William Grant & Sons
Encyclopedia
William Grant & Sons Ltd. is an independent, family-owned Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 company which distills Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky
Scotch whisky is whisky made in Scotland.Scotch whisky is divided into five distinct categories: Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Single Grain Scotch Whisky, Blended Malt Scotch Whisky , Blended Grain Scotch Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky.All Scotch whisky must be aged in oak barrels for at least three...

 and other selected categories of spirit
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...

s. It was established in 1887 by William Grant
William Grant (businessman)
William Grant was a Scottish distiller and entrepreneur who founded William Grant & Sons, the manufacturer of Glenfiddich, as such, the first company in the world to market a true single-malt whisky and a leading brand today....

, and is now run by the descendants of the founder. It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky distillers remaining in family ownership. "William Grant & Sons" is often abbreviated to "W. Grant & Sons" or just "Grant's", after their leading blended whisky of the same name.

The company is the 3rd largest producer of Scotch whisky (10.4% market share) after Diageo
Diageo
Diageo plc is a global alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest producer of spirits and a major producer of beer and wine....

 (34.4%), and Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard is a French company that produces distilled beverages. The company's eponymous products, Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis, are both anise-flavoured liqueurs and are often referred to simply as Pernod or Ricard...

. The company's central headquarters are in Strathclyde Business Park, North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...

. Sales and marketing headquarters are in Richmond, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The company is a member of the Scotch Whisky Association
Scotch Whisky Association
The Scotch Whisky Association is a trade organisation that represents the Scotch whisky industry. The Scotch whisky industry is an important part of the Scottish economy, and particularly the Scottish export market.-Structure:...

.

The master blender
Master blender
A master blender is an individual who decides on the composition of blended spirits. For example, in the Scotch whisky industry, master blenders choose which single malts and grain whiskies are combined to make particular blended whisky. An important objective is often to maintain consistency over...

 of Grant's is Brian Kinsman, who recently succeeded David Stewart
David Stewart (master blender)
David Stewart was the long-time master blender and malt master for William Grant & Sons distillers.Stewart joined the company in 1963 as an apprentice blender and assumed his post as the master blender 7 years later. He was the longest serving master blender in the industry to remain with one...

 who had been in his post for 47 years, the longest serving master blender with one distiller in the industry.

Awards

In 1974, William Grant & Sons won the Queen's Award to Industry for Outstanding Export Achievement, the first Scotch whisky company to receive this award.

In 1999, William Grant & Sons received the drinks industry's top accolade, 'Distiller of the Year' from the International Wine & Spirit Competition. In 2000, the company received the 'Distiller of the Year' accolade for an unprecedented second year in a row. In 2001, the company received the International Spirits Challenge 'Distiller of the Year' accolade. In 2003, Glenfiddich 40 Year Old was acclaimed 'Best of the Best' by industry bible Whisky magazine after 75 experts in three different continents declared it to be the world's finest single malt. In 2004, William Grant & Sons won a record number of medals and seals of approval at the International Spirits Challenge, one of the world's leading spirit competitions. The company won 3 gold medals, 9 silver, 10 bronze and 7 seals of approval - a total of 29. The independent panel awarded the gold medals for The Balvenie Vintage Cask 1972, The Balvenie 30 Year Old and Grant’s Rare Old 18 Year Old.

Distilleries

  • Glenfiddich
    Glenfiddich
    The Glenfiddich Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery owned by William Grant & Sons in Dufftown, Scotland. Glenfiddich means ‘Valley of the deer’ in Gaelic, hence the presence of a deer symbol on Glenfiddich bottles.- History :...

     Distillery (b. 1887)
  • Balvenie
    Balvenie
    The Balvenie Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland owned by William Grant & Sons.-William Grant:...

     Distillery (next to Balvenie Castle
    Balvenie Castle
    Balvenie Castle is a ruined castle near Dufftown in the Moray region of Scotland.Originally known as Mortlach, it was built in the 12th century by a branch of the powerful Comyn family and extended and altered in the 15th and 16th centuries.The castle fell out of use in the early 14th century when...

     (b. 1892))
  • Girvan
    Girvan
    Girvan is a burgh in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of about 8000 people. Originally a fishing port, it is now also a seaside resort with beaches and cliffs. Girvan dates back to 1668 when is became a municipal burgh incorporated by by charter...

     Grain Distillery (South of Ayr (b. 1964))
  • Convalmore (only the bonded warehouses to increase warehousing capacity for Glenfiddich)
  • Kininvie (b. 1990)
    Kininvie Distillery
    The Kininvie Distillery is a distillery in Dufftown, Moray which produces single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is owned by William Grant & Sons and the product from the distillery is used in their vatted malt and blended whisky brands.-History:...

