Dewar's () is a brand of

blended Scotch whisky A blend is a mixture of two or more different things or substances; e.g., a product of a mixer or blender. Blend Blend may also refer to: * Blend word, a word formed from parts of other words * ''Blend'' (album), a 1996 album by BoDeans * ...

owned by

Bacardi Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...

, which claims the brand's "White Label" to be the top-selling blended Scotch in the US. Dewar's is also the world's most awarded blended Scotch whisky with more than 1,000 medals earned in international competitions.

History

The Dewar's whisky brand was created by John Dewar, Sr. in 1846. Under the control of his two sons, John A. Dewar Jr. and Thomas "Tommy" Dewar, the brand expanded to become a global market leader by 1896 and began to win several awards, including a gold medal in the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Tommy became famous as the author of a travel journal, ''

Ramble Round the Globe ''A Ramble Round the Globe'' is an 1894 book by Thomas Dewar detailing his journey around the world publicizing Dewars Scotch Whisky. The book is at least purportedly Dewar's journal, written solely for his friends who "wanted to know 'all abou ...

,'' which documented his travels while publicizing the Dewar name. Dewar's eventually expanded their product by constructing the

Aberfeldy Distillery Aberfeldy distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Scotland. History Aberfeldy Distillery was founded by the John Dewar & Sons, Ltd. in 1896, and opened in 1898. The distillery is located on the eastern outskirts of Aberfeldy ...

in 1896. The company joined

Distillers Company The Distillers Company Limited was a leading Scottish drinks and pharmaceutical company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over by Guinness & Co. (now part of Diageo) in 1986 in a transaction which was later f ...

in 1925. Distillers was acquired by

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

in 1986, and Guinness merged with

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...

to form

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

in 1997. Diageo sold Dewar's to

the next year. Dewar's rose to prominence in the United States when

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...

requested a small keg of Dewar's Scotch whisky be sent to the White House for President James Garfield's inauguration. Carnegie also sent the same gift to President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

on his inauguration eight years later. In 1987, numerous cases of still perfect Dewar's Scotch were recovered by underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence from the shipwreck of the SS ''Regina'', which sank in

Lake Huron Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...

in 1913.

Notable processes

Dewar's pioneered the process of "marrying" the whisky in oak casks to allow the blend to age as one within the casks. After the blend is created, the whisky is returned to an oak cask and aged even further to obtain a smooth, robust finish.

Dewar's products

*Dewar's White Label – Created in 1899 by John Dewar & Son's first Master Blender, A.J. Cameron. It has become the company's top-selling variation. *Dewar's 12 – 12 years old. The blend was created by Dewar's sixth master blender, Tom Aitken. This offering has received some awards at international

Spirit ratings With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels ...

competitions. From the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, it has received several double gold, gold and silver medals. *Dewar's 15 – 15 years old. The blend was created by the current, and first female, Dewar's Master Blender Stephanie Macleod. *Dewar's 18 – 18 years old. First released in 2003 and created by Master Blender Tom Aitken. *Dewar's 19 – 19 years old Champion Edition created by Master Blender Stephanie Macleod; released and retired in the same year, 2021. *Dewar's Signature – First created in 2003 by Master Blender Tom Aitken. *Dewar's Scratched Cask – Released in 2015, Dewar's Scratched Cask used the process of charring and scratching ex-bourbon barrels to release a smoother, American-inspired richness to Dewar's White Label Blended Scotch Whisky. Retired circa 2020. *Dewar's Caribbean Smooth Rum Cask Finish 8 Year - Released in 2019. *Dewar's Ilegal Smooth Mezcal Cask Finish 8 Year - Released in 2020. *Dewar's Portuguese Smooth Port Cask Finish 8 Year - Released in 2021. *Dewar's Japanese Smooth Mizunara Oak Cask Finish 8 Year - Released in 2021. *Dewar's French Smooth Apple Spirit (Calvados) Cask Finish 8 Year - Released in 2021.

Distilleries

Dewar's parent company, John Dewar & Sons, Ltd., owns five whisky distilleries in Scotland: * Aberfeldy * Aultmore * Craigellachie * Macduff * Royal Brackla

Advertising

*The premier

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

competition in

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

, the Dewar Shield, is named after the company. The Shield, which is the oldest continuous rugby competition in Australia, was donated by the company to the

Victorian Rugby Union Rugby Victoria, formerly the Victorian Rugby Union, is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within the state of Victoria, it is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. Rugby Victoria manages competitions for males and femal ...

upon its inauguration in 1909. *Dewar's has run television advertisements featuring Irish actor

Michael Fassbender Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and nominations for two Academy Awards, four British Academy Film Award ...

. *Dewar's created the first motion picture advertisement, "It's Scotch!", in 1898. *Dewar's was the first Scotch whisky company to use virtual reality video for a product launch for Dewar's Scratched Cask. The VR video, titled "Dewar's Scratched 360", features brand ambassador Gabriel Cardarella touring the various locations in Scotland that are crucial to the process of creating Dewar's Scratched Cask.

References

Notes

External links

*
Homepage of Dewar's Aberfeldy Distillery

Dr. Whisky
on Dewar's {{DEFAULTSORT:Dewar's Bacardi Blended Scotch whisky Distilleries in Scotland Scottish brands Clan Dewar Products introduced in 1846 1846 establishments in Scotland Food and drink companies established in 1846