For the first time in its modern history, Glenturret distillery, home to The Famous Grouse, released a core range of single malt whiskies in 2015 to celebrate Glenturret Distillery’s 240th anniversary with the launch of a no-age-statement range of Scotch whiskies, marking the brand’s foray into the single malt sector.
Three non-age-statement signature expressions are available to buy from the small Crieff distillery and independent retailers worldwide: Glenturret Sherry, Triple Wood and Peated. The distinctive new range reveals a bold return to the marketplace for the niche premium malt, traditionally used as a key ingredient in The Famous Grouse blend. After a downturn in the past lustrum, which saw an overall decline of four per cent, The Glenturret is trying to re-establish itself in the global malt market as a collectable-whisky-releasing specialist.
The Sherry Edition has been matured in Spanish and American oak ex-Sherry casks. In contrast, the Triple Wood has been aged in a mixture of American ex-Sherry, Spanish ex-Sherry and American ex-Bourbon casks. The Peated Edition has been produced using a run of peated spirit from Glenturret known as Ruadh Mhor (Big Red), which is predominantly blended into The Famous Grouse Smoky Black – formerly known as Black Grouse.
Glenturret single malts are rare in the world of whisky, truly handmade malts crafted with passion and care. This new core range draws on the very best of traditional, artisan production methods but focuses on profiling the taste of the malt, not simply its age.
Initial bottlings included a highly rated 1986 Commonwealth Games Edition, and the Brock Malloy, which sold out internationally within weeks.
Glenturret Famous Grouse Commonwealth Games Limited Edition 1986 70cl 46.4% ABV: The 2014 Commonwealth Games Limited Edition is a bottling of Highland single malt Glenturret at 27 years and 11 months. The nose is dense and oily with hints of ripe exotic fruits while the palate is medium-bodied, slightly waxy and with a touch of wild honey and ripe melon. The finish is long with hints of dried fruit and a butterfly kiss of oaky char. A much over-looked bottling that represents superb value.
The Brock Malloy: Glenturret Distillery has released a rare 28-year-old single-cask malt whisky, described as the best cask that has ever been released by Scotland’s oldest working distillery. Approximately 240 bottles of The Brock Malloy Edition #Cask 328 (70cl, bottled at cask-strength 47.1% ABV) were available to buy online. On 16 December 1986, two local still men, Hugh Malloy and Chic Brock delicately filled Cask 328 and skilfully warehoused the precious container to mature in silence for 28 years. The cask required no repair work in its 28 years and when the current Distillery Manager, tasted its contents he described it as the best cask laid down from that year. This attention and care from skilled hands resulted in notes of walnuts with oranges and a hint of jasmine to the nose, with spicy ginger and honeycomb to the palate.
Glenturret is a small, farmhouse-style distillery that continues to use traditional methods of whisky production to this day, including hand-mashing, and was transformed by owner Edrington into The Famous Grouse Experience in 2002. The water supply for the Glenturret comes via its own pipeline from Loch Turret which has its origin in Ben Chonzie. As the water used contributes much of the taste and character of the whisky, the purity and quality of the water are essential in the whisky-making process. Ben Chonzie is part of the Grampian Mountain Range and is a granitic intrusion, with a diorite composition. This geology has resulted in the extreme softness of the water of Loch Turret making it a suitable source for the whisky.
The distillery lays claim to being the oldest in Scotland, and while the new single malt releases are introduced in celebration of the site’s 240th anniversary, its assertion is contested by many other long-established distilleries. It’s known that an illicit distillery by the name of Hosh was operating at this site by 1775, but some sources claim that distillation was taking place there much earlier, circa 1717. The official founding of the distillery was in 1818, under John Drummond, at Crieff in the Southern Highlands. The name Glenturret was adopted in 1875 under the management of Thomas Stewart. It was taken from a nearby distillery that had gone by that name before failing in 1852.
Prohibition and war shortages hit the distillery hard in the 1920s and production came to a halt in 1921. Used for storing stocks of whisky which depleted totally by 1927, the distillery was dismantled in 1929. It reopened in 1957 under James Fairlie, who rebuilt the distillery and outfitted it with equipment from Tullibardine distillery, which was being refurbished at the time. Production resumed two years later and Fairlie ran the distillery for more than two decades until it was bought by Remy-Cointreau. After nine years it was purchased by Highland Distillers before they were taken over by Edrington in 1999.
The current owners are Swiss, with Glenturret jointly owned by the luxury goods company Lalique and billionaire Hansjörg Wyss who took over in 2019.
The distillery has a mash tun that only holds 1.05 tons, and is the only hand-stirred tun remaining in Scotland. It is equipped with eight Douglas Fir washbacks and a single pair of stills. Water for the distillery is drawn from Loch Turret just over 3km away. It has an upper production capacity of 340,000 litres of spirits a year, however, that is expected to reach half a million litres within a few years. The middle cut or “Heart of the Run,” suited to be made into malt whisky, averages around a high 68-76%, cut to 63.5% at the cask filling stage (by the addition of demineralised water), which is the norm for most distilleries. The author of ‘Scots On Scotch: The Book of Whisky’, describes Glenturret, “Its nose has the floweriness which is characteristic of such [bourbon cask]; it opens up with water and yields scents of elderflower and liebfraumilch. It is entirely honest, not appearing to be anything it isn’t, but what it is, is sufficient; an entirely pleasing and agreeable whisky.”
The current core lineup at Glenturret consists of a 10-year-old, as well as the Sherry Cask Edition, Triple Wood Edition, and the Peated Edition. These last three expressions were all released without an age statement. The 10-year-old has been described as an aperitif whisky, with a light nose of orange, vanilla and malt. Some spice from the sherry cask maturation comes through on the tongue with notes of ginger and cinnamon. This is joined by more sweet fruit flavours and some oak before a medium finish. The Peated Edition combines the distillery’s unpeated spirits with its heavily peated Ruadh Mor for an intoxicating mix of smoke, spice, and sweetness.
Recent Limited Releases include a 15-year-old and 30-year-old for those seeking a more mature whisky besides the 1986 Commonwealth Games Edition in 2014 and the cask-strength Brock Malloy in May 2015.
