🥃 Not Black & White - W.P Lowrie
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
How do you pronounce the name Phaup? Does it rhyme with soap? Or gawp?
Most references in Scotch whisky books and articles refer to this individual simply as W.P Lowrie. Or sometimes William P Lowrie.
But given William Phaup Lowrie was his full name, let’s use it. Just don’t ask me to say it.
When he died in 1916, this Scotch whisky entrepreneur left a personal estate of £297,897 – the equivalent of nearly £23 million in today’s money. Not too shabby in the slightest. So, given that figure, maybe his name does rhyme with gawp, after all.
It’s safe to say, then, that this W.P Lowrie guy did really rather well in life.
Born in Dalkeith in 1831, he completed an apprenticeship with the Commercial Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. Soon after that, though, he moved to Islay where he started work in the Scotch whisky trade.
Variations in the spelling of surnames are something I’ve become quite used to whilst researching these Scotch whisky figures of the past. And so, here’s William P Lorrie in the 1861 census. By this time, William Phaup Lowrie was thirty years old and working as a distillery clerk (at Port Ellen distillery, by the way, before working his way up to become the manager there).
Before the end of that decade, he had set up his own business as a commission agent in Glasgow, eventually operating large bonded warehouses on Washington Street, near the river Clyde. The buildings still stand today and, as you can see, they really weren’t that shabby either.
Most folk, however, will have heard of W.P Lowrie through his connection to his good friend James Buchanan, who went on to become one of the whisky barons and who was well-known as the producer of the Black & White blend.
The latter was acting as the London agent for Leith’s Charles Mackinlay & Co towards the end of the 1870s. After five years or so, Buchanan returned to Leith to seek out a partnership with a whisky trader. It wasn’t to be and so he decided to return to London and set up on his own. Buchanan obviously needed cash to be able to do so. Enter Willliam Phaup Lowrie...
Lowrie not only lent Buchanan the money to be able to start up in business but he also ensured Buchanan would receive enough Scotch whisky to create the blends that subsequently went on to become a huge success, not only in London but across the whole country.
Towards the end of the 1800s, though, the sherry casks that Scotch whisky distilleries sought to mature their spirit in were becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. A decline in sherry consumption was the cause of the shortage of casks and Lowrie, despite being the agent for well-known sherry house Gonzalez Byass, needed to come up with a solution to this problem.
Towards the end of 1890, his application for a patent for the improved process of the wine-seasoning of casks was accepted. Which wine is not stated but, after importing staves from cooperages in the U.S, it’s largely believed Lowrie seasoned them with paxarette.
In turn, W.P Lowrie’s business grew considerably over the years. So much so, that it was converted into a limited company in February 1898. Although not the best year for Scotch whisky, as we all know, but W.P Lowrie & Co Ltd only dealt with wholesale merchants.
However, the firm continued to do well and then, in October 1904, Lowrie confirmed that it had acquired Convalmore Distillery in Dufftown.
Production at Convalmore Distillery had started back in February 1894. The distillery had been built, owned and operated by the appropriately named Convalmore-Glenlivet Distillery Company Ltd – a consortium of Glasgow blenders and merchants which included Peter Dawson.
Just a few months after acquiring the distillery, Lowrie introduced a fancy new piece of kit at Convalmore.
The Lennox Evaporator – so-called because it was invented by a Mr A.B Lennox – was apparently the cheapest and most efficient way to ensure pot ale was evaporated (without the need for a furnace or auxiliary heat and solely by the waste gases from the stills and boiler). It’s full name was the Lennox Evaporator and Smoke Washer meaning it was ticking those green boxes before Sustainability became an entire whisky awards category.
In 1906, however, the Lowrie-Buchanan tables turned. W.P Lowrie & Company Ltd’s capital was insufficient to cover the much-needed modernisation of its bonding, blending and bottling facilities. Enter James Buchanan...
The latter acquired the business and became chairman of the company, the timing of which coincided with the seventy-five year old William Phaup Lowrie’s retirement.
Now, the story of W.P. Lowrie & Company Ltd doesn’t end there. Further details will be shared in tomorrow’s follow-up email for paying subscribers. And if you’d like to learn more, you might like to consider upgrading.
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