William Grant & Sons

Distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons:

• Glenfiddich Distillery[4][5]
• Balvenie Distillery[4][5]
• Girvan Grain Distillery[14]
• Kininvie Distillery[15]
• Ailsa Bay Distillery[16]
• Tullamore Distillery (Ireland)[14]
• Convalmore is a former whisky distillery in Dufftown, 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 brandname is owned by Diageo.

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 bought 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) creating a new company, Highland Distillers. In May 2010 the group bought four brands from C&C Group, including Tullamore D.E.W., for €300m. In September 2010 they sold the three minor brands (Irish Mist, Carolans, Frangelico) to Gruppo Campari for 129m euro, 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. Many distilleries owned by William Grant & Sons are located in Dufftown. William Grant & Sons is the largest employer in the town.

In March 2020, the company made the decision to switch 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.[17]

In that same month, William Grant & Sons closed all of its visitor centres indefinitely due to the same pandemic.[18] In June 2020, the company made the decision to reopen some of its visitor centres with increased hygiene measures.[19]

The company's leading single malt Scotch brand is Glenfiddich, the best-selling single malt Scotch in the world as of 2016.[20] 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).[21][22] The company's leading blended whisky, Grant's Family Reserve, was the number three best seller in this category, forcing competitor Chivas Regal into fourth place.[23] Another very popular blended whisky is Monkey Shoulder.[24]

William Grant & Sons brands include:

• Scotch whisky: Glen Fohdry, Glenfiddich, Grant's, The Balvenie, Kininvie, Monkey Shoulder, Aerstone, Clan MacGregor, House of Hazelwood, The Gordon Highlanders
• Irish whiskey: Tullamore D.E.W.
• Gin: Hendrick's
• Vodka: Reyka, Russian Standard
• Rum: Sailor Jerry, Old Vatted Demerara, Woods Old Navy, Vat 19, Flor de Caña (US Import)
• Canadian whisky: Gibson’s Finest
• Mixed drinks: Taboo
• Mezcal: Montelobos
• Tequila: Milagro
• Liqueur: Drambuie, Solerno, Ancho Reyes, Ancho Reyes Verde
• Brandy: Three Barrels, The Raynal
• Other: Art In the Age Craft Spirits

• William Grant & Sons official website.