Glenfiddich

William Grant left his post as manager of Mortlach in 1886 and, with his wife and nine children, built a distillery by the River Fiddich. The first new make ran on Christmas Day 1887. In 1963 the firm decided to bottle and promote Glenfiddich as a single malt, which ScotchWhisky.com calls the first concerted effort to create a global malt brand, and in 1969 it opened a visitor centre. ScotchWhisky.com says the company is still wholly owned by the Grant family, now in its fifth generation; Companies House shows the operating company owned by William Grant & Sons Limited.

The distillery stands on Castle Road at Dufftown in Moray, in the Speyside region, beside The Balvenie. ScotchWhisky.com describes a site of 35 hectares with a cooperage, coppersmith, bottling lines, large warehouses and two still houses holding 28 stills, by far the most at any Scottish distillery.