This day in history: Hiram Walker died on this day in 1899. Hiram Walker was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Hiram Walker founded his distillery in 1858 in Detroit. He first learned how to distill cider vinegar in his grocery store in the 1830s before moving on to whisky and producing his first barrels in 1854. However, with the Prohibition movement gathering momentum and Michigan already becoming "dry," Walker decided to move his distillery across the Detroit River to Windsor, Ontario.
Walker began selling his whisky as Hiram Walker's Club Whisky, in containers that were "clearly marked" and he used a process to make his whisky that was vastly different from all other distillers.
It became very popular, angering American distillers, who forced the US government to pass a law requiring that all foreign whiskeys state their country of origin on the label. From this point forward, Hiram Walker's Canadian Club whisky was Canada's top export whisky. He established and maintained the company town that grew around his distillery, exercising planning and control over every facet of the town, from public works to religious services to police and fire control.
The Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery remained in the Walker family until 1926 when they sold it to Harry C. Hatch. Canadian Club whisky is still produced at the distillery site Walker founded. The company has gone through several owners and is now part of Pernod Ricard. The Canadian Club brand is owned by Beam Suntory, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Japan.
As for the spelling of the drink, it is generally spelled “whiskey”—with an e—in the United States and Ireland. It is spelled “whisky”—without the e—in Scotland and Canada, which are both well known for their whisk(e)ys.
Most Canadian whiskies are blended multi-grain liquors containing a large percentage of corn spirits, and are typically lighter and smoother than other whisky styles. When Canadian distillers began adding small amounts of highly-flavorful rye grain to their mashes, people began demanding this new rye-flavored whisky, referring to it simply as "rye". Today, as for the past two centuries, the terms "rye whisky" and "Canadian whisky" are used interchangeably in Canada and (as defined in Canadian law) refer to exactly the same product, which generally is made with only a small amount of rye grain.
Canadian Club is still one of the top 10 best selling whisky's in the world, the top ten being:
1) Jack Daniels
2) Jim Beam
3) Jameson
4) Crown Royal (also Canadian)
5) Suntory Kakubin (including Highball)
6) Black Nikka
7) Suntory Torys (including Highball)
8) Maker’s Mark
9) Canadian Club
10) Seagram’s 7 Crown
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