SUBSEQUENT SPECIAL CASK RELEASES
The Cask Series followed the 2015 trio. It is designed
to showcase different types of oak casks, delivering a range of flavours to
appeal to a wide range of consumers.
Famous Grouse Bourbon Cask, NAS, 40 %
The first in the series, The Famous Grouse Bourbon
Cask, has been blended using a ‘high proportion’ of whisky matured in American
oak and first-fill Bourbon casks.
The Bourbon cask influences are said to afford the
whisky ‘a greater depth of caramel and vanilla flavours’ than the standard
Famous Grouse blend.
Appearance: A pale golden, bright blend
Aroma: Fragrant, with hints of caramel and slightly
honeyed
Taste: Vanilla ice cream, toasted coconut and citrus
peel
Finish: A sweet soft oak finish
Famous Grouse Ruby Cask, NAS, 40 %
This is the second release in the Cask Series from
Famous Grouse. The Famous Grouse Ruby Cask is a blended whisky that has been
finished in Port wine-seasoned casks.
Aroma: Close to the standard Famous Grouse at first,
but with an added earthiness and richness. The sherry notes are more obvious than
any port notes, on the nose at least. Dried fruits, vanilla and cinnamon, but
very sober and downtempo.
Taste: Surprisingly full-bodied. Rich notes of honey,
caramel, vanilla and dried fruits.
Finish: Medium-long finish. Soft spiciness added now.
And the same mild earthiness as on the nose - hints of wet leaves and black
soil. A darker, deeper and wider sweetness towards the end. Sugar cubes dipped
in orange-flavoured sherry and served with rich chocolate.
Famous Grouse Sherry Cask Finish, NAS, 40
%
The Famous Grouse Sherry Cask Finish was released in 19
markets globally. The 40% ABV whisky took two years to develop, according to
the brand, and has been created from Speyside malts matured in European oak
casks seasoned with sherry.
This new, revived blend is finished in Sherry casks and
butts seasoned in the region of Jerez, Spain. The aim was to create a blend
that is slightly sweeter but still in keeping with the smooth and distinct DNA
of classic Grouse.
Once the blend is in its final stages of maturation,
which involves the meticulous combination of hand-selected malt and grain
whiskies, The Famous Grouse master blender does not stop there; the full blend
is married in ex-Sherry casks to further enhance their sweet, rich, and smooth
characters. The Sherry Cask Finish is a decadent blend of festive flavours
including chocolate, almonds, dried fruits, and sweet spices.
The packaging pays tribute to the Spanish female Capercaillie
bird, part of the grouse family, a large woodland Grouse found in Spain. This
particular bird was chosen for its link to the product’s Spanish Sherry
heritage, as well as its orange and red plumage, which ‘echoes the deep amber’
of the liquid. Its packaging design features – and was inspired by – the
Capercaillie. The brand has announced its intention to support the bird’s local
habitat through the release, although no further details on this initiative
were made immediately available.
Aroma: On the nose, there are aromas of cocoa, and cherries, along with sherry and light oak from the casks. A balance of fresh orange and poached pear, cherry blossom, moist sultanas and cocoa beans intermingled with sweet cinnamon and ginger spice.
Taste: On the palate, the flavour of sherry, fruit and herbs come through - and there is a definite sweetness on the tongue. Smooth in texture and rich in character. A combination of oaky vanilla dark chocolate maple syrup, toasted almonds and hazelnuts.
Finish: The finish is bursting with flavours, with warming notes of dried fruits in Christmas cake and hints of chocolate and spice lingering in the mouth.
UPDATE
Famous Grouse Releases Famous Lions Whisky
The Famous Grouse launched The Famous Lions, a
limited-edition whisky that celebrates its role as the official sponsor and whisky
of the British and Irish Lions. The brand was announced as the Official Whisky
of the Tour to South Africa in 2021.
The Famous Lions bottling features a Famous Grouse
label amended to read “The Famous British & Irish Lions.” The Scotch will
be made available exclusively through Tesco early in the year. The iconic
whisky brand says it will make an ideal dram to sip or to mix in its signature
Grouse and Ginger cocktail while watching the British and Irish Lions in
action in South Africa in summer.
The launch of The Famous Lions is an addition to The
Famous Grouse range that demonstrates the spirit of rugby and how much the
owners value the sport. They have been investing in the sport of rugby for the past
30 years and are proud to announce their commitment to this great game through this
partnership. They hope to engage with The Famous Grouse and Lions fans by
offering a bespoke bottle to celebrate our coming together.”
In late November, The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch
Whisky unveiled its new Spend Time in Grouse Country campaign. When Matthew
Gloag founded his iconic Whisky brand back in 1896, he chose to forgo his own
self-promotion by naming The Famous Grouse not after himself, but after the
occasion for which it was created – a rewarding refreshment to share after a
day in the outdoors. The new campaign invites consumers to “Spend Time in
Grouse Country” and enjoy their preferred moments and special occasions,
whether by the fire, in the great outdoors, or catching up with friends in a
socially distanced setting or online.
The New Famous Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky: The Famous
One
The Famous Grouse launched The Famous One expression,
its first blended whisky with an initial exclusive online retail period. This Famous expression had been developed
"with all the complexity, smooth taste, quality and character" of its
classic blend. It uses a blend of grain and malt whiskies selected by The
Famous Grouse master blender and matured in sherry-seasoned American oak casks
and ex-Bourbon casks.
The Famous One pays homage to those who have dedicated
many years of service to The Famous Grouse over its 40-year history, with each
bottle bearing a roundel with the words 'Hard Graft, Great Craft'. Selective
maturation is used in the American oak sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels to
achieve the sweeter, more honeyed characteristics of the blend. Each cask
provides its own unique flavour attributes, the sherry-seasoned American oak
adds complex characters of citrus and vanilla. This is complemented by the
ex-bourbon American oak barrels enhancing the fudge and toffee sweeter tones.
