It has been the highest-selling whisky brand in Scotland since 1980,[1] although Bell's is not far behind in second place.[3] As a standard price blended Scotch whisky, its main competitors in its home market are Grant's, Bell's and Teacher's. The majority of its sales in the United Kingdom are during the Christmas period.[4]
History
Advertising promoting Matthew Gloag & Son promoting import of port from Douro, c. 1850, Red Lion Public House, Culross
In 1860, his son, William Gloag, took over the company. Following the Great French Wine Blight the company began to look at creating its own blended whiskies around 1875.[citation needed] In 1896, William's nephew, Matthew Gloag (1850-1912), took over the family business. He created a new blended brand called The Grouse in 1896. at this time the company was still operating from the grandfather's premises but had expanded to occupy adjacent shops, jointly covering 20 to 26 Atholl Street.[6][7]
In 1905 the limited company of Matthew Gloag & son was formed and the Grouse was renamed The Famous Grouse in the same year.[1] Matthew Gloag's daughter Phillippa first designed the label's grouse icon.[1] Only at this point did the company move to new purpose-built premises on Kinnoull Street.[8]
In 1970, Matthew Gloag & Son, owned by the Gloag family, was sold to Highland Distillers, after the death of the chairman, Matthew Frederick Gloag.[1] 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.[1]
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 a Royal Warrant.[1]
In September 2024, Edrington reached an agreement to sell The Famous Grouse to William Grant & Sons, subject to customary regulatory approvals.[9]
The blend goes through a marrying process for up to six months at 46% ABV. It is mandated by The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) that, in order to call a whisky "Blended Scotch", the youngest alcoholic component in the drink needs to be matured for at least three years.[10] This implies that all single malt and single grain whiskies used to create any "Blended Scotch" must have been matured as prescribed for at least three years. If shown, the manufacturers must state the age of the youngest constituent malt of their whisky -- however an age statement is not legally mandatory for any scotch whisky, blended or otherwise. Blenders optimize a standard taste for their products by blending casks of varying ages among batches. Where there is no age statement the blenders need not worry the impact a relatively young cask's whisky might have on said statement. Ageing is done in oak casks.[11]
Variants
A bottle of Black Grouse
In 2007 a peated special version of The Famous Grouse called The Black Grouse developed for the Swedish market was released. The packaging displays a black grouse in place of the usual red grouse.[12] The following year a special version, meant for chilling, was released called The Snow Grouse.[13] The packaging features a ptarmigan.
In 2011, The Naked Grouse was launched as its premium product. Initially as a high-end blended whisky, in 2017 it was turned into blended malt whisky.[14]
The Famous Grouse was the primary sponsor of the Perth-based football team St Johnstone between 1986 and 1989 and again between 1991 and 1998. It also sponsored the Scotland national rugby union team from 1990 until 2007, and was 'The Official Spirit of Scottish Rugby' from 2013 for three years.[19]
