THE ORIGINAL WHISKY BARONS

James Buchanan, Baron Woolavington

Famous Dram: Buchanan’s Blend (also known as House of Commons, Buchanan’s Special and Black and White)

A renaissance man with a flair for theatrics, James ‘Jimmy’ Buchanan would sell his blend by any means necessary. One example of his genius for promotion was when he hired twelve handsome, unemployed actors to visit a major London hotel that had declined to stock his whisky. The men arrived in full evening dress, sat down and ordered Buchanan’s Blend. When informed that the establishment couldn’t provide this, they swept out in disgust with opera cloaks flurrying behind whilst their fellow-diners looked on astounded!

Buchanan had a slow start, casing his London market for five years before starting James Buchanan and Company at the age of 35. His patience however, paid off and he was awarded the Royal Warrant of Appointment as Scotch Whisky Distiller to Queen Victoria. Buchanan then purchased The Black Swan Distillery in Holborn which was quickly demolished to make room for his new HQ. This gave him the space to indulge in his passion for horses and his parade of horse-drawn vans were to become a daily spectacular in London life for over 30 years. Due to his tireless work and public service, James was honoured as Lord Woolavington in 1922, thirteen years before his death.

John Dewar, Baron Forteviot & Thomas Baron Dewar

Famous Dram: White Label

In contrast to Buchanan who was a self made man, there were two Dewar’s that worked side-by-side to develop their father’s family business. Interestingly, their father (also John Dewar), was the first to put his own blended whisky into bottles, proudly labelled with his name. Despite the death of their father years previous, the brothers set up as John Dewar and Sons.

Tom ‘Tommy’ Dewar was the frontman; a charming, witty individual with a head for sales. With a base in London he travelled the world in search of new clientele, leaving the steady headed, business mind of his elder brother John to convert the ever expanding list of orders into production and delivery.

Tom and James Buchanan were friendly rivals for many years before their companies amalgamated, when both Barons realised that their competition was only costing them. As renaissance men, they spread the word of their golden nectar by throwing lavish parties and ensuring all the right people became aware of and enjoyed their brands. Thomas owned what was said to be the third motor car bought in Britain and considered himself an extension of the brand he was developing.

Sir Alexander Walker, KBE

FAMOUS DRAMS: WALKER’S KILMARNOCK WHISKY OLD HIGHLAND (5 YEARS OLD), SPECIAL OLD HIGHLAND (9 YEARS OLD), AND EXTRA SPECIAL OLD HIGHLAND (12 YEARS OLD). THESE BECAME JOHNNIE WALKER WHITE LABEL, RED LABEL AND BLACK LABEL IN 1909.

Having joined the family business in 1888, Alexander Walker II was the youngest of three and grandson of John ‘Johnnie’ Walker. He was also at the forefront of blended whisky. He worked tirelessly to build a name for himself and in 1908, he commissioned artist Tom Browne to portray his grandfather in a sketch that could be used for advertising. This portrayal of the famous Johnnie Walker was released in 1909 and is still used today. He and his father, Alexander ‘Alec’ Walker I, clearly had a knack for branding as even today Johnnie Walker remains one of the longest standing names. The square bottle that Alec introduced in 1860 allowed more bottles to fit into any given space with fewer breaks occurring which ultimately maximised exports. This design along with the iconic slanted labels that allow text to be made more visible are still used today.

James Baron Stevenson

Born in Kilmarnock, James Stevenson was a British businessman and civil servant. He joined Johnnie Walker at the age of 15, the same year that Alexander II joined the company, and worked his way through the ranks to become joint Managing Director. His most notable contribution to the company was its slogan ‘Born in 1820 – still going strong’ which was released with Browne’s sketch and remained for 91 years. Diageo subsequently changed this to ‘Keep Walking’ in 1999 and reverted the direction in which Johnnie was walking.

During the First World War James found himself side-by-side with Alexander once again, working for the Ministry of Munitions and was honoured as Baronet of Walton Heath, Surrey for his service in 1917. After the war, he went on to work with the government and became a personal advisor to Winston Churchill. He was the first man from Kilmarnock to be raised to peerage and in 1924 became James Baron Stevenson, just before fighting successfully to prevent the demolition of Wembley Stadium. James died in 1926, age 53 and Wembley Stadium still stands today.

Sir Peter Mackie, Baronet

Famous Dram: White Horse

Known for attacking young, cheap and fiery whisky, Peter Mackie insisted on three things in the whisky industry; quality, maturity and age. He was instrumental in overturning the legal position against patent-still grain whisky, which wasn’t considered to meet the legal requirements of whisky under the Food and Drugs Act until 1909.

In 1908, Mackie’s company was awarded a Royal Warrant as Distillers of Blended Scotch Whisky and the Royal Commission backed the decision to include grain spirit in the definition of whisky the following year.

Douglas Haig, Earl Haig

Having lost both of his parents before turning eighteen, Douglas Haig and his brother inherited the successful family whisky distillery, Haig and Haig. Douglas attended Oxford University, spending much of his time socialising and playing for the university polo team. Following his university education, he headed straight for the Royal Military College of Sandhurst to begin his officer training.

During his life, this Whisky Baron was awarded 29 honours - the majority of which were for his contributions in World War I as Haig was Commander-in-Chief to the Prime Minister at the time, David Lloyd George. He was also awarded 5 honorary degrees in the legal field and has left a worldwide legacy with roads, football teams, trains and flowers all named after him.

We most readily recognise he name from Haig Club, the modern grain spirit produced by his family distillery.

Francis Berry, Walter Berry & Hugh Rudd

Famous Dram: Cutty Sark

Whilst they were primarily wine merchants, Francis and Walter Berry also sold whisky to countries all over the globe alongside Hugh Rudd, eventually creating their own blend, Cutty Sark. Francis travelled the globe and was a leader of the Ligue Internationale des Adversaires de la Prohibition, fighting against the prohibition laws in America. Whilst he couldn’t be seen to be involved in rum-running or bootlegging, it was perfectly legal for him to deliver large quantities of liquor to the British colonial port of Nassau.

This was no secret of the trade and many entrepreneurs in the liquor industry made their voyage to Nassau in the hopes of striking it big. It wasn’t uncommon for companies such as Berry Bros and Rudd (then Berry Brothers and Company), to have a merchant permanently based here to supply their spirits to America via Rum Row.

Captain William McCoy

Rum Row was founded by Bill McCoy as a floating hub for the alcohol trade during prohibition. It was a 150-mile crescent stretched from Long Island to Atlantic City with up to 100 ships anchored at any time. This provided anyone with a boat the opportunity to shop for their alcohol wholesale, all they had to do was bootleg it back home.

Unfortunately, due to the fact it was an illegal market, spirit was often ‘cut’ with water, moonshine and other potentially lethal substances. As a result of this, it was common for bootleggers to use the name of the shipper that they trusted as opposed to the distiller/blender as a mark of quality.

Captain McCoy was a pioneer rum-runner and had built a name for himself as a man of integrity. He personally guaranteed the quality of any product he sold and whilst his market place provided consumers with many options, he was always trusted when it came to quality. Accordingly, his name gave life to the phrase ‘the real McCoy’.