The distillery revealed that The Famous Grouse wanted
to create a blend that allowed people enjoying whisky for the first time to
explore a softer, sweeter, flavour profile. The Famous One retains all of the
brand's complexity and smooth texture and with the additional honeyed and other
characteristics, it truly stands out on its own. The aim was to create a modern
and more indulgent take on The Famous Grouse: one that is still perfect for
sharing with friends but designed to be enjoyed in a range of smooth, sweet
whisky serves.
Accelerated by the pandemic, e-commerce has become a
crucial part of their business and this milestone launch - which will be the
first Famous Grouse blend to be available exclusively online for an initial
period - marks a new era for the brand. This will allow marketers to test the
waters and gain insight into customers' new shopping habits as they look to the
future.
The Famous One retails for £23 a bottle (70cl). It was
launched in the UK on 17 March 2022 and was available to purchase on Amazon. It
has all the makings of a sure-fire success: the world’s largest e-commerce site
promoting an easy-drinking whisky from an established brand. At the quoted
price for a 70cl bottle, it’s certainly rivalling its key competitors for
value.
Each year 43 million bottles of The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky are enjoyed in no less than 94 global markets. Edrington's Annual Report for 2020-21 shows the brand at the No.1 spot in spirits sold online across all spirit categories. But what is it that makes The Famous Grouse so popular? I'll try to analyse the setup and figure out the answer, for which purpose I'll need to start from the beginning.
In 1770, Joseph Gloag set up his business as a roving Warehouse Goods Carrier, dealing with the import of paid-for goods like wine and rare groceries from outside Scotland to dealers, shopkeepers and grocers in Perth, the county town of Perthshire. His first child, Matthew, named after his father, was born in 1797. In 1815, Matthew gained employment at the age of eighteen as assistant/apprentice bottler (Butler) in Scone Palace, the residence of the Earl of Mansfield, a mile and a half away and famous for housing The Stone of Destiny. Such was his expertise that he was drafted into the residence of the Sheriff Clerk of Perthshire, The Right Hon'ble James Murray Patton-the son of Lord Glenalmond- as a handyman and general factotum.
Apart from routine chores, he was made the manager of Patton’s personal cellar and the documented official manager of the Sheriff Clerk’s cellar that was used to stock and then sell off or auction seized, impounded, confiscated and expropriated liquor, mainly whisky, gin and illicit hooch. He wisely retained access to Scone Palace. Contacts made thereby were to prove very useful later in his fortunes.
While shuttling between the Sheriff’s office, residence and the odd 'dad's client', he met Margaret Brown, daughter of John Brown, a mason by trade, living in a first floor self-owned flat at 22 Athole (Atholl) Street, above a grocery run by one Peter McRorie since 1807 and serviced by 'dad' Gloag. She too was born in 1797. They wed in late November 1817. Matthew's younger brother, William Joseph Gloag, took up a job as an ironmonger.
Due to financial reverses, John Brown had to send Margaret as a ladies’ maid to one Lady Seton circa 1815. They retained their postal address as 22 Athole Street. John Brown recovered his losses in time and bought off the grocery under their flat on McRorie’s demise circa 1817. He was helped out by Margaret, who quickly learned the ropes. He died in 1824 and Margaret took over, assisted by her experienced husband in his spare time. He shrewdly ensured that all groceries in the homes he frequented were supplied by Margaret and took to informally calling himself a Grocer. She added a snuff line and, with her husband's backing and expertise, obtained a licence for adding a winery to her grocery in 1831. He had also risen in social standings with time, as Librarian in the Court, Keeper of the County Buildings, Captain in the Volunteer Constabulary and was well known, popular and a good businessman in every sense. They set up home upstairs.
Progress: Under Matthew Gloag I 1835 22 Atholl Street-----> Matthew Gloag III 1899 20-24 Atholl Street
Matthew and Margaret had ten children, five boys and five girls between 1818-1839; Joseph, John (named after Margaret’s father), Ann, Margaret (named after her mother), another Matthew (named after his father), Janet, James, William (named after Matthew's brother), Lillian and Clementina. Their nephew, William's son, was named...Matthew! Matthew Gloag II. This Gloag would show little interest in the liquor business and remain on the fringe till his untimely death in 1858. In fact, he is usually totally overlooked and often, Matthew Gloag III, the grandson of Matthew the founder, is (wrongly) called "Matthew Gloag II." There is little mention of their fifth child either, the son named Matthew. That said, every generation since has had a Matthew Gloag associated with the brand in one capacity or another, with an indisposed Matthew Gloag VI (1947-) the latest.
SIX
GENERATIONS OF MATTHEW GLOAGS
Matthew
Joseph Gloag
Matthew
Gloag I
1797-1860
Matthew
William Gloag
Matthew
Gloag II
1820-1858
Matthew
Robert Gloag
Matthew
Gloag III
1850–1912
Matthew
William Gloag
Matthew
Gloag IV
1882-1947
Matthew
Frederick Gloag
Matthew
Gloag V
1910–1970
Matthew
Irving Gloag
Matthew
Gloag VI
1947-
Matthew, the founder, was an outgoing and
likeable person and had become adept at the liquor business, creating a
pocketbook full of contacts. He joined Margaret in 1835 after his stint of a
mandatory 20 years in the Sheriff Clerk's office and changed the business name
to Matthew Gloag & Co. His first contribution was the expansion of the licenced liquor portfolio in the business, mainly Blended Malt whisky, or perhaps its consolidation, using his contacts across the Highland distilleries of Scotland, gaining in reputation for quality provisions, liquor and professionalism topped off with affability.
Matthew was well aware that the upper echelon of society also kept a decent stock of Brandy, Gin, Claret, Port, Madeira, Sherry and non-alcoholic drinks. These products were added to his shop’s inventory as also seltzer water, lemonade, soda water, sparkling beer and ginger beer. Within the next fifteen years, he would have the entire aristocracy around Perth as his clientele.
He was aided in his store by his son William and daughters Margaret, Lilian and Clementina. Joseph emigrated to Australia and James managed employment in London. His third son, Matthew, joined an ironmonger’ shop in Kinnoul Street and took it over later with his father’s help. His calling card carried the name Matthew prominently and that granted him access to many more homes and hearths in a successful enterprise.
