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William Grant & Sons facts for kids
William Grant & Sons is a Scottish company that makes famous drinks like Scotch whisky and other spirits. It's a special company because it's still owned by the same family who started it way back in 1887! The founder was a man named William Grant.
Today, William Grant & Sons is one of the biggest Scotch whisky makers in the world. They are the largest family-owned whisky company and the third largest overall. They sell millions of cases of drinks every year! Some of their most famous brands include Glenfiddich and Balvenie. The company's main office is in North Lanarkshire, UK.
The person in charge of creating the unique whisky flavors is called the master blender. For Grant's, this is Brian Kinsman. He took over from David Stewart, who was the master blender for an amazing 47 years!
William Grant & Sons has even won the Queen's Award to Industry for Outstanding Export Achievement. This award recognizes companies that are very successful at selling their products to other countries.
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| Industry | Alcohol industry |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1887 |
| Founder | William Grant |
| Headquarters | Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, UK |
| Products | Alcoholic drinks |
Company History
William Grant was born in a town called Dufftown in 1839. In 1886, he and his nine children started building their first distillery, which they named Glenfiddich. A distillery is a place where spirits like whisky are made. On Christmas Day in 1887, the Glenfiddich distillery was ready and started making whisky!
Just a few years later, in 1892, William Grant & Sons built a second distillery nearby called Balvenie. By 1898, both distilleries began mixing their whiskies together. William Grant & Sons was a pioneer in making "single malt" Scotch whisky. Before them, most Scotch whisky was "blended," meaning it was a mix of whiskies from different distilleries.
In 2010, the company bought a famous Irish whiskey brand called Tullamore D.E.W.. The current chairman of William Grant & Sons is Glenn Gordon, who has been in charge since 2012. He is a direct descendant of the original founder, William Grant.
In March 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, William Grant & Sons decided to help out. They switched some of their distillery production to make a lot of ethanol. This ethanol was then used to create hand sanitizer to help keep people safe and clean.
At the same time, the company temporarily closed all of its visitor centers. These are places where people can come and learn about how whisky is made. In June 2020, they started to reopen some of these centers with extra cleaning rules to keep everyone healthy.
Distilleries
William Grant & Sons owns several distilleries where they make their famous drinks:
- Ailsa Bay Distillery
- Balvenie Distillery
- Girvan Grain Distillery
- Glenfiddich Distillery
- Kininvie Distillery
- Tullamore Distillery (located in Ireland)
They also own the former Convalmore distillery in Dufftown. This distillery stopped making whisky in 1985. William Grant & Sons bought it in 1990 to use its buildings as warehouses for storing Glenfiddich whisky.
Popular Brands
William Grant & Sons makes many different kinds of drinks. Their most popular "single malt" Scotch whisky is Glenfiddich. A single malt whisky means it's made at one distillery using only malted barley. Glenfiddich was the best-selling single malt Scotch in the world in 2016! Another one of their single malts, The Balvenie, is also very popular.
The company also makes "blended" whiskies, which are made by mixing whiskies from different distilleries. Their top blended whisky is Grant's Family Reserve. Another well-known blended whisky they make is Monkey Shoulder.
Here are some of the other brands made by William Grant & Sons:
- Brandy: Three Barrels, The Raynal
- Canadian whisky: Gibson's Finest
- Gin: Hendrick's
- Irish whiskey: Tullamore D.E.W.
- Liqueur: Drambuie, Solerno
- Mezcal: Montelobos
- Rum: Sailor Jerry, Flor de Caña (US Import)
- Scotch whisky: Glen Fohdry, Glenfiddich, Grant's, The Balvenie, Kininvie, Monkey Shoulder, Aerstone, Clan MacGregor
- Tequila: Milagro
- Vodka: Reyka
Rare Whiskies
William Grant & Sons also produces some very special and rare whiskies. These often come from very old casks or have unique stories behind them. Some examples include:
- Girvan First Batch Distillation (from casks filled in 1964)
- Ladyburn (from a distillery that closed in 1975)
- Snow Phoenix (a special whisky from Glenfiddich made after heavy snow damaged a warehouse, mixing whiskies of different ages)
Some rare whiskies have even been bottled for special occasions, like for the Concorde airplane, the Queen Mary 2 ship, and a Royal Danish Wedding.
Images for kids
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The logo for William Grant & Sons.