Famous Grouse

Famous Grouse whisky

The Famous Grouse is a brand of blended Scotch whisky, first produced by Matthew Gloag & Son in 1896, and currently produced and owned by The Edrington Group. The single malt whiskies used in The Famous Grouse blend include the Edrington-owned Highland Park and The Macallan. Its emblem is the Red Grouse, Scotland's national game bird.

It has been the highest selling whisky brand in Scotland since 1980. As a standard price blended Scotch whisky, its main competitors in its home market are Bell's, Teacher's and Grant's. The majority of its UK sales are during the Christmas period.

Matthew Gloag was a grocer and wine merchant in Perth, Scotland. Gloag purchased whiskies from distilleries around Scotland, and when Queen Victoria visited Perth in 1842, he was invited to supply the wines for the royal banquet.

In 1860, his son, William Gloag, took over the company and began producing blended whiskies. In 1896, William's nephew, also named Matthew after his grandfather, took over the company. He created a brand called The Grouse in 1896, which was renamed The Famous Grouse in 1905. Matthew Gloag's daughter Phillippa first designed the label's grouse icon.

In 1970, Matthew Gloag & Son, owned by the Gloag family, was sold to Highland Distillers, after the death of the chairman, Matthew Frederick Gloag. The marketing and distributive power of the company saw Famous Grouse become the highest selling Scotch in Scotland by 1980 and the second highest selling in the United Kingdom. From the 1980s the brand began to be exported overseas, where it now sells over 2 million cases annually. In 1984 The Famous Grouse was awarded the Royal Warrant.