Posts tagged Crown Royal
MANjr Crown Royal XR Happy Hour Recap
The MANjr team closed out the month of February in fine fashion with a little help from our friends at Crown Royal. During the holidays, we participated in a blogger gift exchange program called Pass the Crown. Having experienced the thrill of Pass the Crown the previous year, we knew what we were getting into, and we knew what we wanted to get out of it.
25 bloggers participated in Pass the Crown this time around and there were some pretty sweet gifts in the rotation. Everything from iPad Minis to cameras, guitars, Kindle Fires, watches, it was a pretty strong set of gifts this holiday season.
The first time we participated in Pass the Crown, we scored a Crown Royal Happy Hour and it was a really fun event. Good times with good booze and good people. So when it came time for us to open our purple bag this year (or choose to steal a previously opened gift), we knew what decision had to be made.
This was the purple gift bag that we had to ponder this time around:
We decided to pass. And instead, we targeted another Crown Royal Happy Hour as the gift that we want to steal. Having experienced a kick ass sponsored happy hour and having tried XR on multiple occasions, there was really one choice. So we liberated the Crown Royal XR Happy Hour from the poor fellas over at The Roosevelts (who ended up with two pairs of TOM sunglasses). We scored a bottle of XR for ourselves and one for you, our lucky readers.
The happy hour was a hit. With the Oscars on in the background, MANjr friends and colleagues enjoyed sips of the good stuff at Q’s on Wilshire. Not surprisingly, the XR went quick. That’s what happens when you invite too many Australians. If you haven’t tried this batch of Crown Royal XR yet, get on that. It’s really silky smooth stuff, not too spicy, not too stiff. Just full of subtle aromas and palate-pleasing sweetness.
Thanks again to Crown Royal for setting us up with such a great event. During the gift exchange, Crown sent out a purple gift bag of goodies to our troops for every tweet that included the hashtag #PassTheCrown. Over 1400 gift bags were sent out as part of the Crown Royal Heroes Project. So all good fun for a good cause. Can’t wait to swipe another happy hour next time around!
Mar 7th
NBA All Star Weekend 2013
Thanks to the awesome folks at Crown Royal, I got to attend my first NBA All Star Game this weekend. The trip was a reward of sorts, a prize for winning the Capture the Crown scavenger hunt in Indy last year. Team Win (Myself, Nick Evans from Straitpinkie.com, David Dennis from The Smoking Section and Brittany Edwards from Taylor) totally dominated the competition. We had a lot of help from Miss Edwards, who knows a thing or two about NASCAR, and we all got to bask in the glory of our victory during this weekend’s festivities.
Crown Royal Reign On Event
Crown Royal is rolling out a new set of TV spots around the message “Reign On.” Featured in these spots is NBA legend and all around great storyteller Dr. J. He’s a new ambassador for the brand and he really fits this new “Reign On” message.
So on Saturday night, when the skills competition, three point shootout and slam dunk contest were going on, me and the Indy crew got to attend an exclusive event that introduced the new Reign On spots and featured Reign On stories from Terrence J and Dr. J. The night also included a solid set of tunes from hip-hop producer 9th Wonder (hat tip for including “Glow of Love” by Change, seriously who doesn’t love old Luther Vandross jams?) and a whisky tasting hosted by all-around badass Master of Whiskey Stephen Wilson.
Take a look at the Dr. J Reign On TV spot:
And here’s a behind the scene’s video to check out as well:
Meeting Dr. J
Julius Erving was all class, man. Just super affable, upbeat and approachable. When the Dr. entered the room, he had a certain grace and presence. An arrogance-free gravitas.
When I shook the guy’s hand, he almost reached by elbow. Even at age 65, he’s still an impressive physical sight. Huge wingspan, hands big enough to pick up a Buick, with a swagger of a guy who’s more familiar with greatness than you are, but he doesn’t need to remind you about it. He knows and so do you. Meeting Dr. J was definitely a highlight of the weekend.
Hearing his Reign On moment was a treat. The Doctor talked about his entry into professional basketball, when he was an alternate Olympian who made the squad and overheard all these guys saying how much they were going to make playing professional basketball. Erving, who hadn’t really considered a pro career, absolutely dominated this group of would-be professionals. That’s when he knew he was going to do some damage in the game of basketball. Just a great story to hear from him.
