Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian club whiskey (d. 1899)
Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 – January 12, 1899) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He purchased land across the Detroit River, just east of what is Windsor, Ontario, and established a distillery in 1858 in what would become Walkerville, 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.