  • Ailsa Bay Distillery (b. 2007)

History

William Grant was born in Dufftown in 1839. The young Grant worked at Mortlach Distillery and dreamed of one day running his own distillery. He worked hard and saved and in 1886 Grant and his 9 children laid the first stone of the Glenfiddich Distillery. It was Christmas Day 1887 when the first spirit ran from the stills.

In 1892, William Grant & Sons bought a second neighbouring Distillery called Balvenie
Balvenie
The Balvenie Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland owned by William Grant & Sons.-William Grant:...

. In 1898, the two distilleries started blending their whiskies and Grant's Whisky was 'born'.

William Grant & Sons pioneered single malt Scotch whisky as, until Glenfiddich
Glenfiddich
The Glenfiddich Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery owned by William Grant & Sons in Dufftown, Scotland. Glenfiddich means ‘Valley of the deer’ in Gaelic, hence the presence of a deer symbol on Glenfiddich bottles.- History :...

, only blended brands were common.

While on the one side very traditional, the company has also been very innovative. The company:
  • was allegedly the first to market Scotch whisky abroad (this claim is very contentious - there are several, particularly Glen Grant and Glenmorangie, which would dispute it)
  • revolutionized bottle design in the 1950s, creating a triangular bottle
  • was the first to open up its distillery to visitors
  • introduced the solera
    Solera
    Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years. A solera is literally the set of barrels or other...

     concept to Glenfiddich to create Glenfiddich Solera Reserve


In 1997, the Grant entered into a joint venture with the Robertson family (see The Edrington Group
The Edrington Group
The Edrington Group Limited is a major Scotch whisky company involved in blending, bottling, distributing and marketing. It produces several well-known brands, including The Famous Grouse and Cutty Sark, and premium single malts The Macallan and Highland Park...

) creating a new company, Highland Distillers.

In May 2010 the group bought 4 brands from C&C Group, including Tullamore Dew
Tullamore Dew
Tullamore Dew is a blended Irish whiskey. It was originally a pot still whiskey, first distilled in 1829 in the small town of Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The name derives from the initials of an early manager of the concern, Mr. Daniel E. Williams: D.E.W. Tullamore Dew is the second...

, for 300m euro. In September 2010 they sold the 3 minor brands (Irish Mist, Carolans
Carolans
Carolans Irish Cream is a liqueur based on mead-wine and cream made in Clonmel, South Tipperary in Ireland. It has a declared alcohol content of 17% or 14.5% alcohol by volume . The main components are cream , mead-wine, and honey...

, Frangelico
Frangelico
Frangelico is a brand of noisette, or hazelnut and herb-flavored liqueur which is produced in Canale, Italy. It is 20% alcohol by volume, 40 proof. It was released in the 1980s, gaining attention largely because of its unusual packaging: its bottle was designed to look like a friar, complete with...

) to Gruppo Campari for 129m euro, so in effect Grants paid 171m euro for the Tullamore Dew brand and its production facilities. The current chairman of William Grant & Sons is Peter Gordon who has been since 2009.

Brands

The company's leading single malt Scotch
Single malt Scotch
Single Malt Scotch is whisky made in Scotland using a pot still distillation process at a single distillery, with malted barley as the only grain ingredient...

 brand is Glenfiddich, the best-selling brand in the worldwide single malt Scotch market (700,000 cases/year and 17.37% market share). This is more than the sales of the next two single malts combined. Their leading blended whisky, Grant's family reserve whisky, has now recently been classed as the third best selling blended Scotch whisky brand in the world, after Johnnie Walker Red Label and Ballantine's Finest.

Core brands

  • Glenfiddich
    Glenfiddich
    The Glenfiddich Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery owned by William Grant & Sons in Dufftown, Scotland. Glenfiddich means ‘Valley of the deer’ in Gaelic, hence the presence of a deer symbol on Glenfiddich bottles.- History :...

     single malt Scotch whisky
  • Grant's
    Grant's
    Grant's is a blended Scotch whisky bottled by William Grant & Sons in Scotland.- History :In 1886, William Grant started working in the distillery business as a Bookkeeper...

     family reserve blended Scotch whisky
  • Balvenie
    Balvenie
    The Balvenie Distillery is a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery in Dufftown, Scotland owned by William Grant & Sons.-William Grant:...

     single malt Scotch whisky
  • Hendrick's Gin
    Hendrick's Gin
    Hendrick's Gin is a brand of gin produced by William Grant & Sons in Girvan, Scotland. In addition to the traditional juniper infusion, Hendrick's uses Bulgarian rose and cucumber to add flavor...