The 2013 NBA All Star Game
Drinking great whisky while meeting NBA legends was good times, but watching the 2013 NBA All Star Game live wasn’t too shabby either. Here are some general thoughts on the game:
Lob City Represented Well
I was looking forward to cheering for the West. It was basically Kevin and the Clakers. Sure, there were some garbage minutes played by San Antonio players and the like, but the starting all-LA plus Durant squad was just awesome. Blake had some monster lob city moments and a ferocious off the backboard jam near the end of the 4th quarter. Chris Paul just kept feeding people all night, and his 20 points and 15 assists earned him MVP honors. Lob City was in full effect in Houston.
Joakim Noah Is a Kind of a Punk
This guy. I mean he kept running around the court begging for the ball and whenever he got it, he usually missed. He was often out of position and out of control. At one point, things started to get a little chippy between Noah and CP3. Noah got a little physical and even ended up hitting CP3 in the mouth with his slop. Paul responded by draining a big three point shot in Noah’s face. It was sweet justice.
Kevin Durant Is a Freak Show
It’s not like this guy needs more hype, but man, there’s not enough superlatives to describe his level of play. He’s got such effortless hops and he finishes so strong. It seemed like he played half the game multiple feet above the rim and the other half draining jumpers. He finished with a game-high 30 points.
Kobe Only Took High Degree of Difficulty Fade Away Jumpers and Showcased His D
Kobe refused to take easy buckets all night. Whenever he did shoot, he opted for long distance fade away jumpers over unsuspecting opponents. He also showed off his defensive skills with not one, but two blocks on LeBron James.
Russell Westbrook Made the Most of His Minutes
He may have been a reserve guy, but whenever Westbrook was in, he just dominated. He created his own opportunities, and just scored points in bunches. I’ve never seen him play in person and of all the non-starters on the floor, I thought he was the most impressive.
Alicia Keys Is Kinda Awesome
I’ve never seen Alicia Keys perform live before, but man, she can bring it. She had the whole arena fired up with piano skills, a booming voice, some sweet dance moves and an all-around lovely skillset that may have catapulted her to my number one music crush. Watching Ne-Yo perform and then seeing Alicia was like watching a JV high school basketball team compete against the Miami Heat. Just total entertainment domination.
Thanks again to Crown Royal for an amazing weekend. Good times were had by all and it was an experience that Team Win from Indy won’t soon forget!
Feb 19th
Super Bowl XLVII Pick
After all the Harbaugh brother hype, we actually get to watch a game on Sunday! The last of the football for a really long time. It’s a bittersweet moment; you get the culmination of a long season and the end pre-planned Sundays. Weekends will be wide open now.
I don’t really have a rooting interest in the Big Game. Not a big fan of the Ravens and not a big fan of 49er fans (where were you guys during the Shaun Hill era?). But rooting for injuries is just bad form, so I figure I’ll root for the team who gets in the whole first. I just want to see 60 minutes of interesting football.
Now as amazing as Joe Flacco has been throughout the playoffs, I think he could have a monster game in the Super Bowl and it still won’t be enough. The 49ers defense is younger, quicker, more physical, and one thing no one’s talking about, is the fact that this superior defensive squad will be playing on the fast track in New Orleans. A colleague of mine called this out and I think it’s pretty important.
The Ravens are grinder squad, built to play grinder games in the wintery conditions of the AFC North. The 49ers are younger, yes, and full sunshine and speedsters. From the QB to the D, and most skills players in between, San Francisco is going to play quicker on the turf.
I think it’ll be a pretty tight game. Low scoring to start. As the jitters settle, a back and forth scoring battle should unfold. We made our final prediction awhile back and sent it off to the fine folks and Crown Royal who’ve been in New Orleans throwing fun parties and stuffing Crown Royal bags ful of goodies to send off to our troops as part of the Crown Royals Heroes Project.
One of those Crown bags featured our prediction. Here’s Playmate Tiffany with the final reveal:
Photo Credits: AP on behalf of Crown Royal
If for some crazy reason we guessed the correct outcome of the game, we’ll get a bottle of Crown Royal XR, which is damn tasty, folks!
