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| JOHN DEWAR |
| Distiller & Spirit Merchant,
1856-1929 |
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The whisky-loving world owes a huge debt
(and more than a few sore heads, no doubt) to John Dewar. Unremarkable
though it may now sound, he was the first spirit merchant to recognise
the potential in selling whisky by the bottle to the general public.
Until that pivotal moment in alcohol marketing, the sale of whisky
had been limited to wooden casks, bought by hotels, pubs and other
licensed premises.
And so it was that the Scottish "carry-oot"
was born. By such simple, but effective means, John Dewar and
his brother Tommy transformed their father's local whisky supply
business in Perth into one of the giants of the world spirit trade.
The brothers made a formidable team, were
confident in their combined abilities and certainly weren't afraid
to noise up the industry to get themselves noticed. Never was
this better, or more noisily, demonstrated than at the 1885 Brewer's
Show in London when Tommy gained sensational publicity for the
firm by playing the bagpipes, much to the disapproval and earache
of the Show's organisers.
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| Dewars Whisky - at the forefront
of portraying Scotland as it really is ... thanks guys |
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John was made Lord Provost of Perth and
served as Liberal MP for Inverness-shire from 1900 to 1916. As
Lord Forteviot he became the first of the "Whisky Lords"
and his brother Tommy, not to be outdone, also became a Peer,
as Lord Dewar.
Their company was instrumental in finding
new markets for Scotch whisky outside of Scotland and helped to
build the international image and universal acceptance that Scotch
now enjoys. They merged with rival firm Buchanan in 1915 and joined
the giant conglomerate Distillers Company Ltd in 1925.
Dewar's (or Doo-ers, as our American cousins
prefer to call it) White Label is now the best selling whisky
in the USA.
Thanks to Johnny's bottle brainwave, however,
those who appreciate the very finest of whiskies can now enjoy
something extra special with a bottle of , which would otherwise
not be available to the public in casks as they're far too big,
heavy and expensive to stick in the post.
