Hiram Walker: Lot No. 40, Pike Creek and Gooderham & Worts
Type: Distillery
When Mike Booth arrived at Hiram Walker in 1971, the pot still that would later make Lot No. 40 was already there.[7]
Today, Hiram Walker & Sons in Windsor, Ontario, is the production home of Lot No. 40, Pike Creek and modern Gooderham & Worts. Each takes a different path: pot-distilled rye, whisky finished in rum barrels and a four-grain blend bearing the name of a historic Toronto distillery.[1][3][8][11]
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Walkerville, Windsor, Ontario, on the Detroit River, according to the producer.[1] |
| Distillery operations began | 1858.[2][5] |
| Legal owner and effective date | Not reliably established in the supplied record. |
| Ultimate parent | Pernod Ricard, according to the supplied record checked November 2026.[1][2] |
| Brand management | Corby Spirit and Wine manages the Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts brands for Pernod Ricard.[8] |
| Business status | Not separately confirmed in the supplied record, November 2026. |
| Distilling status | Present production activity not separately confirmed in the supplied record, November 2026. |
| Visitor access | The producer invites visitors for tours; confirm current arrangements, November 2026.[1] |
| Site | Standing, described on the producer’s Hiram Walker page, checked November 2026.[1] |
| Official website | Corby’s Hiram Walker page.[1] |
What Hiram Walker is known for
Hiram Walker is a distillery, not a single whisky. Corby calls it a “grain-to-glass facility” and says most of its own brands are produced there. The Oxford Companion describes it as one of North America’s largest distilleries.[1][12]
Its reach extends beyond the three names here. Hiram Walker & Sons Limited also produces J.P. Wiser’s at Windsor. Canadian Club, meanwhile, shows how a whisky’s production home and its ownership can follow different paths.[6][12]
Canadian Club was separated from the distillery in 2005, when Pernod Ricard acquired Allied Domecq. Hiram Walker continued making Canadian Club whiskies under contract to the brand owner. Production at Windsor does not establish ownership of the brand.[2][12]
Lot No. 40, Pike Creek and Gooderham & Worts share a production address, yet retain distinct identities. Their grains, distillation methods, maturation histories and origins explain more about them than the address alone.[3][7][8][11]
Lot No. 40: rye, a pot still and a revival
Lot No. 40 first appeared in 1998, one of three whiskies in the Canadian Whisky Guild collection developed by Mike Booth and his team.[7]
The name reaches back to a mill on a plot called Lot 40, owned by Booth’s ancestor Joshua Booth. That family connection gave the modern whisky its name and its starting idea.[7]
Story box: the idea behind Lot No. 40
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| Founding story | Introduced in 1998 through the Canadian Whisky Guild. Source: Whisky Magazine, 2018. |
| Turning point | David Doyle and Dr Don Livermore revived it in 2012 through the Northern Border Collection. Sources: Whisky Magazine, 2018 and Pernod Ricard. |
| Key person | Mike Booth, who imagined what his ancestor’s mill might have made. Source: Whisky Magazine, 2018. |
| Documented record | A modern interpretation, not an authenticated eighteenth-century recipe. Source: Whisky Magazine, 2018. |
| Claim-source mapping | The 1998 launch and Booth’s explanation come from the Whisky Magazine interview; Pernod Ricard also gives 2012 as the release year. The links above accompany those claims. |
| Last checked | November 2026; exact day not established in the supplied record. |
Verdict badge: Booth’s inspiration
| Field | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Claim | Mike Booth developed Lot No. 40 around his idea of what his ancestor’s mill might have produced. |
| Verdict | Documented |
| What the record shows | Booth described that inspiration in a published interview.[7] |
| Evidence against or gap | The interview does not establish an original mill recipe. |
| Earliest known source | The earliest source identified in the supplied sheet is Whisky Magazine, 23 March 2018. |
| Sources | Whisky Magazine, “Beneath the Underdog”, Issue 150, 2018 |
| Last checked | November 2026; exact day not established in the supplied record. |
The original whisky was discontinued within a few years. When it returned in 2012, the recipe had changed. Booth’s version used 90 per cent rye grain and 10 per cent malted rye, matured in ex-Bourbon casks. The revival used entirely unmalted rye and a virgin-oak finish, according to Whisky Magazine.[7]
Pernod Ricard now describes Lot No. 40 as a 100 per cent rye whisky, distilled “one batch at a time” in a single copper pot still and aged in virgin white oak. That is the producer’s present account; the recipe history explains why older and newer references to its grains and wood can differ.[3][7]
Other expressions have carried the name, too. Documented releases include 12 Years Old cask strength in 2017 and 11 Years Old cask strength in 2018. Corby has also named Dark Oak and Rye Explorations: Cherry Wood Casks.[6][7]
Pike Creek: the finish changed
Port pipes gave way to rum barrels at Pike Creek in October 2016. Like Lot No. 40, it belonged to the late-1990s Canadian Whisky Guild series and returned in late 2012. Here, the distinction is between finishing casks rather than rye recipes.[11]
Whisky Analysis describes double distillation in small copper column stills, maturation in first fill Bourbon barrels and a 10 year age statement, with the rum-barrel finish replacing the original port-pipe finish.[11]
