Glen Grant Distillery
Rothes,
Morayshire AB38 7BS
+44 1542 783 300
Owner: Campari
Creation year: 1840
The Glen Grant distillery is named after its two founders, James and John Grant.
The youngest, James was judge and banker. Both decided to build a distillery in Rothes in 1840.
After their death, the son of James, the Major James Grant took over the business, and built another distillery on the other side of the road and named it Glen Grant 2. In the meanwhile, it has been renamed in Caperdonich. The two distilleries were linked up by a pipeline transporting the whisky from Glen Grant 2 to Glen Grant.
A local legend says that the inhabitants of Rothes have invented a stratagem to reroute a part of the whisky for themselves, taking it directly from the pipe-line.
When the major died, is grand son, Major Douglas Mackessack took over the distillery and made it one of the best and most famous distilleries of Scotland.
Glen Grant was obliged to close its doors during the two world wars, because of a lack of barley, just like most distilleries in those days.
In 1953 Glen Grant joined together with George & J.G. Smith, owners of The Glenlivet. In 1972 the group merged with the Longmorn distillery. This was the birth of The Glenlivet Distillers Ltd. The latter has been bought in 1978 by Seagram.
The distilleries belonging to the "Chivas and Glenlivet Group", property of Seagram, were bought by the Pernod-Ricard group on 19 december 2001.
The Glen Grant single malt is very popular in Italy, and is also available at some independent distillers. Gordon & MacPhail sell some vintages. The distillery is very nice to visit, because of its wonderful gardens, in colonial style.
The Glen Grant distillery has been sold in 2006 to the Italian group Campari as a result of the acuisition of Allied Domecq by Pernod Ricard. The French group did not want (or was not authorized) to keep all the distilleries in their portfolio, and took distance from Glen Grant, Laphroaig and Bushmills amongst others.
