from the Windsor Star
Now the official home of Wiser’s Whisky and owned by Pernod Ricard, Walkerville’s 150-year-old Hiram Walker Distillery still produces Canadian Club but its future lies in finding more varied products to ensure its viability as the largest distillery in Canada.
A year after embarking on an ambitious three-year plan to cut costs by $17 million, a spokesman said “the fog is lifting and I think we have a clearer view of where we’re going and how we’re going to get there.”
Jim Stanski, vice-president of Canadian production for Corby Distilleries, which operates the distillery, said “the business has changed and we have to be quicker and more efficient.
“This distillery was built for one product — Canadian Club — but now we have to be able to transform it into a facility capable of producing multiple products at smaller volumes, all at competitive costs….
…”This is the largest distillery in Canada and you have to have volume otherwise you get crushed by your overhead,” said Stanski….
…When Pernod Ricard acquired the Walker distillery, it embarked upon a comprehensive assessment of its new production facilities as well as its existing distilleries.
Once the assessment was complete, Pernod Ricard decided to close an existing distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., and keep its Walker plant open.
Williams said “it was confirmation of the quality of this site when Pernod decided to close one of their own to keep this one open.”…
…But perhaps the biggest symbolic change was the recent replacement of the Canadian Club sign across Riverside Drive with one advertising Wiser’s Whisky.
While the distillery will always be known locally as the home of Canadian Club, the fact is it’s now the official home of Wiser’s Whisky, which has been distilled here for the better part of three decades.
Kelly Gregoire, manager of communications for Hiram Walker & Sons, said “while we acknowledge the importance of Canadian Club in this community, Wiser’s is also a true Canadian brand and it’s been a true Windsor brand for three decades. In September, Wiser’s will mark its 150th year of production with a celebration here in Windsor.”
While CC is still distilled, blended, matured and bottled here for Canadian consumption, it’s done so under a co-packing agreement with Canadian Club Whisky, which is a division of Fortune Brands.
Bottling of CC for U.S. and overseas consumption is now done in the U.S.
Fortune bought the CC brand off Pernod Ricard when the French liquor company acquired Allied Domecq, which owned the local distillery, two years ago…
complete story
Hiram Walker, from a painting in Willistead Manor, Windsor, Ontario
Popularity: 86% [?]
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BY THE NUMBERS
Hiram Walker Distillery
Grain used annually
99,000 metric tons or 20 tons per hour
Absolute alcohol produced
40 million litres annually
Alcohol distilled
180,000 litres daily
Distilling capacity
37 fermenters, capacity of 218,000 litres
Barrels drained and filled annually
240,000
Blending capacity
114 tanks or 8,187,000 litres
Maturing capacity
14 warehouses capable of storing 1.6 million barrels
Bottling volume
Four million cases annually
Distribution volume
1.2 million cases a month
Products bottled
Malibu Rum (Coconut, Banana, Passion Fruit, Pineapple, Mango), Wiser’s Special Blend, Wiser’s DeLuxe, Polar Ice Vodka, Lamb’s Rum, (White, Palm Breeze, Navy ), Special Old, McGuiness White Rum, Red Tassel Vodka, Deaubonne Brandy, Meagher’s 1878, Silk Tassel, Royal Reserve, Black Diamond Rum, Grand Duke Vodka, Barclay Brandy Bonded Stock
Co-Packing for Fortune Brands
Canadian Club, Canadian Club Reserve, Canadian Club Classic.
Employees
320
what ever happened to t q hot tequila. if you are never going to import it again, where waas it from in mexico, I would love to buy some. I am finishing the last bottle of the last case I could find???
Hiram Walkers stopped importing it years ago.
YOu may wanto to try finding it at www.totalbeverage.net
or
If you like Vodka, you should try Inferno Vodka c/w a huge hot pepper.
Does the Windsor distillery use charcoal in its filtration process. I would like to acquire large quantities of this waste to carry out some agricultural experiments on my farm.
Recent agricultural research has discovered that charcoal can be a very productive soil amendment.
How can I contact the waste management personnel at the Wndsor plant?
thanks
Gerald van Koeverden
The answer is … Yes !
The Windsor Distillery (Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. A Pernod Ricard
Company), uses activated carbon for filtration of product. I’m not sure
about “acquiring large quantities”.
I have a unopened 32oz bottle of canadian club from 1967 (tax stamp still intact) Is it safe to drink?? Is it a collectors item??
i have a bottle thats 18 and a half inches. in the top right corner it has by appointment her majesty queenvictoria 1898-190-underthat its king edwardvii1901-1910and onth left side it has by appointmentking georgev 1910-1936 and under that it has king george vi 1936-1952 and in the middle of the bottle it says queen elizabeth and canadian club and somewhere on the bottle it says made in walkerville ontario canada. could this bottle be of any value?
Has anyone seen the new label for Canadian Club?? What have they done??? Why did they get rid of the classic, stately label, it provided so much more class to the brand. Now they have degraded it to look like some cheap wino brand of whisky. Unbelieveable!!!!!