Margaret died in 1840 of severe Asthma, a serious personal blow. Putting her demise behind him, Gloag accelerated his upward journey in life with the award of the much sought-after contract to supply provisions, wines and liquor to the local Earl at Scone Palace (where he had contacts from his earlier days) when the Earl hosted Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their first visit to Scotland. Business prospered after this path-breaking success of 1842.
The Forbes-Mackenzie Act on vatting of whiskies when in a bonded warehouse was passed in 1853. A larger variety of blended malts were now available to vendors to sell. His business card showed him as an importer of wines and spirits as well as an agent for Schweppes Soda and whisky in Bond. Evidently, the truly strong blended malts (64.5-65.3% ABV) were drunk with soda. Here, the address showed him on Athole Street. What an ath!
Matthew died on 21 July 1860, the year blending of malt with grain whiskies was permitted for distillers under the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gladstone's Spirits Act. Grocers were brought into the purview of this concession under an Extension to the French Treaty Act 1863. In these three years, many other grocers got into the business full-time—John Walker, George Ballantine, Peter Thomson of Beneagles, William Teacher and the Berry brothers are good examples. His son, William B Gloag (1832-96), took over. His grandson, also a Matthew, Matthew Gloag III (1850-1912) joined the business when he came of age.
William addressed his wine department aggressively but was quite content growing the business at a steady pace as a vendor of quality whiskies of distillers like The Glenlivet and Talisker and other blenders. He did not exploit the 1860 opportunity presented by revenue authorities allowing the blending of any spirit including grain whisky with pot still distilled malt whisky, reduced import duties of French liquor into Great Britain and vice versa as permitted by the French Treaty Act of 1860, and the subsequent inclusion of grocers into the blending clan.
He thus fell far behind his contemporaries, the Walkers, Andrew Usher, George Ballantine, William Teacher
and the Chivas Family, among others. His neighbours, Dewar & Sons and Bell & Sons also thrived handsomely.
He did not exploit the next major opportunity
either, the triple whammy that constituted the Great French Wine Blight
(1863-mid 1890s, viz., Odium mildew, Phylloxera epidemic and Downy mildew in
their vineyards) that almost laid waste their entire wine industry. The Scottish whisky industry, soon to be renamed the Scotch whisky industry gained massively at the expense of French wines, Cognac, Armagnac and Champagne. William was content with the ensuing increase in the volume of his vending business, whereas he could have blended his own whiskies for guaranteed export to France, which country thirstily absorbed all imports, with space for more.
Despite repeated requests
by Mathew Jr, he refused to enter the home-blending business, even though his
contemporaries were raking in money hand over fist. He did, however, take a
major step into commercial business by investing company profits to become, with Matthew, one of the original shareholders of the North British
distillery in Edinburgh in 1887. It was only after he died in 1896 that Mathew
Gloag & Son, under Matthew Gloag III, entered the home- grown blending business
with his first blended Scotch, the 5 YO Brig o’ Perth, with the North British
distillery supplying the grain whisky. Even these blends were bottled at ~65% ABV, as an indignant Arthur Bell once told a London customer who found his bestselling brand too heavy!
The Initial Progression:
>>>>>
>>>>>
He followed his first
launch with a number of other whiskies in quick succession over three years, bracketed under Gloag's Perth Whiskies, including the 7 YO The Famous "Grouse" Blend at 40 shillings a dozen quart bottles (1.132L). His supposedly “premium” whisky, the Perth Royal was marketed in 1897-98 and was the most expensive brand on his card as shown below. This brand, targeted at the affluent through Golf and other Clubs, didn’t meet with as much public approval as expected and rarely, if ever, would it emerge from the shadow of The Famous Grouse. The brand would linger on to the late 1990s, with limited sales and confined mainly to Perth and Perthshire.
All this was happening just as the 12-year low following the Pattison crash set in. A shrewd operator, the undeterred Matthew shifted tack to the increasing number of aristocratic and mainly British well-to-do Red Grouse hunting parties and adopted the red grouse, Scotland's primary game bird, as his/its motif and that whisky, prominently labelled Gloag’s "Grouse" Brand Whisky, also launched in 1897 would soon become The Grouse. He kept the price high so that he could maximise income from the socialites who had to keep up with the affluent and upper-class gentry for appearance's sake, not that it hurt the well-heeled more than a mite. He also initiated the practice of offering discounts on volume sales in the Yuletide (5,10 or 20-gallon casks), a concept that would continue year after year, even till today.
Matthew’s daughter Phillippa painted the very first, and now famous, red grouse that is seen on their bottles, albeit in black and white lithographs till colour printing came into being. It has rather different hues in the new millennium. The success of The Grouse Brand whisky was now so great that its name eclipsed that of its owner, and Matthew proactively considered stepping aside, dropping his name and focussing on his priorities.
Matthew soon realised that he was making good money from two of his many whiskies, Gloag’s Grouse Brand and the 7 YO The Famous Grouse Blend, both of which were bracketed under Gloag’s Perth Brands. His pet whisky, The Perth Royal was only breaking even. The stocks of unsold new make whisky was increasing in his cellar. He had learned from his illustrious 'contemporaries and neighbours' that the more a new make matured in the barrel, the better a whisky it became. His bottles would soon house older whiskies, with the Brig o'Perth moving towards six years, the Famous Grouse towards eight and the Perth Royal towards ten.
One live problem was that Groag’s Grouse Brand was a bestseller only in the hunting season, just four months in a year, though with reasonable concomitant spillover. The 12th of August every year, The Glorious Twelfth, marks the beginning of the four-month (121 day) grouse shooting season, ending on December 10. The French Wine Blight had ended and Champagne had become the preferred drink of Royalty. The Famous Grouse Brand sold less per month than Groag’s Grouse in season, but when compared across the full year, it outsold the Grouse in volume but not in value. His basic outgo per brand- even if it did not sell- remained the same, eating into his profit margins.
