect blend is every bit about experimentation and precision.  We’re very proud of the whiskey we’ve created.”

Mister Sam is bottled at 133.8 proof and was put to glass at Sazerac’s Old Montreal Distillery in Canada. Specifics of the blend beyond the fact it is a mix of American and Canadian whiskeys were not released.” The Whiskey Wash