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 All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley.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

spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

s. It was established in 1887 by William Grant, and is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky

distiller Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heating ...

s 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 Dufftown ( gd, Baile Bhainidh ) is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has several ...

. The main operational headquarters are located at Strathclyde Business Park,

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...

. 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 A master blender is an individual who develops specific blended spirits using a combination of spirits with different characteristics. For example, in the Scotch whisky industry, master blenders choose which single malts and grain whiskies to com ...

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 & Sons has won the Queen's Award to Industry for Outstanding Export Achievement.

History

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 malts The Macallan, Highland Park, The Glenrothes, Naked Malt and The Famous Grouse blended Sco ...

) creating a new company, Highland Distillers. In May 2010 the group bought four brands from

C&C Group C&C Group plc (known prior to its flotation as Cantrell & Cochrane Limited) is an Irish manufacturer, marketer and distributor of alcoholic drinks, particularly cider, and soft drinks. It has production facilities across Ireland, Great Britain ...

, including

Tullamore D.E.W. Tullamore Dew, rendered in most branding as Tullamore D.E.W. (typically with the dots de-emphasised using colour and font size), is a brand of Irish whiskey produced by William Grant & Sons. It is the second-largest-selling brand of Irish whis ...

, 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 af ...

Carolans Carolans Irish Cream is a liqueur made from a mixture of cream, Irish Distilled beverage, spirits, Irish whiskey and honey. It has a declared alcohol (drug), alcohol content of 17%, or 14.5% alcohol by volume. The liqueur is made by First Irelan ...

Frangelico Frangelico () is a brand of (flavored with hazelnuts) and herb-flavored liqueur coloured with caramel coloring, which is produced in Canale, Italy. It is 20% alcohol by volume (ABV) or 40 proof. Formerly, it was 24% ABV or 48 proof. When pro ...

) to

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 (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 Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

over an eight-week period to produce

hand sanitiser Hand sanitizer (also known as hand antiseptic, hand disinfectant, hand rub, or handrub) is a liquid, gel or foam generally used to kill many viruses/bacteria/microorganisms on the hands. In most settings, hand washing with soap and water is gen ...

during the

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...

measures.

Distilleries

Distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons: * Ailsa Bay Distillery *

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

, 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

. *

Girvan Girvan ( gd, Inbhir Gharbhain, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, ...

Grain Distillery *

Glenfiddich Glenfiddich () is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky produced by William Grant & Sons in the Scottish burgh of Dufftown in Moray. The name Glenfiddich derives from the Scottish Gaelic ''Gleann Fhiodhaich'' meaning "valley of the deer", which is ...

Distillery *

Kininvie Distillery Kininvie distillery located in Dufftown, Moray, Scotland produces single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is owned by William Grant & Sons and the product from the distillery is used in their blended malt and blended whisky brands. Histor ...

Tullamore Tullamore (; ) is the county town of County Offaly in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Grand Canal (Ireland), Grand Canal, in the middle of the county, and is the fourth most populous town in the Midland Region, Ireland, midlands reg ...

Distillery (Ireland)

Brands

The company's leading

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:

*Liqueur:

Drambuie Drambuie is a golden-coloured, 40% ABV liqueur made from Scotch whisky, heather honey, herbs and spices. The brand was owned by the MacKinnon family for 100 years, and was bought by William Grant & Sons in 2014. Etymology The name "Drambuie ...

, Solerno, Ancho Reyes, Ancho Reyes Verde *Mezcal: Montelobos *Mixed drinks:

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

*Other: Art In the Age Craft Spirits *Rum:

Sailor Jerry Norman Keith Collins (January 14, 1911 – June 12, 1973), known popularly as Sailor Jerry, was a prominent American tattoo artist in Hawaii who was well known for his sailor tattoos. Biography Norman Keith Collins was born on January 14, 19 ...

, Old Vatted Demerara, Woods Old Navy, Vat 19,

Flor de Caña ''Flor de caña'' ("Sugarcane Flower") is a 1948 Mexican film. It was written by Luis Alcoriza Luis Alcoriza de la Vega (September 5, 1918 – December 3, 1992) was a respected Mexican screenwriter, film director, and actor. Alcoriza was ...

(US Import) *Scotch whisky: Glen Fohdry,

Grant's Grant's is a blended Scotch whisky, produced by the company William Grant & Sons in Scotland. History In 1886, William Grant started working in the distillery business as a bookkeeper. In 1898, Pattison's, the largest Scotch whisky blende ...

, The Balvenie, Kininvie, Monkey Shoulder, Aerstone,

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,

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 ...

*Tequila: Milagro *Vodka:

Reyka Reyka is a brand of vodka distilled and bottled in Iceland. Looking to enter the premium vodka market, William Grant & Sons established a distillery in Borgarnes, Iceland to begin production in 2005. The marketing for Reyka draws heavily on Ice ...

Rare whiskies

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: *

First Batch Distillation (from casks filled in 1964) * Ladyburn (from Ladyburn distillery, closed in 1975) * Snow Phoenix (a one-off by

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 The Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde () is a retired Franco-British supersonic airliner jointly developed and manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale) and the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Studies started in 1954, and France an ...

Queen Mary 2 RMS ''Queen Mary 2'' (also referred to as the ''QM2'') is a British transatlantic ocean liner. She has served as the flagship of Cunard Line since succeeding '' Queen Elizabeth 2'' in 2004. As of 2022, ''Queen Mary 2'' is the only ocean liner ...

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 ...

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 ...

, this brand was sold subsequently to Burn Stewart Distillers in 2004 * Gloag's London Dry Gin, brand name owned by Edrington * Highland Park, brand name now owned by Edrington *

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 ...

Virgin Group Virgin Group Ltd. is a British multinational venture capital conglomerate founded by Richard Branson and Nik Powell in February 1970. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by the Companies House, who class it as a holding c ...

References

External links

William Grant & Sons official website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:William Grant and Sons 1887 establishments in Scotland Drink companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in North Lanarkshire Food and drink companies established in 1887 Distilleries in Scotland Scottish brands