In its first-ever appearance on the market ~1897, The label showed the name
The Famous "Grouse" Blend. It was placed in the ‘PERTH WHISKY DE LUXE’ category and The Famous Grouse Brand. Its age, 7 Years, was not visible on the front face. It was priced above the 5 YO Brig o’ Perth but below the Grouse Brand that he was assiduously trying to sell to the game bird shooting brigade. He shrewdly played the market, placing appropriate ads where they would be most effective, even marketing his Grouse brand overseas as the choice of the British Aristocracy. But he never took his eye off The Famous Grouse Blend of his Perth Brands. On the stroke of midnight into The Glorious Twelfth 1905, he re-branded the Gloag’s Grouse as The Grouse, taking his name off the whisky. More importantly, as time would show, the seven-year-old Famous Grouse Brand became the 8 YO Famous Grouse Blend. They were re-registered accordingly. Even so, he kept reminding the public at large that they were both his brands. The ploy succeeded and he pushed his increasingly popular 8 YO Famous Grouse Blend into an unassailable lead in income accrued by 1910, never to look back. The Glorious Twelfth 1905 marks an important milestone in the birth of The Famous Grouse that we see on the shelves today.
The lull in the Whisky
industry (1896-1908), caused by a combination of circumstances, had initiated a softening in whisky prices
and triggered a cascade of closures, contractions, and output reductions. Gloag saw this tough period through, increasing his sales of imported wines, brandy and champagne. By 1909, the industry was back on track. He did not ignore The
Famous Grouse, using periodic fanciful ads while redesigning the standard
newspaper advertisement to place the game bird provocatively in a large capital ‘G’, keeping it ever in the public eye. Scotland’s prime game bird lived up to its hype. Moreover, he was able to build up the age of this whisky to an 8 YO. The malts available to him then (also currently available & renamed) were Aberfeldy, Glenrothes-Glenlivet, The Glenlivet, Glengoyne, Tamdhu-Glenlivet, Macallan-Glenlivet and Talisker, plus, of course, grain whisky from the North British Grain whisky distillery.
The Scotch whisky industry
expanded rapidly thereafter, with the USA targeted as a large market for most
brands, including the Famous Grouse, till the onset of WW I, (1914-1918) which
saw continuously increasing limitations being imposed on the use of barley and
other food grains and increased taxes in a haphazard manner by the Govt. Most distilleries
were rendered idle, but the existing stock of grain and malt whisky, as well as
blends, could mature for longer periods in their casks. Matthew built up vast
reserves of his brand for marketing as soon as possible after WW I ceased, pushing The Famous Grouse beyond the Grouse. Now he could strongly parade his best-selling whisky the world over, retaining the Grouse for the game-shooting brigade.
The war created many obstacles. Access to pubs or “public houses” was restricted in an effort to curb public drunkenness, especially among workers critical to the production of munitions and other
essential war materials. The absence of several million young men on the
battlefield didn’t help whisky demand either. By 1924, 77 distillers had closed down.
During this period the companies that would eventually go on to dominate the
industry began to emerge. Fortunately, relief was just around the corner. It would
come in the form of the American Volstead Act. Prohibition in the USA from
1920-33 was the best thing that could happen to the Scotch whisky industry and
they were quick to capitalise on it.
He then joined the other
vendors and blenders in exporting large volumes of the Famous Grouse to Canada,
Mexico, Havana and the Caribbean Islands. Like the others, and the British
Govt., he simply turned a blind eye to the fact that a fair share of the whisky
exported from home was being smuggled into the USA.
The Grouse was still available in the late 1930s, as seen in an advertisement on the back page of The Tatler of 12th October 1938. WW II came and went, and the hardy Gloag family sailed
through this maelstrom along with most of the Scotch Whisky industry. Expansion
was to follow soon after the war was won and sales increased rapidly. The Scotch industry was making waves in Asia and Australasia. The Gloags stayed with their primary markets, the USA, Canada, the Caribbean and home sweet home. They were also able to access new malts from Blair Athol, Bon Accord, Pulteney, Ben Wyvis/Ferintosh, and Inchgower.
There was no room for the Grouse now and it was absorbed by his leading brand. Even so, the labels showed the word Grouse in a larger font than its suffix and prefix, viz., THE FAMOUS GROUSE BRAND WHISKY. By the 1960s, the business had grown to such an extent that exports to America alone had risen to 12 million proof gallons. By 1968 it had risen to 33m. The future was
looking rosy for Matthew Gloag & Sons. A strange inconsistency was first seen in the 1950s. The labels of their bottles showed "Since 1800", which was not true.
By then, there were a plethora of brands vying with each other for market share, if not market dominance. Strangely, not too much diversification was yet visible. The number of expressions per company remained rather low. The Gloags had just six or seven brands, and all were successful bar one.
Tragedy struck in 1970. Matthew Frederick Gloag – Matthew Gloag III’s grandson (Matthew
Gloag V), a major shareholder in the company – and his wife died within two days of each other. Matthew Irving Gloag (Matthew Gloag VI, 1947-present) ran into unforeseen financial distress facing exorbitant Estate Duties and the media reported that Gloag was forced to sell the company to Highland Distillers (for £1.25m), although he remained as a Director to continue the family’s involvement.
This rumour was dispelled in early 1971 by Highland Distillers who stated that, they, along with their sister company, Robertson & Baxter had entered a joint agreement with Gloag to blend, develop and promote the Famous Grouse Brand internationally, with Highland supplying their malt stock and R&B the grain. The latter would take over the responsibility of blending the whisky along with Gloag. The Famous Grouse Brand was relaunched as The Famous Grouse in early 1972 in revamped livery and at a higher point between the standard Bell's and the deluxe Chivas Regal. Their new slogan would be 'Quality in an age of change'. Their blending house in bond was relocated from Perth to Drumchapel, Glasgow in order to cope with the correctly expected increase in demand. Perth was phased out over 12 years, assisting in the interim with the filling of all odd-shaped bottles and with rushed demand just prior to Christmas.
