CVH Spirits

Type: Owner group

CVH Spirits is the whisky business behind Bunnahabhain, Deanston and Tobermory, with Ledaig completing its four single malt names. Its corporate name dates from April 2023, but the company was incorporated in 1988 and its Burn Stewart business history reaches back to 1948. [1][2][3][5][6]

At a glance

What CVH Spirits is known for

The distinction is between three distilleries and four single malt names. Ledaig is not a fourth distillery: it is Tobermory’s former name and remains a whisky made there. Alongside those single malts, Black Bottle and Scottish Leader give the group a presence in blended Scotch. [5][6][9]

That combination reflects the business’s development. Burn Stewart began by selling bulk and own-label Scotch, then moved towards brands in the 1990s. The present portfolio brings that branded business together with distilleries, rather than representing a company created from scratch when the CVH name appeared. [3]

CVH also describes itself as a UK distributor of other premium spirits. Its business therefore extends beyond the whisky names it owns, although its three malt distilleries provide the clearest starting point for understanding the group. [6]

For a reader looking at a bottle, the useful distinction is between the corporate name and the whisky name. CVH Spirits identifies the business behind the portfolio; Bunnahabhain, Deanston, Tobermory, Ledaig, Black Bottle and Scottish Leader identify its whisky brands. They should not be read as interchangeable names for one distillery. [5][6]

From Burn Stewart to CVH Spirits

Burn Stewart’s history begins in 1948, according to the trade account, rather than with the incorporation date of today’s legal entity. In 1988, a group including Bill Thornton, a former Hiram Walker finance director, took over the business. Burn Stewart subsequently floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991. [3]

The registered company followed its own sequence of names. Incorporated as Pacific Shelf 158 Limited in March 1988, it became Burn Stewart Group Limited that July. Burn Stewart Distillers PLC followed in January 1991, then Burn Stewart Distillers Limited in July 2003. [1]

Those changes matter because a business’s founding, a company’s incorporation and a later renaming are different events. For CVH, 1948 belongs to the Burn Stewart business history, 1988 to the registered company, and 2023 to the adoption of its present name. See how distillery ownership changes for the distinction between ownership and a change of name. [1][2][3]

The ownership sequence

Burn Stewart was sold to Trinidad’s CL Financial in 2002. Under that ownership, it acquired Bunnahabhain and Black Bottle from Edrington, adding both a distillery and a blended Scotch brand to the business. [3]

A relationship with Distell preceded the eventual takeover. In 2007, the companies established an equal-partner venture covering Bunnahabhain, Black Bottle and Scottish Leader in sub-Saharan Africa. In April 2013, Distell bought Burn Stewart from CL World Brands and Angostura Ltd. [4]

The 2013 transaction was more than a transfer of brand names. The reported package included three malt distilleries, a blending and maturation facility, a bottling hall, a storage site and maturing stock. Fraser Thornton was Burn Stewart’s managing director at the time. [4]

The company became Distell International Limited in April 2016. When Heineken subsequently took over Distell, the Scotch business was spun out under Capevin Holdings. The renaming date is Disputed: the Companies House certificate gives 26 April 2023, while a trade account gives 27 April 2023. [1][2][3]

What the CVH name means

CVH stands for Capevin Holdings. The accompanying strapline, “Collaborative, Visionary, Human”, uses the same initials but is not the origin of the corporate abbreviation, according to the trade account. [3]

That distinction is useful because the initials can otherwise look like a newly invented brand identity detached from an ownership history. Here, the name points directly to Capevin Holdings, under which the Scotch business was placed following the Distell transaction. [3]

The company describes itself as majority held by Remgro. A 2023 trade account reported that Remgro owned 59.5% of Capevin Holdings; that historical percentage should not be treated as a verified current shareholding. [3][5]

There is also a separate statutory record: the supplied filing history records Distell Group Limited as a person with significant control, with a change of details filed for 11 March 2024. That filing and the company’s majority-ownership statement should not be compressed into an unsupported, simplified ownership chain. [2][5]

Three distilleries with different histories

The distilleries now grouped under CVH did not begin as parts of one enterprise. Their histories run through a converted cotton mill, a Mull distillery with successive identities, and Bunnahabhain’s nineteenth-century establishment. [7][8][9]

Deanston

Deanston occupies a cotton mill dating from 1785, designed by Richard Arkwright. The building was converted to a distillery in 1965, with first distillation following in October 1969. Those are separate milestones: conversion did not mean immediate spirit production. [7]

The subsequent sequence includes sale to Invergordon in 1972, closure in 1982 and purchase by Burn Stewart in 1990. Distillation restarted in 1991. Deanston’s connection with the present group therefore predates both Distell’s acquisition and the CVH name. [7]

