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William Grant & Sons

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William Grant & Sons Ltd is an independent, family-owned Scottish company that distills Scotch whisky and other selected categories of spirits. It was established in 1887[1] by William Grant, and is run by Grant's descendants as of 2018.[2] It is the largest of the handful of Scotch whisky distillers remaining in family ownership.[3]

William Grant & Sons
IndustryDrink industry
Founded1887; 137 years ago (1887)
FounderWilliam Grant
HeadquartersBellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
ProductsAlcoholic drinks
Websitewilliamgrant.com

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.[4][5] The first and second largest, respectively, are Diageo (34.4%), and Pernod Ricard.[6][7] The company is registered at The Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown.[8] The main operational headquarters are located at Strathclyde Business Park, North Lanarkshire. Sales and marketing headquarters are in Richmond, London. The company is a member of the Scotch Whisky Association.[9][3]

The master blender of Grant's is Brian Kinsman,[10][11] who succeeded David Stewart who had been in his post for 47 years, the longest serving master blender with one distiller in the industry.[12][citation needed]

William Grant & Sons has won the Queen's Award to Industry for Outstanding Export Achievement.[citation needed]

History

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William Grant was born in Dufftown in 1839. In 1886, Grant and his six sons started construction of Glenfiddich distillery.[13] On Christmas Day, 1887, the distillery was operational.[14]

In 1892, William Grant & Sons built a second neighbouring distillery called Balvenie.[15]

In 1963 Girvan grain whisky distillery was built in South Ayrshire, Scotland.[16]

In 1990, William Grant & Sons founded the Kininvie distillery.[17]

In 1992 William Grant & Sons bought the Convalmore distillery, to increase warehousing capacity for Glenfiddich.[18]

In 1999 William Grant & Sons launched Hendrick's Gin, a brand of gin produced at the Girvan distillery, Scotland.[19]

In 1999, the company acquired Highland Distillers through a partnership with Edrington Group taking a majority interest (the 1887 Company).[20]

In October 2002, the company acquired the Canadian whisky brand Gibson's Finest.[21]

In 2005, William Grant & Sons established a distillery in Borgarnes, Iceland to make vodka. The brand was named Reyka.[22]

In October 2005, the company bought Raynal & Cie and acquired the brandy brands Three Barrels and The Raynal.[23]

In 2009, Ailsa Bay distillery was built to meet needs for malt whisky for blended whiskies.[24]

In May 2010 the group bought four brands from C&C Group, including Tullamore D.E.W., for €300m.[25] In September they sold the three minor brands (Irish Mist, Carolans, Frangelico) to Gruppo Campari for €129m, so in effect, Grants paid €171m for the Tullamore D.E.W. brand and its production facilities.[26]

In July 2014 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.[27]

In September 2014, William Grant & Sons, bought Drambuie liqueur for an estimated price of about £100 million.[28][29]

In March 2020, the company switched 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.[30] In that same month, William Grant & Sons closed all of its visitor centres due to the same pandemic.[31] In June 2020, the company reopened some of its visitor centres with increased hygiene measures.[32]

In September 2020, Fistful of Bourbon the company first bourbon was launched in the American market.[33]

In February 2022, William Grant & Sons launched its first low-alcoholic spirits Atopia.[34]

In September 2023, it was announced William Grant & Sons had acquired the Guildford-headquartered gin producer, Silent Pool Distillers.[35]

In September 2024, William Grant & Sons reached an agreement to buy The Famous Grouse and Naked Malt from Edrington, subject to customary regulatory approvals.[36]

Distilleries

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Distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons:

Brands

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The company's leading single malt Scotch brand is Glenfiddich, the best-selling single malt Scotch in the world as of 2016.[41] 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).[42][4] Another very popular blended whisky is Monkey Shoulder.[42] In 2021 the company's leading blended whisky, Grant's, was the number three in the world's best-selling Scotch whiskies behind Johnnie Walker and Ballantine’s.[43]

William Grant & Sons beverage brands include:[44]

Rare whiskies

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William Grant & Sons produces a number of rare whiskies, most of which are described in the articles on Glenfiddich, Grant's and The 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

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William Grant & Sons and the Edrington Group took Highland Distillers private in 1999[47] forming the 1887 Company, in which William Grant and Sons hold a 30% stake.

