Century crossing ages - the series

Today is Valentine's Day - the nameday of Valentine from Rome, patron of lovers and also seriously ill (legend has it that he was a doctor by profession). In connection with this day, I would like to present to you the story of a family whose name is a global brand in the field, so-called "Men's flowers" - dear Ladies, I am presenting an idea - a great Valentine's gift for the other half!

WALKER - a name recognizable all over the world, and in particular valued by lovers of strong, you could say men's drinks. However, before it took its deserved place in the pantheon of the rich and well-known, it took many years and countless liters of this golden drink, and it all began in 1805...

The spark

John Walker was born on a farm in Ayreshire, Scotland. In 1820, at only 15 years old, he inherited from his father a small colonial shop where he sold food and alcohol. In order to attract new customers and recognition of regulars, he made attempts to mix various types of leaf teas. Positive opinions about his mixtures reassured him that he had a "divine spark" for that, which he soon decided to use when mixing malt single malt whiskeys (from one distillery). Blending whiskey has become John's passion, so he decided to devote himself completely to refining and improving his blends. Of course, when mixing different types of whiskey, he used the same principles he learned when mixing tea. It soon turned out that by mixing various types of whiskey it is able to create a more refined alcohol with the right color and finish, which cannot be achieved with Single Malt Whiskey.

Legacy

When John Walker died in 1857, the art of whiskey mixing in Scotland was still far from perfect. Even the mixtures he made were known only in the west of Scotland. After the death of John Walker, his twenty-year-old son Alexander inherits his father's company, but above all the most valuable thing - the sense of whiskey mixing. In a short time, thanks to his visionary and obsessive approach to the quality of his whiskey, he built an empire beyond his wildest imaginations. Alexander Walker created a new whiskey mix called Old Highland Whiskey, the precursor of the modern Johnnie Walker Black Label. In 1867, he registered the rights to a characteristic angular bottle with a square base and an oblique label, thus creating a worldwide recognizable mark. In marketing, it was simply a brilliant move of Alexander Walker - next to such a looking, so marked bottle could not be passed without noticing it, which in turn gave the headache all the competition at the time. In the next generation, the family passion for whiskey was passed on by Alexander Walker to his two sons - George and Alexander Jr. The sons of Alexander Walker got into a grandfather and father - the younger Alexander Walker became another whiskey mixing master in the family, while his older brother - George Paterson Walker dealt with the trade and promotion of the brand. Traveling around the world, he consistently and persistently built a distribution network of Walker whiskey, which was soon to become a real empire. One of George's greatest contributions to the creation of the Johnnie Walker brand was the Wanderer, whose history became part of the Walker legend. When Red Label and Black Label appeared on the market, George Walker decided to create an advertising image of the product. He contacted one of the most famous cartoonists and illustrators of that time - Tom Brown, to jointly create the figure of a walking gentleman - "Striding Man" (in Poland Striding Man appeared as Mr. Wanderer - from the translated and diminutive name of the founder of the family - John Walker) . George Walker himself wrote the slogan under the drawing - "Born 1820. Still Going Strong". The family legend of Walkers says that for the illustrator the prototype of the walking man was George's grandfather - John Walker.

The famous Johnny Walker had his maxim that shone at his work. He also passed it on to his colleagues as a key to success - which he stubbornly believed. Here's what he said when describing the situation of his branch in Montana:

We have a minimum number of employees in Montana, but a maximum amount of cooperation.