The new ownership began the transformation of the Famous Grouse into a name associated with numerous expressions. They brought Highland Park on Orkney Island and Glenrothes distilleries with them and immediately started on a number of projects. Quite a few Blended Malts and a few Single Malts were initiated. In the three decades they ran The Famous Grouse, more than a score Blended Malts and half a dozen Single Malts were casked. Great emphasis was laid on ageing these expressions, from 12/15/21/25/37 and 40 years with age statements and a few without. They acquired the 75% available stake in Macallan distillery in 1996, 25% having been bought by Suntory, from the Kemp Trust. The number of Blended Scotch also increased, mainly in the 6-10 year bracket, but bottled with no age statement (NAS). What set them apart was their unique process of maturing every blend or brand for their final six months of casking in the now freely available reused Sherry casks ex-The Macallan, probably Spanish, and at 46% ABV before bottling at the regular ABV.
Aged Blended Malts: The 21/30/37/40-Year-Olds
In 1979, the company breached the one million cases sales mark. By 1980 The Famous Grouse became Scotland’s brand leader and still is, a remarkable four decades. A new record was set in 1989, with over two million cases shipped. Sales continued to rise, and during the 1990s, The Famous Grouse grew by a staggering 25% – twice the rate of the premium Scotch sector.
To date, The Famous
Grouse has produced over 75 different whiskies, totalling in excess of
175 expressions, from 5 years old to 40. Only about 60 of these have age
statements. The majority remain NAS expressions, which is normal for most
standard blended whiskies. The brand also has sold a remarkably large number of
blended malts, and a half-dozen odd single malts. Most of these have come after it was taken over by Highland Distillers which was then fully absorbed into the Edrington Group in November 1999.
12-Year-Old Vintage Malt Whiskies: When Under Highland Distillers, The Famous Grouse had planned the release of a series of five 12-year-old Vintage Blended Malt Whiskies starting 2000. After taking over, Edrington's Board allowed the releases to go through. The release kicked off on schedule in 2000, with a 1987 vintage bottled in that same year, followed by a 1989 vintage bottled in 2001, a 1990 vintage strictly for the US market bottled in 2002, a 1992 vintage bottled in 2003 and finally a 1992 vintage bottled in 2004. These Famous Grouse Vintage Malts contain single malts from 6 different distilleries, mainly Macallan and the Orkney Island-based Highland Park complemented by single malts from the Glenrothes, Tamdhu, Glengoyne and Bunnahabhain, aimed at travel retail in one-litre bottles, with a limited number of 700 ml bottles for the local market. All of them were bottled at 40% ABV, except for the American version at 43% ABV. Edrington dropped their malt range (12/15/18/21) from the market in 2007 in favour of their regular non-vintage expressions so these bottles have now become scarce.
Surprisingly, this range does not include single malts from Glenturret distillery. This latter single malt is the core malt of most of the Famous Grouse blended Scotch brands, complemented by the other stated distilleries, as well as from Blair Athol and Old Pulteney.
Since Edrington’s takeover, the process of premiumisation became
ongoing at The Famous Grouse. In 2006, the peated Black Grouse was released, essentially
created
for the Swedish market based on their taste preferences. Swedish analysts
write that it is as aromatic as The Famous Grouse but a slightly smoky blend
with considerably tougher character and spice and it carries clear traces of
Islay whisky. This was followed two years later by Snow Grouse, a blended grain
whisky, which carried the more appropriate snowy white 'Willow Ptarmigan'. By 2010, The Naked Grouse was introduced as a premium offering as a
Blended Malt, exiting the Blended Scotch category once and for all, though the odd bottle does turn up at auctions/ eBay.
In January 2009 the distillery started working with some heavily peated malt. The specifications were for the barley to be peated to between 80 and 120ppm phenols, and the resulting spirit is called Ruaidh Maor (a hunting lodge at Loch Turret) to differentiate it from the regular Glenturret. In July 2015, while still retaining the traditional Famous Grouse bottling, the company rebranded The
Black Grouse as The Famous Grouse Smoky Black, and introduced The Famous Grouse
Mellow Gold to the brand’s core range, which, till then
comprised The Famous Grouse, The Famous Grouse Smoky Black, The Famous
Grouse Bourbon Cask, The Naked Grouse, The Famous Grouse Ruby Cask, The Famous Grouse Toasted
Cask and The Famous Grouse – Personalised. The Naked Grouse was taken off the core range in mid-2017. The Famous Grouse Wine Cask, finished in carefully selected Spanish red wine casks, the fourth edition in its series of innovative blended whiskies inspired by different types of oak casks, was added in September 2019.
The Famous Grouse was repackaged on the brand’s 30th anniversary as Scotland’s Number One Whisky in 2010. The bottle had a more prominent image of the Grouse, painted by wildlife artist Rodger McPhail, on a larger label. The year 1800 was subtly embossed on the packaging to reinforce the notion of heritage and longevity. The bird was lifted above the name and all bottle tops were changed to red. A fresh look was adopted again in 2018, by which time numerous fresh expressions had hit the market. A black and gold colour palette reflected the colours of the bird. Key elements of the previous bottle's design remain, including the distinctive ‘eyebrow’ bottle and label shape and the longer closure but in new black, red and gold hues. The distinctive purple on both the carton and the standard bottle makes it stand out on shelves. More is expected later this year, on its 40th anniversary as Scotland’s Number One Whisky.
The Famous Grouse Theme: Transferring the brand’s long-established icon into contemporary surroundings has been at the heart of the strategy designed to boost Famous Grouse’s appeal to younger drinkers. As many as 40 TV commercials have been released to date, the last dozen or so produced by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. The animation techniques are the same as those developed for Jurassic Park. A blasé grouse is central to the theme, sauntering along with a cocked eye, or creating an arabesque. The background music is the multi-dimensional Plink Plonk theme, which had a curious birth. It began as a waltz of assorted whisky sounds. Clinking ice, cut glass, opening bottle tops, all were pressed into play. Even the sound of a muso rolling a smooth dram of the Famous Grouse around the soft palate. This hit the right note, allowing its composers the nonchalance to drop the waltz rhythm for the plinky marimba sound.
