Wizards Of Whisky: William Grant

William Grant was born in the village of Dufftown in Banffshire in 1839. What is now considered the ‘malt whisky capital’ of Scotland then boasted just one distillery, Mortlach, which was to play its part in the rise of William Grant from cobbler to whisky magnate.

Grant’s dream of creating his own distillery became a reality when, early in 1886, he heard that the old distilling plant at Cardow (now Cardhu) distillery was to be sold off. He walked the dozen miles to Cardow in order to make an offer, and was able to acquire everything for the bargain price of £119 19s 10d.

He already knew exactly where he wanted to build his distillery – a field just north of Dufftown, through which a burn ran to its nearby confluence with the River Fiddich. This field was called Glenfiddich, from the Gaelic for ‘valley of the deer’, and Grant was able to obtain a lease for the land, subsequently resigning from his post at Mortlach in September 1886.
The total cost of creating Glenfiddich distillery and getting to the point where spirit was flowing amounted to slightly in excess of £800, a remarkably modest sum, even for the time. Glenfiddich soon proved a great success, with its ‘make’ being widely praised and sought-after by blenders. Accordingly, the Grant family decided to create a second distillery on land adjacent to Glenfiddich during 1892/93 called Balvenie.

William Grant & Sons Ltd is the largest independent, family-owned operation in the Scotch whisky industry, with many diversified international drinks interests. Grant’s Family Reserve is now the fourth best-selling blended Scotch globally, while Glenfiddich is the second biggest single malt brand in the world.

The Glenfiddich foundation stone was laid in the late autumn of 1886 and it’s first liquid flowed on Christmas day that same year. The Glenfiddich is the most widely sold single malt in the world and we have William Grant to thank for that.