William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent, family-owned Scottish company that distills
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland.
All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial distil ...
and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887 by
William Grant William Grant may refer to:
Politicians
*Sir William Grant (Master of the Rolls) (1752–1832), Member of the Parliament, 1790–1812; Master of the Rolls, 1801–1817
*William Grant (Northern Ireland politician) (1883–1949), Unionist M.P. for ...
, and is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky distillers remaining in family ownership.
The company is the third largest producer of Scotch whisky (8% market share), shipping about 7.6 million cases per year, with brands including Glenfiddich and Balvenie. The first and second largest, respectively, are
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 ...
(34.4%), and
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
. The company is registered at The Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown. The main operational headquarters are located at Strathclyde Business Park, North Lanarkshire. Sales and marketing headquarters are in
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
, London. The company is a member of the
Scotch Whisky Association
The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) is a trade association, trade organisation that represents the Scotch whisky industry. The Scotch whisky industry is an important part of the Economy of Scotland, Scottish economy, and particularly the Scottis ...
.
The master blender of Grant's is Brian Kinsman, who succeeded David Stewart who had been in his post for 47 years, the longest serving master blender with one distiller in the industry.
In July 2014 it was reported that Grant's donated "in the region of £100,000" to the unionist campaign group Better Together, with the company being "said to have also donated smaller sums of money to other groups who are campaigning for a 'No' vote," ahead of the
Scottish independence referendum
A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side wo ...
William Grant was born in Dufftown in 1839. In 1886, Grant and his nine children started construction of Glenfiddich Distillery. On Christmas Day, 1887, the distillery was operational. In 1892, William Grant & Sons built a second neighbouring distillery called Balvenie. In 1898, the two distilleries started blending their whiskies. William Grant & Sons pioneered single malt Scotch whisky as, until Glenfiddich, only blended brands were common.
In 1997, the Grant entered into a joint venture with the Robertson family (see
The Edrington Group
Edrington (legally The Edrington Group Ltd.) is a privately owned international spirits company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It produces Single malt Scotch, single malts The Macallan, Highland Park Single Malt, Highland Park, The Glenrothes dist ...
) creating a new company, Highland Distillers. In May 2010 the group bought four brands from C&C Group, including Tullamore D.E.W., for €300m. In September 2010 they sold the three minor brands (
Irish Mist
Irish Mist is an Irish whiskey-based liqueur produced in Tullamore, Ireland, by the Irish Mist Liqueur Company Ltd. In September 2010 it was announced that the brand was being bought by Gruppo Campari from William Grant, only a few months afte ...
Gruppo Campari
Davide Campari-Milano N.V., trading as Campari Group, is an Italian company active since 1860 in the branded beverage industry. It produces spirits, wines, and non-alcoholic apéritifs. From its signature product, Campari, its portfolio has been ...
for €129m, so in effect, Grants paid €171m for the Tullamore D.E.W. brand and its production facilities. The current chairman of William Grant & Sons is
Glenn Gordon
Glenn Gordon (born 1957) is a British billionaire businessman, the chairman of William Grant & Sons and a descendant of the company's founder, William Grant.
Biography
His family’s wealth grew by over £200 million after profits at the Willi ...
(since 2012). The Gordons are direct descendants of William Grant.
In March 2020, the company made the decision to switch production at three of its distilleries to create approximately five million litres of ethanol over an eight-week period to produce hand sanitiser during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In that same month, William Grant & Sons closed all of its visitor centres indefinitely due to the same pandemic. In June 2020, the company made the decision to reopen some of its visitor centres with increased hygiene measures.
Balvenie
The Balvenie distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland, owned by William Grant & Sons.
History
William Grant was born on 19 December 1839 in his father's house in Dufftown. At seven he began herding ...
Distillery
* Convalmore is a former whisky distillery in Dufftown, closing operations in 1985. William Grant & Sons bought the distillery in 1990, for the warehouses, to increase warehousing capacity for Glenfiddich. The Convalmore distillery produced whisky for other brands. The name Convalmore however is used for selected whiskies, although the distillery never produced a whisky under their own name. The brand name is owned by
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 ...
single malt Scotch
Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, ...
brand is Glenfiddich, the best-selling single malt Scotch in the world as of 2016. Roughly 1.22 million cases of Glenfiddich were sold in 2017. Another Grant single malt Scotch whisky also made the top ten list of best-selling Scotch whiskies in 2017: The Balvenie (#6). The company's leading blended whisky, Grant's Family Reserve, was the number three best-seller in this category, forcing competitor
Chivas Regal
Chivas Regal () is a blended Scotch whisky manufactured by Chivas Brothers, which is part of Pernod Ricard. It was founded in 1786, with its home being in the Strathisla distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland, and is the oldest contin ...
into fourth place. Another very popular blended whisky is Monkey Shoulder.
