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Scottish alcohol distillery From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
Industry | Drink industry |
---|---|
Founded | 1887 |
Founder | William Grant |
Headquarters | Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland |
Products | Alcoholic drinks |
Website | williamgrant |
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]
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 owned by William Grant & Sons:
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]
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:
Other rare whiskies have been bottled as private vintages for Concorde, Queen Mary 2 and the Royal Danish Wedding.
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:
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