  • Sailor Jerry Rum
  • Tullamore Dew
    Tullamore Dew
    Tullamore Dew is a blended Irish whiskey. It was originally a pot still whiskey, first distilled in 1829 in the small town of Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland. The name derives from the initials of an early manager of the concern, Mr. Daniel E. Williams: D.E.W. Tullamore Dew is the second...


Support Brands

  • Reyka
    Reyka
    Reyka is the first vodka distilled in Iceland. The word "Reyka" derives from the ancient Icelandic word for steam - It is geothermic steam drawn from the center of the earth that powers this distillery ....

     Premium Icelandic Vodka
  • Sailor Jerry
    Sailor Jerry
    Norman Keith Collins was a prominent American tattoo artist who was also known as "Sailor Jerry".-Life:...

     Spiced rum
    Rum
    Rum is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane by-products such as molasses, or directly from sugarcane juice, by a process of fermentation and distillation. The distillate, a clear liquid, is then usually aged in oak barrels...

  • Old Vatted Demerara rum
  • Wood's 100 Old Navy rum
  • Vat 19 premium rum
  • Gibson's Finest
  • Clan MacGregor
    Clan MacGregor
    Clan Gregor, Clan McGregor, Clan MacGregor or Clan M'Gregor is a Highland Scottish clan. It is the most senior clan of Siol Alpin, translated as referring to King Kenneth I, descending from the ancient Kings of the Picts and Dál Riata...

     blended Scotch whisky
  • Monkey Shoulder triple malt whisky
  • Taboo
    Taboo (drink)
    Taboo is a fruit-flavoured spirit made in the UK. Its main ingredients are vodka, white wine and exotic fruit juices. Its alcohol content is 14.9% .Taboo was first put out on the market in 1988 by drinks company First Drink...

  • Milagro Tequila
  • Solerno

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:
  • Girvan First Batch Distillation (from casks filled in 1964)
  • Ladyburn (from Ladyburn distillery, closed in 1975)
  • Snow Phoenix (A one off by Glenfiddich due to heavy snow destroying a warehouse and it is all the recovered whisky ageing between 3 years to 50 years)

Other rare whiskies have been bottled as private vintages for Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...

, Queen Mary 2 and the Royal Danish Wedding.

Highland Distillers brands

William Grant & Sons and the Edrington Group took Highland Distillers
Highland Distillers
Highland Distillers was founded in 1887 by the Robertson family. In 1970 Highland purchased Matthew Gloag & Son Ltd., producers of the Famous Grouse blended whisky and acquired The Macallan single malt Scotch producers in 1996. Highland also produced the Highland Park brand whisky. Highland...

 private in 2000.
  • The Famous Grouse
    The Famous Grouse
    The Famous Grouse is a brand of blended Scotch whisky, first produced by Matthew Gloag & Son Ltd. in 1897, and now produced by The Edrington Group. The malt whiskies used in The Famous Grouse blend include The Glenrothes, Highland Park Single Malt and Macallan Single Malt. Its emblem is the Red...

  • The Macallan
    The Macallan
    The Macallan is a brand of single malt Scotch whisky first distilled in 1824 at The Macallan Distillery near Easter Elchies House, at Craigellachie, in Moray...

  • Highland Park
    Highland Park Single Malt
    Highland Park Single Malt is a Scotch whisky distilled by Highland Park Distillery, Kirkwall in Orkney, the most northerly whisky distillery in Scotland, half a mile north of that at Scapa. Blackwood Distillery in Shetland presently produces only gin and vodka .Highland Park has performed well at...

  • Black Bottle
    Black Bottle
    Black Bottle is a blended Scotch Whisky bottled by Burn Stewart Distillers. The brand was introduced in 1879 and was first produced by Aberdeen tea blenders Charles, David and Gordon Graham...

  • Gloag's London Dry Gin

Other brands

  • Virgin Vodka
    Virgin Vodka
    Virgin Vodka is an alcoholic beverage produced by Virgin Drinks, a subsidiary of the Virgin Group owned by Richard Branson. It was launched in 1994.- History :...

     (Grant's co-developed this brand with Richard Branson
    Richard Branson
    Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

    s Virgin Group
    Virgin Group
    Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...

    .) The brand is now defunct.

Independent sites


Brand websites


Media coverage

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