Canned Grouse: The Famous Grouse launched a premixed can in 2010, combining one measure of whisky with cola at a steep price of GBP 1.75 a can in supermarkets. The can has been brought out to stay contemporary in the fast-expanding premixed cans market, as well as opening up a new target audience to the brand.
Edrington Group gifted a 21ft statue of a red grouse to Perth in November 2010 as part of its support for Perth’s 800th Anniversary of Perth’s Royal Charter celebrations. The imposing statue, built by Ruaraig Maciver, can be found on the Broxden roundabout, a key gateway to Perth.
Over time, the mascot has evolved from a silhouetted gamecock to the unmistakable painted likeness of not just any grouse, but an adult male “Red Grouse” (Lagopus lagopus scotica) sporting his red eye-combs while standing tall and strutting about on guard in the bleak Scottish landscape. He’s even been christened: Gilbert.
Gilbert “the Red” enjoyed a good and long reign as the lone, undisputed claimant of The Famous Grouse title. No longer. Today, there isn’t just the one famous grouse, but a small covey of famous grouse. The two new birds that have joined Gilbert on the block are the snowy Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) on the Snow Grouse, a blended grain whisky specifically designed to be drunk cold, served straight from the freezer and the Blackcock (Tetrao tetrix) on The Famous Grouse Smoky Black.
The pace of premiumisation was
stepped up in its unrelenting bid to give the brand a renewed thrust. There was an urgent necessity to do so, as brand sales were flattening, losing out to the onslaught of single malts. Edrington’s Financial Report 2019 states that sales of The Famous Grouse declined in 2018-19 by 8%, despite which setback its market share grew in core markets. The chart, reflecting sales in million 9l cases, extrapolated from scotchwhisky.com, thespiritsbusiness.com’s Scotch Whisky Brand Champions 2014/19 and thedrinksbusiness.com does reflect public opinion. Its pole position in Scotland, however, remains unchallenged, while achieving its highest-ever market share in the UK. It is also the market leader in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Cyprus. Its progress outside the EU/Europe and the USA seems to lack the same intensity. The effect of Brexit remains to be seen.
BRAND
OWNER
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
% +/-
Johnnie Walker
Diageo
20.1
17.9
17.6
17.4
18.3
18.9
3.5%
Ballantine’s
Pernod Ricard
6.0
6.1
6.2
6.7
6.9
7.4
7.6%
Grant’s
Wm Grant & Sons
4.7
4.4
4.4
4.5
4.5
4.6
0.8%
Chivas Regal
Pernod Ricard
4.6
4.6
4.4
4.3
4.2
4.5
5.4%
Wm Lawson’s
Bacardi
2.8
3.1
3.1
3.0
3.1
3.3
4.8%
J&B
Diageo
4.0
3.7
3.5
3.5
3.4
3.2
-7.9%
Famous Grouse
Edrington
3.0
3.04
3.1
3.0
3.04
3.0
-1.3%
William Peel
Marie Brizard
2.6
2.8
2.9
3.0
3.1
3.0
-3.2%
Dewar’s
Bacardi
3.0
2.7
2.7
2.8
2.6
2.8
6.4%
Black
& White
Diageo
N/A
1.3
1.5
1.8
2.4
2.7
14.9%
The growing popularity of single malts has led some distilleries to stop selling certain malt whiskies, reducing options for blenders. The classic example saw even Edrington struggling to get enough heavily peated malt of the right style to use in
The Famous Grouse Smoky Black to complement the Ruaidh Maor, a solution first thought of in 2009 in order to ensure a consistent supply of heavily peated new make in an Islay style at Glenturret – two
styles, same distillery.
But
the Glenturret distillery and its single malt brands were acquired by the Swiss Lalique Group and the Swiss/French wine
producer and distributor Art & Terroir half and half on 01 Apr 2019. It previously was “The Home of The Famous Grouse”.
Edrington will keep this well-known Blended Scotch Whisky and will give it a new home. The move comes two years after Edrington announced plans to switch its Perth-based management office to a new consolidated headquarters building in Glasgow. The sale severs Edrington’s last physical tie to the region, although the company may well continue to be a customer of Glenturret in future as the malt is a key constituent of The Famous Grouse blend.
The other Blended Scotch brands from the Famous Grouse portfolio are the Black Grouse Alpha heavily peated and the 12-year-old. The Alpha edition glided into travel retail in 2013 and then the main market as the Smoky Black gradually fades away. Neatly designed, the noble black grouse, otherwise known as a blackcock, Tetrao tetrix retains its haughty look of disdain, with a feather added to its neck. The initial years had the sleek black bottle clad in a crocheted overlay, with the feather sticking out cheekily.
The Video game Unravel Two: The Famous Grouse - PART 8, developed by the Swedish company Coldwood Interactive in 1916 and published by Electronic Arts, an American company, helped in promoting the brand in Europe, according to Master Taster Horst Luening at Whisky.de and at Whisky.com in his review of both the standard edition and the Black Grouse Alpha Edition. Related links to YouTube are placed below the video.
The Black Grouse Alpha Edition bottle has a red cork like the eye-comb on the grouse and celebrates the annual lek, where hordes of male blackcocks strut about in full splendour trying to outdo each other and win over the watching and waiting female. The Alpha uses mainly Glenturret and Tamdhu single malts, with only traces of Highland Park and The Macallan. The expensive Alpha has a cork whereas the others use screwtops. Its ppm level is assessed as between 7-9.
SINGLE MALTS: The company released, among its half dozen odd single malt expressions,
limited edition Single Malts of 1986 and 1988 vintage, bottled in 2014, generating a minor controversy. The vintage showed that the single malts were laid under the aegis of Highland Distillers, but the bottling was during the current Edrington era. The labels mentioned that this was a Glenturret single malt, which distillery was never under Highland Distillers.
The Famous Grouse 1988 was a 25 YO Single Malt bottled specifically for Taiwan. One cask was available for bottling, providing 312 700ml bottles. These were shipped at an ABV of 49.0%, labelled The Famous Grouse - Glenturret Single Cask Limited Edition 1988. Since these bottles never appeared in Europe, any controversy surrounding it abated naturaliter.