Brands owned by Highland Distillers at that time:

Other brands

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Notable personnel

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References

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  1. ^ "Welcome". William Grant & Sons. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  2. ^ "Scotland's richest billionaires revealed". BBC News. 12 May 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Scotch on the Rocks—How Trump's Trade Tariffs Could Harm a Favorite Nightcap". Fortune. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Top 15 Scotch whisky companies | WhiskyInvestDirect". whiskyinvestdirect.com.
  5. ^ a b c "William Grant donates CA$25k to help Canadian bartenders". 21 April 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Top 15 Scotch whisky companies | WhiskyInvestDirect". www.whiskyinvestdirect.com. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  7. ^ Schrieberg, Felipe. "The 4 Companies Behind 3/4 Of All Scotch Whisky Production". Forbes. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
  8. ^ "William Grant & Sons Global Brands | Distiller of Premium Spirits". williamgrant.com.
  9. ^ "Members Directory". Scotch Whisky Association. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  10. ^ "The Brian Kinsman Interview | WhiskyCast". whiskycast.com. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  11. ^ "William Grant's Kinsman: 'We need blended Scotch to be relevant'". 7 December 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Celebrating the unexpected: The Balvenie presents the fourth chapter of The Balvenie DCS Compendium". The Moodie Davitt Report. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  13. ^ The Riverside Dictionary of Biography. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2005. p. 332.
  14. ^ Smith, Gavin D. (2002). The Secret Still: Scotland's Clandestine Whisky Makers. Birlinn.
  15. ^ Helen Arthur (2002) [1997]. The single malt companion (in Dutch). Lisbeth Machielsen (trans.). Libero. p. 66. ISBN 978-9057642364.
  16. ^ "William Grant & Sons Releases Rare Girvan Single Grain Bottling". Cask Strength Media. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  17. ^ John. "Kininvie|Whiskipedia". whiskipedia.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  18. ^ Jackson, Michael (2015). Malt Whisky Companion. Scotland: Dorling Kindersley. p. 108. ISBN 9780241429112.
  19. ^ "Hendrick's Gin - It is not for everyone". Hendrick's Gin - Distilled Scottish Gin Infused with Rose & Cucumber. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  20. ^ "THE 1887 COMPANY LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  21. ^ beveragedaily.com. "Gibson's Finest brings rye smile to William Grant". beveragedaily.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  22. ^ "William Grant to showcase Reyka Vodka from Iceland's first ever distillery - 10/10/05". The Moodie Davitt Report. 9 October 2005. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  23. ^ "William Grant & Sons acquires Raynal & Cie – 07/10/05". The Moodie Davitt Report. 6 October 2005. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  24. ^ "Ailsa Bay". www.whisky.com. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  25. ^ Everest in panoramic HD. "Plan to sell spirits division sends C&C shares soaring - Irish, Business". Independent.ie. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  26. ^ "William Grant to sell Irish Mist". The Irish Times. 9 September 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  27. ^ "Scottish independence: Distiller William Grant and Sons donates to Better Together". BBC News. BBC. 6 July 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  28. ^ "William Grant & Sons buys Drambuie brand". BBC News. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  29. ^ "Glenfiddich owner William Grant buys Drambuie" (Press release). Reuters. 8 September 2014.
  30. ^ "William Grant to make 5m litres of alcohol for hand sanitiser". 30 March 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  31. ^ "William Grant closes Glenfiddich and Balvenie to public". 16 March 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  32. ^ "Our Visitor Centres in Scotland and Ireland are open | William Grant & Sons". www.williamgrant.com. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
  33. ^ "Fistful of Bourbon Launches Nationally". BevNET.com. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  34. ^ Morgan, Rhodri (10 February 2022). "William Grant & Sons rolls out Atopia to Global Travel Retail". Just Drinks. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  35. ^ "William Grant & Sons acquires Silent Pool Distillers". The Moodie Davitt Report. 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  36. ^ Collins, Georgie (23 September 2024). "Edrington exits blended Scotch with Famous Grouse sale". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  37. ^ Schrieberg, Felipe. "Ailsa Bay Releases Blockchain-Protected Scotch Whisky". Forbes. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  38. ^ a b "William Grant to make 5m litres of alcohol for hand sanitiser". 30 March 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  39. ^ "William Grant unveils 'experimental' Kininvie whiskies". 7 October 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  40. ^ "Ladyburn". www.whisky.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  41. ^ Koutsakis, George. "World's Bestselling Single Malt Whisky Undergoes Risky Change". Forbes.
  42. ^ a b "Top 10 best-selling Scotch malt whiskies | Scotch Whisky". scotchwhisky.com.
  43. ^ "Top 10 best-selling Scotch whiskies | Scotch Whisky". scotchwhisky.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  44. ^ "Our brands | William Grant & Sons". www.williamgrant.com. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  45. ^ Carruthers, Nicola (8 April 2024). "William Grant debuts Wildmoor whisky". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  46. ^ Willson, Geoffrey. "Tuthilltown Spirits in Gardiner bought by Scottish distiller". Poughkeepsie Journal. Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  47. ^ "William Grant & Sons | Scotch Whisky". scotchwhisky.com.
  48. ^ Simonson, Robert (10 August 2010). "From Bartender to Liquor Brand Promoter". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  49. ^ Querisma, Quia (22 August 2013). "Award-Winning Mixologist Charlotte Voisey Talks Dinner Cocktails". HuffPost. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  50. ^ Bustamante, Lou (13 November 2017). "3 Brand Ambassadors Describe What They Do". Seven Fifty.
  51. ^ Lu, Hunter (21 June 2024). "Charlotte Voisey, an award-winning mixologist at the cocktail bar two fifteen, has created an exciting line of colorful cocktails". The Manual. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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