Campari Group

Type: Owner group

When Campari acquired Wild Turkey in 2009, the bourbon changed hands but its bottling stayed with the seller.[3]

That transaction captures the breadth behind the red aperitif name. Campari acquired Glen Grant, Wild Turkey and Forty Creek, then a majority stake in Wilderness Trail in 2022, extending its whisky interests across Scotland, the United States and Canada.[1][2]

What Campari Group is known for

Glen Grant anchors Campari in Rothes, Speyside. Wild Turkey and Wilderness Trail connect it to Kentucky, while Forty Creek brings a Canadian distilling business. Each has its own acquisition history and place within the group.[2][4][5][8]

Campari Group is the owner group; Davide Campari-Milano N.V. is its legal entity. Glen Grant, by contrast, names a whisky business within that structure, not the parent company.[2]

The purchases also show how much the word “acquisition” can cover. Campari bought Forty Creek outright, entered Wilderness Trail through a majority shareholding and acquired Wild Turkey through an asset transaction. Each gave the group a different form of ownership.[2][3][4]

From aperitif origins to whisky acquisitions

Campari traces its beginnings to Gaspare Campari, the liquorist it credits with inventing the red aperitif in 1860. Its history dates the first Sesto San Giovanni plant to 1904 and the opening of the Camparino bar in Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II to 1915.[1]

The turning point for today's owner group came in 1995. Campari identifies that year as its first acquisition: the Italian business of BolsWessanen, including Cynar, Crodino and Lemonsoda. In the company's account, this began an acquisition-led expansion strategy alongside growth in its existing businesses.[1][2]

Whisky joined the expanding portfolio through a succession of deals, each with its own scope and structure.

Read these dates as completed transactions, not merely announcements. The percentages matter just as much: a minority investment and control of a business are different positions, particularly when comparing Campari with other whisky owners.

Glen Grant and the Scotch business

Glen Grant was the central distillery acquisition in Campari's move into Scotch, bringing the Rothes distillery into its whisky business. The group's acquisition register records the purchase of Glen Grant and Old Smuggler from Pernod Ricard, with closing dated 15 March 2006. An encyclopaedia entry gives December 2005 for Glen Grant's purchase. The exact transfer date remains disputed, although Campari's historical timeline places the acquisition in 2006.[1][2][8]

The acquisition itself is clear; its timing is where the company's register and the later reference history differ.[2][8]

Glen Grant's history also reaches beyond changes of owner. According to the producer, James Grant made it one of the first Scottish distilleries to generate its own electricity. The verdict is Documented.[6]

The producer also says Dennis Malcolm was born on the distillery grounds and became the third generation of his family to work there. The verdict is Documented.[6]

Two other stories rest on narrower foundations. One says John and James Grant were illicit distillers and smugglers before obtaining a licence. Its verdict is Legend: the supplied reference site does not establish the claim.[8]

The other says Glen Grant came to Campari as a by-product of Pernod Ricard's takeover of Allied Domecq. Its verdict is Legend: this, too, rests on the supplied reference site rather than evidence establishing the claim.[8]

For ownership purposes, keep the distillery and the other names in the purchase distinct. The acquisition record identifies what changed hands at that point; it should not, by itself, be read as a complete list of every Scotch brand the group owns today.

Verdict badge

• Claim: Glen Grant's transfer to Campari has conflicting dates in the supplied records.
• Verdict: Disputed.
• What the record shows: Campari gives 15 March 2006 as closing; the encyclopaedia entry gives December 2005.[2][8]
• Evidence against or gap: The supplied record does not reconcile the dates.
• Earliest known source: Not established from the supplied source editions.
• Sources: Campari acquisition register; Glen Grant encyclopaedia entry.
• Last checked: November 2026.

Wild Turkey: assets, ownership and bottling

The Wild Turkey sale contract was signed on 7 April 2009, and the transaction closed on 29 May after Italian and US competition approval.[3]

The sellers were Pernod Ricard S.A. and its US subsidiaries Austin Nichols & Co., Inc. and Pernod Ricard USA, LLC. The buyer was Rare Breed Distilling, based in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, a wholly owned subsidiary of Redfire.[3]

Story box: a new owner, an existing bottling arrangement

• The story: Wild Turkey changed owners, but retained its bottling arrangement.
• Founding history: Not documented in the supplied transaction record.
• The turning point: On 29 May 2009, Campari's Wild Turkey acquisition closed as a sale of assets, not shareholdings. Source.
• What stayed in place: Bottling plants were excluded. A three-year contract retained bottling at Pernod Ricard USA's Fort Smith, Arkansas plant because Campari had no US plant. Source.
• Source: Campari Group, Information Memorandum: Acquisition Wild Turkey, 2009, transaction memorandum.
• What it supports: The memorandum supports the closing date, asset structure, exclusion of bottling plants and transitional bottling arrangement.
• Last checked: November 2026.

