Diageo of England plans to spend about $245 million to build a whiskey-producing, blending, warehouse and packaging plant near Sarnia.
It will have “capacity to produce up to 20 million litres of absolute alcohol,” Diageo said in a release. Diageo was formed in 1997 and its global brands also include Smirnoff vodka, Baileys liqueur, Captain Morgan rum, Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky and Guinness beer.
The 400-acre site is in St. Clair Township will produce Crown Royal whiskey.
The Crown Royal plant at Gimli, Man. and the Black Velvet distillery at Lethbridge, Alta. are 50 to 60 years old and no new Canadian plants have been built since then, although a number of craft distilleries have opened in communities across Canada in the last decade.
Crown Royal, now owned by Diageo, also operates large-scale blending facilities in Amherstburg, Ont. and Valleyfield, Quebec.
