Grant's - History

History

In 1886, William Grant started working in the distillery business as a Bookkeeper. In 1898, Pattison's, the largest Scotch whisky blender at the time, suddenly went bankrupt and William Grant stepped in and launched Grant's whisky.

William built the Glenfiddich Distillery in Dufftown, Scotland with the help of his seven sons and two daughters and on Christmas Day, 1887 it produced its first drops of spirit.

Later, William’s son-in-law Charles Gordon became the company’s first salesman and in 1909 spent a year taking Grant’s to Australia and the Far East.

In 1915, a new law stated that the minimum maturation period for Scotch whisky was to be two years (today it is three). While this led to the ruin of many a Scotch whisky distillery, William Grant had kept a supply of aging whisky in stock and was able to ensure continued production.

William Grant died in 1923 but by this time, the family business was well established.

In 1963, William’s great grandson, Charles Gordon oversaw construction of the Girvan grain distillery – now the world’s second largest grain whisky producer.

In 1979, Grant’s UK sales surpassed 1 million cases for the first time.

Today, Grant’s continues to be family owned and run. The current CEO, Peter Gordon is the fifth generation of the family to head the business.

Grant’s is the oldest family-owned blended whisky and is currently sold in over 180 countries. It is the world's third largest Scotch whisky brand, selling 4.9 million cases of whisky in 2010.