The missing link
The recent Pernod Ricard-Allied deal reunited two great whisky names. But they were linked once before by whisky entrepreneur Jimmy Barclay. Iain Russell reports
Pernod Ricardâs acquisition of Allied Domecq will bring together two of the great names in the whisky world, in the form of their subsidiaries Chivas Brothers and George Ballantine & Son.
But the connection between the two goes back to the 1920s and involves the legendary whisky wheeler-dealer Jimmy Barclay.
Jimmy was described by a Canadian whisky executive as âone of the greatest whisky entrepreneurs ever to graduate into the respectable era from the bootlegging days.â A Scottish newspaper referred to him simply as âa remarkable man.â Without him, neither Chivas Regal nor Ballantineâs would be the world-famous brands they are today.
Jimmy Barclay was born in Glasgow in 1885 but after his mother died was raised by his grandfather. He began work as an office boy at the Benrinnes Distillery near Aberlour, earning half a crown (just under 13p) a week.
In 1909 he returned to Glasgow to work for Peter Mackie & Co, moving on 10 years later to start his own business.
Jimmy became one of Scotlandâs leading whisky brokers, buying up parcels of Scotch whisky and selling them on to blenders and other clients.
In the process, he acquired control of many well-known blending and bonding companies including J & G Stodart, T & A McClelland and the Highland Bonding Co.
In 1919, Jimmy and a partner called R A McKinlay acquired George Ballantine & Son, a long-established grocery, wines and spirits merchant. The dapper, urbane McKinlay took charge of the office and the prod.....
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By Iain Russell
Section : Whisky History
Page number : 48