Enjoy the game!
Championship Week: 1-1
Season ATS: 136-120-5
Feb 3rd
We’re Up in Pass the Crown 2012
Big day today, MANjr fans. Today is our turn to make a move in the second annual Pass the Crown blogger gift battle! So it’s decision time and we got till 4 PM Eastern to make the call. We swipe another gift from one of the 25 participating bloggers or do we open up our embroidered purple bag to see what’s inside?
The gift that’s on the table comes with a hint:
But what does it all mean? Is it NASCAR-related? We know how much fun it can be posting up at a NASCAR event with the good folks from Crown! Indy was a blast. But we also know how much fun a Crown Royal happy hours can be for everyone in attendance. Tough call!
And then you got stuff like iPad Minis, Kindle Fires, Samsung Digital Cameras, Sonos Play 3, and a bunch of other cool gear that we can pilfer from other people. Help us decide what to do! Drop us an email below with your thoughts or hit us up on Twitter @MANjr. Check #PassTheCrown to follow all the gift war action. And this year, whenever the hashtag #PassTheCrown appears on Twitter, Crwon Royal will send out a gift bag to a soldier. Click retweet and support the troops!
Oh, one last thing. Whatever we end up with, we’ll be giving away the same gift to one lucky reader. So chime in if you want to sway our decision!
Dec 5th
MANjr Crown Royal Happy Hour Recap
We’ve done a lot of cool stuff with Crown Royal in the past, and on Sunday we got to team up with Crown for a sweet happy hour event at Yankee Doodles in Santa Monica. The event was a way to bring folks together to sip some great Crown cocktails, grab some grub and enjoy a great set of afternoon football games.
Crown Royal provided us with a few beverage options for the Happy Hour. We were serving traditional Crown, Crown Royal Black and the newest addition to the Crown whisky line, Crown Royal Maple Finished. The Maple launched last month. It’s finished by running whisky through maple toasted oak, which results in a subtle-sweet maple flavor that’s not too dessert-driven and retains the quality Crown flavor you already know and love. If you want to try this stuff out, look for the copper and auburn label with the maple leaf background. Thanks Canada!
In addition to the Crown options, there was a full menu of signature cocktails available. There was the Crown Royal Press, a brisk mix of Crown Royal Deluxe Blended Whisky with dashes of bitters, squeezed lemon wedges and a splash of lemon-lime soda. The Crown Royal Black and Ginger was a big hit, a simple mix of Black and ginger ale topped with a lime slice. The King George was one of two cocktails that featured the new Maple. It was a combo of Crown Royal Maple Finished, lemon juice, pineapple juice and simple syrup. People seemed to enjoy the Manitoba as well, a combo of Maple with lemon juice, simple syrup and a topper of ginger beer.
So we had great drinking options, good people and great football! The Rams pulled out a surprise victory in overtime. The Colts had an exciting comeback. And, most importantly, the Steelers won. Thirty-seven-year old backup QB Charlie Batch had some awful looking throw early, but he did what he had to do to secure the victory. Good times!
Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the great atmosphere and tasty libations! Special thanks to Taylor and super-star weekend visitor Christina Kavanaugh for coordinating such a fun event.
Stay tuned for more Crown Royal updates, as MANjr will be on the clock soon for this year’s Pass the Crown gift exchange game. Follow this cross-blogger gift battle on Twitter with the hashtag #PassTheCrown.
Dec 3rd
Fire Lieutenant Curtiss Shaver Wins the Crown Royal Your Hero’s Name Here Program
Crown Royal’s been running a cool contest that honors one local hero for their service by giving them naming rights to a NASCAR Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Sprint Cup series race that will take place in Indy on July 29 is now called Crown Royal Presents the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard powered by Big MachineRecords.com. The winner of the contest, Curtiss Shaver, is a firefighter from Troy, Alabama.
Shaver lost his lower left leg in a farming accident, but his life was saved by local firefighters. After this incident, Shaver began a lifelong career as a firefighter and EMT. He’s also a huge NASCAR fan.
After Shaver was selected, Crown Royal held a ceremony in Troy that included laying a replica “Yard of Bricks” in the downtown area. Shaver participated in this effort to bring a piece of the fames Brickyard in Indy to his hometown. He laid the final brick which featured an engraving of his name and the race logo.
