William Grant & Sons history

Grant too took part in the expansion of the Scotch market when, in 1892, he bought Balvenie Castle--previously owned by Grant's former employer, the Duke of Fife--and surrounding farmlands.

Grant set to work converting the castle itself into a distillery, which began producing its own, unique whiskey in 1893.

Pattison itself was one of the early victims of the whisky market crash, declaring bankruptcy in 1898.

By 1899, the crash had claimed a growing number of distilleries.

1903: Grant enters blending, wholesale and distribution, opening storehouse in Glasgow.

1905: Exports to Canada begin; sales offices in Canada and the United States are established.

Charles Gordon travelled to the Far East and Australia in 1909.

By 1914, the company had more than 60 sales offices, supporting its exports to 30 countries.

A major blow, at least in the short term, was the passage of the Immature Spirits Act in 1915, which barred sales of whisky that had been aged for less than two (later three) years.

Grant did not resume production again until 1919 and the following year faced a new threat to its business, as prohibition sentiment swept across many of its major markets.

In this way, the company was prepared to meet the surge in demand as countries began dropping their prohibition efforts in the early 1920s.

By the time of his death in 1923, a new generation of the Grant Gordon family, and in particular William Grant Gordon, had joined the company.

Grant opened a London office in 1927, and restored its Scandinavian export markets soon after.

The repeal of Prohibition in the United States in 1933 brought a new peak in demand and the Glenfiddich brand had already begun to assert its dominance as the world's best-selling Scotch whisky.

Yet Winston Churchill correctly recognized the importance of Scotch whisky as a valuable source of foreign currency, stating, in 1944: "On no account reduce the amount of barley for whisky.

And so, in 1963, Charles Gordon oversaw the construction of Girvan grain distillery.

Gordon invited Indian tourists in Scotland to visit the Glenfiddich distillery, which had welcomed more than two million visitors since it first opened its doors to the public in 1976.

1990: New distillery in Kininvie is built to support third-label production business.

Thomas, who had originally joined the company as a director in 1994, also began seeking opportunities for diversifying Grant's product portfolio.

In 1996 Glenfiddich and McCann-Erickson ran 90-second spots on British television in a campaign that cost 1.5 million pounds, or about $2.5 million.

According to Mike Dennis in SuperMarketing, a British survey in 1997 revealed that 62 percent of regular whisky drinkers were 50 years old or older.

According to an October 1998 report in the Herald, three brands had managed to overcome vicissitudes in the market, such as a decline in overall growth of whisky sales in Europe and North America.

In 1999 a new William Grant marketing director, Heather Graham, signaled the company's interest in a new agency to handle its British advertising, primarily on television.

2000: Patrick Thomas is appointed CEO, the first from outside the Grant Gordon family to lead the company.

At the end of 2002, the group added to its portfolio Iceland's Polstar and its line of flavored and premium vodkas.

2003: Patrick Thomas resigns, and Grant Gordon resumes management control of business. had become the whisky connoisseur's favorite.

In 2005, William Grant & Sons released Monkey Shoulder: a blend of Glenfiddich, Balvenie, and Kininvie single malts.

In May 2010 the group bought four brands from C&C Group, including Tullamore D.E.W., for €300m.

The current chairman of William Grant & Sons is Glenn Gordon (since 2012). The Gordons are direct descendants of William Grant.

In 2014, William Grant & Sons bought Drambuie, a popular liqueur brand.

In 2019’s Sunday Times Rich List, the Gordon family were named as the richest family in Scotland with their net worth estimated at £2.882 billion at the time.