Alexander Walker II
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Sir Alexander Walker II (1869 – 1950) was a Scottish businessman who was the younger grandson of John 'Johnnie' Walker of the whisky brand. He and his brother, George Paterson Walker, took the control of the company after the death of their father Alexander Walker in 1889.


Biography

Walker was born in 1869, the son of Alexander Walker. Alexander took his father's black labeled blend (called at the time ''Walker's Old Highland'') and added two more blends—''Old Highland (white label)'', ''Special Old Highland (red label)''—to the line. At the same time the original blend was renamed ''Extra Special Old Highland (black label)'' In 1909 Alexander's brother George oversaw the creation of the
Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...
Striding Man logo, and the rebranding of the lines as ''Johnnie Walker White Label'', ''Johnnie Walker Red Label'', and ''Johnnie Walker Black Label''. The brothers discontinued ''White Label'' during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
to move the brand more upscale, and in 1932 Alexander introduced his last blend, ''Johnnie Walker Swing''. Sir Alexander was knighted in 1920. Walker retired in 1940. On his death in 1950, he left all of his blending notes to the now public company. In the 1990s John Walker and Sons introduced ''Johnnie Walker Gold Label'' based in large part on those notes.


References

''Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History'' by Charles MacLean. ©2003 Charles MacLean & Cassell Illustrated.


External links


Sir Alexander Walker
1869 births 1950 deaths Whisky distillers Scottish knights 19th-century Scottish businesspeople 20th-century Scottish businesspeople {{Scotland-business-bio-stub