William Grant & Sons brands include:
*Brandy:
Three Barrels
Three Barrels is a brand of brandy by Raynal & Cie that has been claimed to be the best selling brandy in the United Kingdom with annual sales of over 2.5 million bottles.The Raynal
*Canadian whisky: Gibson's Finest
*Cognac: La Guilde du Cognac
*Gin: Hendrick's
*Irish whiskey: Tullamore D.E.W.
*Liqueur: Drambuie, Solerno,
Ancho Reyes
Ancho Reyes is a brand of chile liqueur produced in Puebla City, Mexico, based on a 1927 recipe from the same city. The liqueur is made from and named after Puebla's renowned ancho chiles, a dried form of ripe poblano peppers.
The company pro ...
Old Vatted Demerara
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
Vat 19
A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the end ...
Clan MacGregor
Clan Gregor, also known as Clan MacGregor, () is a Highland Scottish clan that claims an origin in the early 9th century. The clan's most famous member is Rob Roy MacGregor of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The Clan is also known to hav ...
,
House of Hazelwood
House of Hazelwood is a brand of aged Scotch whisky, owned and produced by the Gordon family, owners of William Grant & Sons. The whisky is made with spirit from the Gordon family's private collection.
House of Hazelwood was launched in May 202 ...
,
The Gordon Highlanders
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
William Grant & Sons produces a number of rare whiskies, most of which are described in the articles on Glenfiddich, Grant's and Balvenie. However, their rare whiskies also include:
* Girvan First Batch Distillation (from casks filled in 1964)
* Ladyburn (from Ladyburn distillery, closed in 1975)
* Snow Phoenix (a one-off by Glenfiddich produced as a blend of all the whisky—between three and 50 years in age—recovered after heavy snow destroyed a warehouse where the whisky was being aged)
Other rare whiskies have been bottled as private vintages for Concorde, Queen Mary 2 and the Royal Danish Wedding.
Highland Distillers brands
William Grant & Sons and the
Edrington Group
Edrington (legally The Edrington Group Ltd.) is a privately owned international spirits company based in Glasgow, Scotland. It produces single malts The Macallan, Highland Park, The Glenrothes, Naked Malt and The Famous Grouse blended Scotc ...
took
Highland Distillers
Highland Distillers was founded in 1887 by the Robertson family. In 1970 Highland purchased Matthew Gloag & Son, producers of the Famous Grouse blended whisky and acquired The Macallan single malt Scotch producers in Speyside, in 1996. Highland a ...
private in 1999 forming the 1887 Company, in which William Grant and Sons hold a 30% stake.
Typical products owned by Highland Distillers at that time:
*
Black Bottle
Black Bottle is a blended Scotch Whisky produced by Distell Group Limited in Scotland. The brand was introduced in 1879 and was first produced by Aberdeen tea blenders Charles, David and Gordon Graham.
After many years of decline prompted by ...
The Famous Grouse
The Famous Grouse is a brand of blended Scotch whisky, first produced by Matthew Gloag & Son in 1896, and currently produced and owned by The Edrington Group. The single malt whiskies used in The Famous Grouse blend include the Edrington-owned ...
, brand name now owned by Edrington
*
The Macallan
The Macallan distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Craigellachie, Moray, Scotland. The Macallan Distillers Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Edrington, which purchased the brand from Highland Distillers in 1999.English, Shi ...
, brand name now owned by Edrington
Other brands
*
Virgin Vodka
Virgin Vodka was an alcoholic beverage produced by Virgin Drinks, a no longer extant subsidiary of the Virgin Group owned by Richard Branson. It was launched in 1994 and was withdrawn from the market some years later, as Virgin Drinks disbanded ...
, a now defunct brand which Grant's co-developed with
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields.
Branson expressed ...