GLEN GRANT DISTILLERY

The Glen Grant Distillery was founded by two of the great characters of the Scotch whisky industry.  The Brothers John (1797 - 1864) and James (1801 - 1872) Grant were born on the small farm of Shewal, in Strathavon in Upper Banffshire.  Another of the Grant brothers, Peter inherited the family farm, while John and James looked further afield for opportunities to make their fortunes.   

In 1820 James took part in the "Raid on Elgin", the last clan rising in Scottish history, when hundreds of the men of the Clan Grant marched on the city from Strathspey to release their chief from the clutches of a lowland mob.  The Grant tartan waistcoat which James wore on the raid has been handed down through the generations and today it is proudly displayed at the distillery.  His involvement in the events of 1820 seems to have done no harm to young James' career, for he became a clerk in the procurator fiscals' office in Elgin.

He moved on to Edinburgh and after working for four years as an apprentice he qualified as a solicitor in 1828.  He returned to become one of Elgin's leading businessmen and helped to promoted, and become chairman of the Morayshire Railway Company and also served as Provost of Elgin from 1848 - 1863.

John stayed on at Shewal, working on the family farm while establishing himself as a grain dealer, travelling around Upper Banffshire purchasing local farmers' crops and selling the grain in local markets or shipping it south from nearby ports of Lossiemouth, Burghead or Garmouth.  John, however, had another string to his bow.  There was an enormous demand for smuggled highland whisky all across the north east of Scotland and in the lowland towns and cities so while on his travels, he bought casks of whisky from his neighbours and smuggled it on his carts and packhorses to buyers in the lowlands.

In 1824 John and James went into partnership with the Elgin drapers James and John Walker and leased a distillery at Aberlour.  Their venture proved profitable and even before the lease expired in 1840 the Grants were making plans to build a distillery of their own.  In 1839 they acquired land on the outskirts of Rothes from the Earl of Seafield and began to erect distillery buildings on the banks of the small stream called the Back Burn.  J&J Grants' Glen Grant Distillery opened in 1840 and produced up to 35 barrels per week.  It now produces 1000 - 1200 barrels per week.
In 1872 James Grant died and his son, also James Grant or more locally known as "The Major" became sole proprietor of Glen Grant.  The Major continued to build on the success of his uncle and father by further expanding the distillery and in 1898 converting a previously used building for making malted barley in Station Street into a second distillery which he called Glen Grant No.2.  To meet the wishes of the Excise authorities, the whisky produced was conveyed via an overhead pipe across New Street to the warehouses at Glen Grant.  In 1901 however, Major Grant was forced to close the second distillery owing to a recession in the market for whisky. In 1965 it was reopened and called Caperdonach Distillery and continues to operate producing approximately 350 barrels per week.

THE GARDENS

In 1885 the Major built his own mansion house and set out to extend and further develop the beautiful gardens that his Uncle John Grant had started in 1839.  The Major was responsible for one of the garden's most unusual features.  He built a safe high in the rock wall of the ravine and he cut a path along the rock opposite and built a wooden bridge across the burn.  The safe had, and still has a very practical, if slightly unusual purpose.  The Major liked to offer his guests a wee dram before they returned to the house, so locked away within the safe was a bottle of Glen Grant malt and some glasses.  The Major was able to impress his friends by pouring a dram for all to enjoy with a splash of the sparkling cold water from the burn.

The Major died in 1931 leaving something that has been unequalled by the rest of the whisky industry.  A beautiful garden for all to share and enjoy and a single malt which is unquestionably Different by Tradition.

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