There will be a bunch of events and celebrations in Indy on race weekend that will honor Shaver. He’ll ride his own pre-race pace car, kiss the bricks and even deliver the trophy with his name on it. Shaver’s’s the sixth person to be awarded race naming rights. After making the final five this year, Shaver was voted the winner by adult fans who voted on the Crown Royal Facebook page.
I’m heading to Indy for race weekend and I hope to congratulate this guy in person. Seems like a pretty cool honor for a very deserving dude.
Jul 19th
Crown Royal XR Review
If you’re going to buy your father a bottle of booze for his special day, why not go with something a bit classier than your standard whisky selection? Crown Royal is the top selling Canadian Whisky in the U.S., but if you’re going to pick up a bottle of Crown for your pops, why not go the extra mile and get him something finer, something smoother, something extra rare.
Crown Royal XR is limited-release blend of Crown Royal that’s sold in numbered bottled. It’s made out of the last batch of whiskies produced in the LaSalle distillery, located in Montreal. The distillery, which was built in 1924, had access to very fine water in the surrounding areas, and that smoothness is passed on to the bottle. This XR creation is the second Crown Royal XR release. The first came in 2006, and included whisky that was produced at the Waterloo distillery, another famous Canadian distillery that actually burned down in 1993.
So what does this XR stuff taste like? I think the most noticeable quality is the overwhelming smoothness of the whisky. It has some pretty strong flavors – there’s definitely some power behind the maple-nutty sweetness that starts things off, but the bite that you’d expect out of a bold, 80-proof beverage never really manifests. It’s the absence of a kick at the end that makes this whisky so nice. It just hits you with sweet, oaky flavor and follows through with a muted coating of friendliness. You expect a kick, but instead you’re served a pillow of dry, tranquil aroma.
As you’ve probably already guessed, Crown Royal XR isn’t cheap. It retails for $129.99. But if you’re looking to give the gift of extra-smooth whisky-love to your dad this Father’s Day, the price is worth it. You also get some sexy packaging – a clever bottle in a classy box with a gold silk lining that foreshadows the silky-smooth experience you’re about to enjoy. It’s better than presenting a liquor store bottle in a brown paper bag, that’s for damn sure. So this Father’s Day, get your dad something nice. Hook him up with some Extra Rare and he’ll thank you for it.
Jun 12th
Crown Royal Presents the “Your Hero’s Name Here” 400 at the Brickyard
Every year, Crown Royal runs a program that provides naming rights to a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race to a deserving hero. The winning servicemen and servicewomen are selected by fans. You can submit stories on the “Crown Your Hero” tab on the Crown Royal Facebook Page. If you want to nominate a firefighter, police officer, first responder, volunteer, soldier or other service person, make sure to submit an essay (100 words or less) by April 30, 2012. The essay must answer the following question: “Describe a personal achievement, unselfish act, or honorable act that is worthy of a toast with Crown Royal?” Finalists will be selected in May and fans will get to vote on the grand prize winner.
This year’s grand prize winner will receive an ultimate race experience at the 2012 Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where they’ll drop the green flag to start the race, tour pit row, get infield access and access to the Crown Royal suite and RV during the race. The grand prize also includes access to Victory Lane at the end of the race, room accommodations for two, roundtrip airfarem ground transportation to the race and a per diem. Five finalists will also receive tickets to the race, roundtrip airfare and accommodations in Indianapolis.
To learn more about the program, check out this video that showcases the experience of past winners:
Apr 13th
It’s Our Turn to Pass the Crown
We’ve been selected by Crown Royal to participate in an online gift receiving/stealing contest with a bunch of other cool sites. Other sites have received cool stuff like iPads and Kindle Fires and Crown parties with friends.
We are up next and we need to decide if we should open our gift or steal someone else’s.
Our hint: Thought 2011 went fast? You ain’t seen nothing yet
That’s the message that appears on our custom embroidered purple Crown Royal bag. Whatever gift we end up with will also go to a lucky reader!
So what should we do? Hijack someone else’s gift or see what’s inside our bag?
You can follow all the action on Twitter by checking out #PassTheCrown.
Dec 1st