Mark it’s not what is on the outside that’s important but what is on the inside that counts!
My boyfriend is a huge fan of Wiser’s whiskey, not only because Wiser is his last name, but, for the obvious amazing taste. He’s been looking all over the place for the WIserhood banner they have on those commercials and he can’t find one anywhere. Does anyone know where I can get one fast before the new year…
hey April, check out the Wisers website, you can actually enter your name and print out an official wiserhood certificate.
here is the address.
http://thewiserhood.com/
hi i have a bottle of imperial whiskey not sure how old it is but what i know is that my dad found it in a burned house it does have a cork in it with the foil on it if anyone knows who would have an idea let me know!!
I just inherited a home that had an unopened bottle of what I guess to be Hiram Walker Peach Schnapps, maybe Brandy. Most of the label is scratched off. The label that remains looks two tone gold with Hiram Walker writyen in red wrapping around the stem of the bottle. It also has a raised H W in the glass. Can you tell me how old this bottle is and hopefully exactly what it is.
Is there any place in the U.S. that we can purchase Hiram
Walker’s Deluxe?
i inherited a bottle of GIBSON’S ‘OLYMPIC’ whiskey, aged 16 years, and bottled for the 1976 montreal olympic games.it is in perfect condition and comes in a brown felt bag.it is part of a numbered series, mine is 1502.i am trying to find out more about it and what it may be worth.
The only information I could find were similar requests to determine their value, but unfortunately no responses
http://www.artofdrink.com/2006/06/gibsons-finest-12-year-old.php
Pat; The only Hiram Walkers Deluxe we ever heard of is a bourbon, which really gets my attenstion since it would have to be distilled in Kentucky to be called Bourbon.
I will continue to look for this.
UNDER WHAT NAME CAN HIRAM WALKER’S BOUBON BE PURCHASED?
i have an old hiram walker bottle lid and all and wondered if it was worth any value
When will we be able to purchase Hiram Walker Special Gold Rye Whisky in the United States? If not why not?
My Brother Gary John Gratton now deceased as of 29 June 2009 was a liquire rep for Hiram Walker for year in the Boise, Idaho: Helena Montana region. He told me before he passed away that he had a retirement account with or through your company. Please contact myself or my brother Joe Gratton jmgratton@cableone.net with any information that you may have. Thanks Johnny L Gratton
where can i buy hiram walkers deluxe in tampa fl??
hi i have a bottle of walkers deluxe straight bourbon whiskey a gold bottle my mother inlaw got it from a frind we wood like to no the price opf it it is num 37 and the date is 9/3/81 thank you
Wanting to purchase as many bottles of Walkers Deluxe bourbon. email me if you have any. indahl@hotmail.com.
I have a 4/5 quart bottle of 6 year old Canadian club, the seal has the date 1967 on it and it still has the federal tax seal on it. The bottle was never opened. Does it have any value as a collectible? Can it still be consumed after so long? If anyone knows please e-mail me. Thank You
Do they make Walkers Deluxe anymore ?Have about 3 oz left sure will miss it when it is gone ,guess i will qiut as that is aboutall i like
For better or worse, the label virtual reality stuck to this particular branch of computer graphics. ,
I found a boxed gold bottle of Walkers DeLuxe Bourbon Honoring Howard R. Walton. It is No. 638 in a limited edition of 660 bottles dated June 27, 1961 Detroit, Michigan. It is unopened and intact. Anybody know what the value of this is?
That will get it wider coverage as it gets linked to from there. ,
Your comments are really helpful. ,
Christie…My grandfather has a gold bottle with his name on it, actually I have it now and he got the bottle when we worked there for over 20 years. In fact he had a total of 3. If I remember….anyone could get a gold bottle with their name on it if you ordered one but not sure.
i have a bottle of 1878 canadian scotch-whiskey unopened and i was wondering what it might be worth if you could mail me at hatori_hanzo77@yahoo.com that would be great
I just found a bottle of 1920 Imperial Wiskey from Walkerville, Ontario, Canada. It is unopened and I would like to know if it is worth opening, saving or selling? Any help would be appreciated….my email is hguss@columbus.rr.com. Thank you in advance.
HEY I LOVE YOUR WHISKEY AND I HAVE A ? FOR YOU I FIND IN MY HOUSE A THAT IS NOT FULL IT IS IMPERIAL ESTD 1858 HIRAM WALKER BLENDED WHISKEY SAY ON IT STILL BLENDED AND BOTTLED BY HIRAM WALKER & SONS INC PEORIS,ILLINOIS-SAN FRANCISCO,CALIF HA-75 NUMBER ON THE BOTTLE 12615079 OR IT 12616079 SAY IT 86 PROOF AND THERE MORE NUMBER UNDEAR THE BOTTLE 123L D_23 4 56 WOOD LIKE TO KNOW IF ITS WORTH ANY MONEY PLEASE EMAIL ME BACK
Is there anywhere that still sells T Q Hot Tequila? I loved it and was very disappointed to see you stop selling it. I know it’s been a long time, but if you could point me in a direction I would greatly appreciate it.
