Teacher's Highland Cream is a brand of blended Scotch whisky produced in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Suntory Global Spirits Suntory Global Spirits Inc., formerly known as Beam Suntory, Inc., is an American beverage company that is a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings, a Japanese multinational beverage conglomerate. The company produces alcoholic beverages. It is the th ...

, a subsidiary of

Suntory Holdings (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. ...

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 the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a populatio ...

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 Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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. 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 is used to produce the Teacher's brand. William Teacher sons 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

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

market after the end of

Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

; the first shipment of Teacher's was sent on the

Cunard The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

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 is owned by the Brown–Forman Corporation. The name Glendronach derives from the Scottish Gaelic whic ...

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 b ...

, which became part of

Allied Lyons Allied Domecq PLC was a multinational company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent and the world's second-largest spirits grou ...

in 1978 and then

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was a multinational company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent and the world's second-largest spirits gro ...

in 1994. The Glendronach distillery was shut down in 1996 and was later sold off to

Chivas Brothers Chivas Brothers is a Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky. It is owned by Pernod Ricard since 2001. The company was founded in 1786, with its home being in the Strathisla distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland, and is the o ...

after being reopened in 2002. In 2005, Allied Domecq was taken over by

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 ...

. To gain regulatory approval they sold some of the acquired brands to Fortune Brands - these included Ardmore and the Teacher's brand, along with Laphroaig distillery on Islay. Fortune Brands, which already owned

Jim Beam Jim Beam is an American brand of bourbon whiskey produced primarily at James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky by Suntory Global Spirits. It is one of the best-selling brands of bourbon in the world. Since 1795 (interrupted by Prohi ...

, spun off its spirits division, including Teacher's into Beam Inc. in 2011. In 2014, Beam was purchased by

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

to form Beam Suntory, now known as

References

External links

* {{Suntory Suntory brands Blended Scotch whisky 1884 introductions

History

References

Further reading

External links