Verdict badge

• The claim: The seller continued bottling Wild Turkey after Campari acquired its assets.
• Verdict: Documented.
• Supporting record: The transaction included a three-year bottling contract with Pernod Ricard USA.[3]
• Gaps or contrary evidence: None found in the supplied record.
• Earliest source identified: The supplied 2009 transaction memorandum.
• Source: Campari transaction memorandum, 2009.
• Last checked: November 2026.

The purchase covered Wild Turkey bourbon, including Wild Turkey & Cola and Wild Turkey & Dry, together with American Honey liqueur. That list defines the deal's scope; it does not make every included product whiskey.[3]

Forty Creek and the former Irish interests

Campari bought Forty Creek Distillery Ltd outright on 3 June 2014. The acquisition register names Barrel Select, Copper Pot Reserve and Forty Creek Cream Whisky among the brands associated with the Canadian transaction.[2]

This was ownership of the distilling business, not simply an agreement to distribute its products. The named products describe the acquisition at the time, rather than a checked list of today's range.

The group's Irish interests took a different course. Campari acquired Carolans, Frangelico and Irish Mist from William Grant & Sons, completing the purchase on 1 October 2010. It later sold Carolans and Irish Mist, including Irish Mist Whiskey, with the disposal closing on 1 August 2017.[2]

Irish Mist Whiskey therefore belongs in Campari's ownership history, but not in a current portfolio list based on that acquisition alone. An older list may be accurate for its date; the 2017 disposal does not identify the present owner.

Wilderness Trail: majority ownership, not an outright purchase

Wilderness Trail is in Danville, Kentucky. Founded by Shane Baker and Dr Pat Heist, it launched in 2012. Campari announced an agreement to acquire an initial 70% interest on 31 October 2022.[4]

The supplied account records that Baker and Heist came from commercial ethanol production before starting the distillery. The verdict is Documented, subject to confirmation of the supporting source.[5]

The majority acquisition closed on 7 December 2022. The announced structure provided for the remaining 30% in 2031, making the verified transaction an initial majority purchase rather than an outright acquisition.[2][4]

Howler Head offers a useful contrast. Campari's register records a 15% stake acquired on 24 August 2022. That minority investment belongs in the group's whisky story, but it is a different relationship from acquiring control of a distillery business.[2]

Common ownership mistakes

Treating Campari as only an aperitif company. Its whisky ownership history reaches across three countries.[1][2]

Saying Campari bought the Wild Turkey company. The deal transferred assets, not shareholdings; bottling remained under a separate contract.[3]

Calling Wilderness Trail wholly owned on the strength of the 2022 announcement. It specified an initial 70% interest and a later arrangement for the remainder.[4]

Assuming Irish Mist Whiskey stayed in the portfolio after its acquisition. Campari's register records the 2017 disposal; establishing the current owner requires a separate check.[2]

Where to go next

• How Distillery Ownership Changes: understand announcements, completed deals and ownership structures.
• Diageo: explore another owner connected to Campari's acquisition history.
• Kirin: compare a different international whisky ownership group.

Sources

Source numbers below follow the listed documents, with citation mismatches in the supplied fact sheet recorded in the evidence log.

1. Campari Group. Our Story. Undated corporate history, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.camparigroup.com/en/page/group/our-story
2. Campari Group. Acquisitions & Disposals. Undated corporate register, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.camparigroup.com/en/page/investors/acquisitions-disposals
3. Campari Group. Information Memorandum: Acquisition Wild Turkey. 2009. https://www.camparigroup.com/sites/default/files/attachments/acquisitions/information_memorandum.pdf
4. Campari Group. Campari Group acquires an initial 70% stake in Wilderness Trail Distillery. 31 October 2022. https://www.camparigroup.com/sites/default/files/downloads/20221031%20CPR%20WTD%20press%20release.pdf
5. Lexington Herald-Leader. Campari spirits buying Kentucky Wilderness Trail Distillery. 2022. https://www.kentucky.com/lexgoeat/bourbon/article268086252.html
6. The Glen Grant. Our Story. Producer's account, undated; supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.theglengrant.com/our-story/
7. Wikipedia. Glen Grant distillery. Revision not supplied; supplied record checked November 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Grant_distillery

Prepared as desk research from the supplied verified fact sheet and its source descriptions, without an independent live recheck of the linked documents.

Last checked: November 2026