The 1986 vintage bottling controversy did build up and was quicky quashed by Edrington using legal means. The
Famous Grouse 1986 was released as a 28 YO Single Malt specially bottled for the
Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. The keen-eyed discerned that this whisky was actually 27 yr and 11 months old - not 28 years old. The whisky was subsequently withdrawn, but not before approximately 100 bottles had been sold. The label was reprinted, with the new version
giving the distillation date and bottling date, rather than years. The label still denotes it is a single malt from
Glenturret, bottled under the Famous Grouse brand.
The Naked Grouse, which is essentially a Blended Malt whisky that harks back to au naturelle, also had a difficult-to-find Blended Scotch version till 2015.
Visitors’ Centre: Remy Cointreau bought Glenturret distillery from James Farley in 1981 and built a Visitors’ Centre. Highland Distillers acquired the distillery in 1990, which went to Edrington in 1999-2000. The centre was rebuilt for £2.2m in 2002 as The Famous Grouse Experience, the home of the Gloag heritage. But the Glenturret distillery and its single malt brands were acquired by Swiss wine producer and distributor Art & Terroir and the Lalique Group in Dec 2018, with a complete handover in a 100-odd days period ending 01 April 2019. Silvio Denz and Hansjörg Wyss will each own a 50% stake and have plans for their own Visitors' Centre. The previous “Home of The Famous Grouse” was closed and Edrington stated that they would retain this well-known Blended Scotch Whisky and give it a new home.
Financial Year 2019: As figures trickle in, sales are showing an uptick of around 09% in value, buoyed mainly by a shining Macallan. Overall expenses have also increased and the prognosis is a low profit of around 01-1.5%. Apparently, The Famous Grouse is lagging a bit. This has forced Edrington, given its commitment to certain social causes and steep expenses in setting up the new Macallan distillery and visitor centre, to sell off a 10% share to Japan’s Suntory, which is already a shareholder in The Macallan and distributes several brands from the Edrington portfolio in markets including Japan, Germany, Canada and South Africa, and through joint ventures in the UK, Spain and Russia. Moreover, Edrington plans to shut down operations in South Korea by the end of March this year.
The Famous Grouse was awarded a Royal Warrant by Queen Elizabeth II in 1984.
UPDATE
Famous Grouse Releases Famous Lions Whisky
The Famous Grouse launched The Famous Lions, a
limited-edition whisky that celebrates its role as the official sponsor and whisky
of the British and Irish Lions. The brand was announced as the Official Whisky
of the Tour to South Africa in 2021.
The Famous Lions bottling features a Famous Grouse
label amended to read “The Famous British & Irish Lions.” The Scotch will
be made available exclusively through Tesco early in the year. The iconic
whisky brand says it will make an ideal dram to sip or to mix in its signature
Grouse and Ginger cocktail while watching the British and Irish Lions in
action in South Africa in summer.
The launch of The Famous Lions is an addition to The
Famous Grouse range that demonstrates the spirit of rugby and how much the
owners value the sport. They have been investing in the sport of rugby for the past
30 years and are proud to announce their commitment to this great game through this
partnership. They hope to engage with The Famous Grouse and Lions fans by
offering a bespoke bottle to celebrate our coming together.”
In late November, The Famous Grouse Blended Scotch
Whisky unveiled its new Spend Time in Grouse Country campaign. When Matthew
Gloag founded his iconic Whisky brand back in 1896, he chose to forgo his own
self-promotion by naming The Famous Grouse, not after himself, but after the
occasion for which it was created – a rewarding refreshment to share after a
day in the outdoors. The new campaign invites consumers to “Spend Time in
Grouse Country” and enjoy their preferred moments and special occasions,
whether by the fire, in the great outdoors, or catching up with friends in a
socially distanced setting or online.
The New Famous Grouse Blended Scotch Whisky: The Famous
One
The Famous Grouse launched The Famous One expression,
its first blended whisky with an initial exclusive online retail period. This Famous expression had been developed
"with all the complexity, smooth taste, quality and character" of its
classic blend. It uses a blend of grain and malt whiskies selected by The
Famous Grouse master blender and matured in sherry-seasoned American oak casks
and ex-Bourbon casks.
The Famous One pays homage to those who have dedicated
many years of service to The Famous Grouse over its 40-year history, with each
bottle bearing a roundel with the words 'Hard Graft, Great Craft'. Selective
maturation is used in the American oak sherry casks and ex-bourbon barrels to
achieve the sweeter, more honeyed characteristics of the blend. Each cask
provides its own unique flavour attributes, the sherry-seasoned American oak
adds complex characters of citrus and vanilla. This is complemented by the
ex-bourbon American oak barrels enhancing the fudge and toffee sweeter tones.
The distillery revealed that The Famous Grouse wanted
to create a blend that allowed people enjoying whisky for the first time to
explore a softer, sweeter, flavour profile. The Famous One retains all the
brand's complexity and smooth texture and with the additional honeyed and other
characteristics, it truly stands out on its own. The aim was to create a modern
and more indulgent take on The Famous Grouse: one that is still perfect for
sharing with friends but designed to be enjoyed in a range of smooth, sweet
whisky serves.
Accelerated by the pandemic, e-commerce has become a
crucial part of their business and this milestone launch - which will be the
first Famous Grouse blend to be available exclusively online for an initial
period - marks a new era for the brand. This will allow marketers to test the
waters and gain insight into customers' new shopping habits as they look to the
future.
The Famous One retails for £23 a bottle (70cl). It was
launched in the UK on 17 March 2022 and was available to purchase on Amazon. It
has all the makings of a sure-fire success: the world’s largest e-commerce site
promoting an easy-drinking whisky from an established brand. At the quoted
price for a 70cl bottle, it’s certainly rivalling its key competitors for
value.
Sources:
Famous for a Reason: The Story of the Famous Grouse by Charles Maclean, 2015. The Famous Grouse: A Whisky Companion: Heritage, History, Recipes & Drinks by Ian Buxton, 2012.
whiskybase.com; Whiskypedia Scotch Whisky
Edrington Annual Reports 2015-19
.jpg)
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
.jpg)
