Teacher's Highland Cream is a brand of
blended Scotch whisky produced in
Glasgow, Scotland, by
Beam Suntory
Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan.
It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...
, the US-headquartered subsidiary of
Suntory Holdings of
Osaka, Japan
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2.7 ...
. The Teacher's Highland Cream brand was registered in 1884. (The label on the bottles says "est. 1830", reflecting an earlier date when the founding family entered the whisky business, before the brand name was created.) Teacher's states that it uses "fully smoked peated single malt whisky from The Ardmore distillery as its fingerprint whisky" along with about 30 other
single malt whiskies. Most of the output of the
Ardmore distillery
Ardmore distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery, located in the village of Kennethmont, Scotland. The distillery is owned and operated by Beam Suntory, an American subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan. The distillery wa ...
is used to produce the Teacher's brand.
Brand history
In 1830, William Teacher took advantage of the new "Excise Act" and began selling whisky. From 1832 he was selling it from his wife's grocery shop in Glasgow. By 1856, with help from his sons, he was granted a licence for consumption and opened his own
dram shop A dram shop (or dramshop) is a bar, tavern or similar commercial establishment where alcoholic beverages are sold. Traditionally, it is a shop where spirits were sold by the dram, a small unit of liquid.
Dram shop liability refers to the body of ...
. He died in 1876, leaving his two sons William Jr and Adam in charge of the company, known as William Teacher & Sons Ltd. They moved the business to
St. Enoch Square, where it remained until 1991. The company opened its Ardmore distillery in 1898,
[ ensuring a guaranteed supply of Scotch for its Teacher's Highland Cream blend. The brand entered the US market after the end of Prohibition in the United States; the first shipment of Teacher's was sent on the ]Cunard
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...
steamer ''Scythia''. Teacher & Sons acquired the Glendronach distillery
Glendronach distillery is a Scottish whisky distillery located near Forgue, by Huntly, Aberdeenshire, in the Highland whisky district. It was owned by the BenRiach Distillery Company Ltd. The name Glendronach derives from the Scottish Gaelic '' ...
in 1960[ and built a modern blending and bottling plant in Glasgow in 1962.
In 1976, Teacher & Sons was bought by ]Allied Breweries
Allied Breweries was the result of a 1961 merger between Ind Coope (of Burton), Ansells (of Birmingham), and Tetley Walker (of Leeds).
In 1978, Allied Breweries merged with the food and catering group J. Lyons and Co to form Allied Lyons. The br ...
, which became part of Allied Lyons
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. The ...
in 1978 and then Allied Domecq
Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. Th ...
in 1994. The Glendronach distillery was shut down in 1996 and was later sold off to Chivas Brothers after being reopened in 2002. In 2005, Allied Domecq was taken over by Pernod Ricard.[ Beam Inc. acquired Ardmore and the Teacher's brand, along with Laphroaig distillery on Islay.
In 2014, Beam was purchased by Suntory to form ]Beam Suntory
Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan.
It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
1884 introductions
Beam Suntory
Blended Scotch whisky
{{Whisky-stub