John Walker (grocer)

John Walker ( * July 25, 1805 near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, † October 19, 1857 ) was a Scottish whiskey producer and founder of Johnnie Walker whiskey dynasty.

Life

John Walker was born the son of dairy farmers Elizabeth and Alexander Walker near Kilmarnock on the Todriggs farm in the Scottish county of Ayrshire. After his father died in 1819, he and his mother sold the parental farm to open a general store in nearby Kilmarnock. Soon, whiskey was added to the range of the store. Since most sold whiskey this time were still scratchy and rough, John tried soon on the aperture - the targeted mixing - of whiskey to taste improvements to achieve. Inspiration for this approach was the then already known aperture of tea. In 1833 he married his wife, Elizabeth, from his marriage emerged, born 1837 son Alexander. This took over after his father's death in 1857 the business and established the worldwide fame, named after his father brand.

Structure of the company

The company after his death

After the death of John Walker his only son Alexander took over the business. This had previously supported the father and now went to the expansion of the business. Among other things, the first branches were established outside Scotland from him. When he died in 1889, his sons took over George Paterson and Alexander Walker II the tasks of management. 1925 ended the history of the family business, John Walker & Sons through union with the Distillers Company Ltd., founded in 1877. However, the Johnnie Walker brand remained and became one of the most well-known spirit brands in the world. After various mergers Johnnie Walker is a brand of Diageo Group since 2002. Published in 2005 to mark the 200th birthday John Walker, a limited edition of 4000 bottles Special bottling of the Blue Label whiskey. The price is around 3,000 euros per bottle.

The Striding Man

The well-known " border man " ( Striding Man ) - the logo of Johnnie Walker whiskey - is drawn by Tom Browne caricature John Walker from 1909 Although originally drawn only in passing on a menu, the figure was emblematic of the best-selling whiskey brand. world. Over the years, the figure has been repeatedly redrawn and adapted to the image of the brand. Among other things, Basil Partridge, Leo Cheney, Clive Upton and Michael Peters were responsible for the redesign.

• Purveyor (United Kingdom)
• Born in 1805
• Died in 1857
• Man