Check the finish when identifying a bottle or reading an older review. A description of the port-finished whisky does not describe the rum-finished expression. Corby’s January 2025 awards announcement explicitly names Pike Creek 10 Year Old Rum Barrel Finish.[6][11]
Where Lot No. 40 emphasises the pot still, Pike Creek’s published production account centres on column distillation and successive cask influences. Establish which finish is in the glass before comparing tasting descriptions, especially those written on opposite sides of the 2016 change.[3][11]
Gooderham & Worts: Toronto origins, Windsor production
Gooderham & Worts began with grain and a mill. A grist mill was built in Toronto in 1832; a still followed in 1837 to turn surplus grain into whisky. The brand’s history identifies William Gooderham and James Worts as brothers-in-law from Suffolk, England.[9][10]
William’s nephew, James Gooderham Worts, joined in 1845. Whisky Magazine describes his use of copper pot stills with a mash that included rye. Milling and distilling were closely connected at the heart of the business.[8]
In October 1869, fire gutted the stone distillery. Its walls survived, and it was rebuilt. During the First World War, whisky gave way to acetone production for the war effort.[8][9]
The defining date for today’s whisky is 1957. That year, the last grain spirit ran from the Toronto stills and whisky production moved to Windsor. The Toronto buildings and the modern brand share a history, but not a production address.[8][9]
Parks Canada records the Toronto complex’s designation as a National Historic Site in 1988. Its account describes 30 brick and stone buildings across about 5.3 hectares (13 acres), built between 1859 and 1927.[10]
Corby revived Gooderham & Worts Natural Small Batch in 1998 through the Canadian Whisky Guild, then dropped it around 2000. Four Grain followed in 2015, made with rye, wheat, corn and barley. Later releases included Little Trinity 17 Years Old in 2017, Eleven Souls in 2018 and 49 Wellington 19 Years Old in 2019.[8]
A production and company timeline
Windsor and Toronto became part of the same story through a series of purchases, a merger and the eventual transfer of whisky production. Distilling began at Hiram Walker long before the businesses came together.[2][8][9]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1858 | Distillery operations began at Hiram Walker.[2][5] |
| 1923 | The Gooderham family sold Gooderham & Worts to Harry C. Hatch on 22 December.[9] |
| 1926 | Hatch bought Hiram Walker and Sons and merged it with Gooderham & Worts.[2] |
| 1935 | The company acquired a 51 per cent stake in H. Corby Distillery Company, owner of J.P. Wiser.[2] |
| 1957 | Whisky production moved from Toronto to Windsor.[8][9] |
| 1987 | The business was sold to Allied Lyons, later Allied Domecq.[2] |
| 2005 | Pernod Ricard acquired Allied Domecq; the distillery and Canadian Club brand were separated.[2][12] |
Visiting Hiram Walker
The producer invites visitors to come for a tour. Check its official page and confirm booking requirements, accessibility and tour age rules directly before travelling, rather than treating that invitation as confirmation of a particular session.[1]
Where to go next
- Canadian Club: follow the brand whose ownership separated from its Windsor production home.
- J.P. Wiser's: explore another whisky produced by Hiram Walker & Sons Limited.
- Alberta Premium: continue with another Canadian rye whisky subject.
Sources
- Corby Spirit and Wine Limited. Hiram Walker. Undated producer’s account, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.corby.ca/en/hiram-walker
- University of Windsor, Leddy Library Archives and Special Collections. Hiram Walker & Sons. Undated archival description, supplied record checked November 2026. https://uwinarchives.accesstomemory.org/index.php/hiram-walker-sons
- Pernod Ricard. Lot No. 40. Undated producer’s account, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.pernod-ricard.com/en/brands/lot-no-40
- Windsor Public Library. Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery. Undated page, supplied record checked November 2026. https://windsorpubliclibrary.com/hiram-walker-sons-distillery/
- Corby Spirit and Wine via Newswire. Corby Spirit and Wine’s Canadian Whisky Portfolio Celebrates Success at the 2025 Canadian Whisky Awards. Producer’s announcement, 21 January 2025. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/corby-spirit-and-wine-s-canadian-whisky-portfolio-celebrates-success-at-the-2025-canadian-whisky-awards--826551641.html
- Whisky Magazine. Beneath the Underdog. Issue 150, 23 March 2018. https://www.whiskymag.com/articles/beneath-the-underdog/
- Whisky Magazine. The rise and rise of a scion. Issue 163, 18 October 2019. https://whiskymag.com/articles/the-rise-and-rise-of-a-scion/
- Gooderham & Worts, GWS. History. Undated brand history attributed to Spencer Gooderham, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.gooderhamwhisky.com/history
- Parks Canada. Gooderham and Worts Distillery National Historic Site. Undated designation account, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.parks.canada.ca/culture/designation/lieu-site/gooderham
- Whisky Analysis. Pike Creek 10 Year Old Port Finish. Publication date not established in the supplied record, checked November 2026. https://whiskyanalysis.com/index.php/2016/11/08/pike-creek-10-year-old-port-finish/
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails. Canadian Club. Online reference entry, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.spiritsanddistilling.com/dictionary/acref-9780199311132-e-107
This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer accounts, archival records, heritage documentation and trade reporting.
Last checked: November 2026