Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery

Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery
Notable Buildings, Things, and Events

Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery is a distillery that was founded by Hiram Walker in 1858.

Photo: Windsor Community Archives, PC 915 (circa 1925)

The distillery grew greatly in popularity and influence following its being established, with the company offering 27 varieties of whisky by 1882. In the same year, Walker officially changed his whisky brand from “Three Star Club” to “Club”,  registering the name as a trademark in April of 1882. Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery became renowned for its Club Whisky. The word “Canadian” was added to the label in 1889, and the product officially became Canadian Club Whisky by 1893. Hiram Walker’s sons gained ownership of the business following Hiram Walker’s death in 1899.

Hiram Walker & Sons received the Royal Warrant of Queen Victoria on the 17th of September 1898, making it one of the only distilleries in North America to have received this designation. Following Hiram Walker’s death in 1899, his sons operated the distillery before it was ultimately sold to Harry C. Hatch of Toronto in 1927 and purchased by Allied Domecq in 1989. Hiram Walker & Sons is currently a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard S.A.

 Hiram Walker & Sons continues to experience great success to this day. For example, the distillery was named “Distillery of the Year” in both 2018 and 2019, as recognized by the Canadian Whisky Awards.

Sources:

Hiram Walker & Sons once again named Distillery of the Year. (2019). Newswire.

Jahns, Art. (March 2001). How Walker’s Club became Canadian. In C. Edwards and Elaine Weeks (Ed) (2004). The Best of the Times Magazine. Windsor, ON: Walkerville Publishing. (Reprinted from The Times Magazine, Issue #14).

Price, Trevor. (1992). Windsor, 1892-1992: A Centennial Celebration: An Illustrated History. Windsor, ON: Chamber Publications.

Spencer, Don. (2008). Hiram Walker. The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Walkerville, Canada. (1899). Detroit, Mich. : Photochrom Co.

Weeks, Elaine. (2015). Walkerville: Whisky Town Extraordinaire. Windsor, ON: Walkerville Publishing.

Windsor area and Hiram Walker and Sons clean up at Canadian Whisky Awards. (2019). The Windsor Star.