Tobermory and Ledaig

Tobermory was founded as Ledaig in 1798 by John Sinclair and was licensed in 1823. It reopened in 1972 as Ledaig Distillery (Tobermory) Ltd, another reminder that a distillery’s name and its corporate identity can change independently. [9][10]

Today, Tobermory and Ledaig appear as two single malt names within CVH’s portfolio, not as two separate distilleries. The historical use of Ledaig helps explain the relationship, but the practical point is straightforward: both names belong to whisky made at Tobermory. [5][9]

Bunnahabhain

Bunnahabhain was established in 1881, with production beginning in 1883. Its early corporate history included a merger with Glenrothes in 1887 to form Highland Distillers. [8]

Its later passage into Burn Stewart’s portfolio brought the distillery together with Black Bottle under CL Financial. That acquisition is part of the explanation for the present group’s combination of single malt distilleries and established blended Scotch brands. [3]

Story box: the business behind the changing names

Founding story: Burn Stewart began in 1948 selling bulk and own-label Scotch. The legal company now called CVH Spirits Limited was incorporated separately on 16 March 1988. Each claim maps respectively to the trade history and Companies House overview.

Documented record: The company later adopted the CVH Spirits name in April 2023. This claim maps to the Companies House filing history.

Last checked: 7 November 2026.

Sustainability claims and their scope

A trade account identifies biomass at Bunnahabhain and hydropower at Deanston, alongside a group net-zero target of 2040. These are specific reported projects and a stated future target, rather than evidence that the entire business has already reached net zero. [3]

Keeping those categories separate makes the information more useful. A named energy project describes an intervention at a particular distillery; a group target describes an intended outcome over time. Neither should be substituted for the other when assessing what CVH says about its environmental work. [3]

Three common misunderstandings

“CVH Spirits was founded in 2023.” The recent corporate name makes that an understandable assumption, but it confuses a renaming with incorporation. The registered company dates from 1988, while the Burn Stewart business history reaches further back. [1][2][3]

“CVH Spirits belongs to Heineken.” The confusion comes from the Distell transaction. The Scotch business was spun out under Capevin Holdings when Heineken took over Distell; CVH’s own account describes majority ownership by Remgro. [3][5]

“Ledaig is a separate distillery.” Its appearance alongside three other single malt names can suggest four production sites. Ledaig is instead Tobermory’s former name and a whisky still made there, leaving three distilleries in the producer’s stated portfolio. [5][6][9]

Where to go next

• How Distillery Ownership Changes: understand the distinction between a transaction, a corporate name and ownership of a distillery.
• Whisky Brands That Do Not Own a Distillery: separate brand ownership from the place where whisky is distilled.
• Edrington: follow the former owner named in the Bunnahabhain and Black Bottle acquisition history.

Sources

1. Companies House. CVH SPIRITS LIMITED overview. Live register, supplied record checked November 2026. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC109881
2. Companies House. CVH SPIRITS LIMITED filing history. Filings including the April 2023 name-change certificate and subsequent corporate records, supplied record checked November 2026. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/SC109881/filing-history
3. Ian Fraser. CVH Spirits, formerly Distell, commits to net zero by 2040. Trade account, 2023. https://www.ianfraser.org/cvh-spirits-is-a-new-force-in-scotch-whisky/
4. The Spirits Business. South Africa’s Distell buys Burn Stewart Distillers. Title shortened, April 2013.
5. CVH Spirits. CVH Spirits. LinkedIn company profile, producer’s account, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/company/cvh-spirits
6. CVH Spirits. Our Brands. Producer’s account, supplied record checked November 2026. https://cvhspirits.com/our-brands/
7. Scottish Delight. Deanston Distillery: Cotton Mill History. Undated trade history, supplied record checked November 2026. https://www.scottishdelight.com/scottish-whisky/highland-whisky/deanston-whisky-highland/
8. Scotch Whisky. Bunnahabhain. Undated reference entry, supplied record checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1828/bunnahabhain/
9. Wikipedia. Tobermory distillery. Supplied revision not specified, record checked November 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobermory_distillery
10. Mull Directory. Tobermory Distillery History: The 200-Year Spirit of Mull. Undated trade history, supplied record checked November 2026. https://mulldirectory.co.uk/the-unstoppable-spirit-of-mull-the-200-year-epic-of-tobermory-distillery/

This desk-researched draft uses the supplied fact sheet, distinguishing company records, producer accounts and trade histories; the source-mapping issues below require editorial resolution.

Last checked: November 2026