Diageo

Type: Owner group

In 1997, Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged to form Diageo. Strathmill and Glen Spey both appear in ownership records under the Diageo name from that year. For the fiscal year ended 30 June 2026, Diageo plc reported 31 Scotch whisky distilleries in Scotland. That is a group-level figure: it does not establish which entities directly hold the sites. [1][2][3]

Diageo at a glance

• Entity: Diageo plc, owner group. [1]
• Scotch distillery portfolio: 31 distilleries in Scotland, reported for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2026. [1]
• Principal Scotch production subsidiary: Diageo Scotland Limited, 100 percent. [1]
• Selected distilleries: Strathmill and Glen Spey, both with ownership recorded from 1997. [2][3]
• Ownership record checked: 5 November 2026. [1][2][3]

What Diageo is known for

Scale defines Diageo's place in this profile. Its 2026 annual filing reports 31 Scotch distilleries in Scotland. The figure describes a portfolio of production sites, not a collection of whisky brands. It gives a measure of the group's Scotch ownership for the stated reporting period. [1]

Three kinds of name help readers navigate that portfolio. A distillery name identifies the site; Diageo identifies the wider owner group; a production or holding company identifies a legal entity within the corporate structure. For a reader tracing a bottle's producer, start with the distillery, then follow the ownership relationship. These names answer different questions and should not replace one another.

Strathmill and Glen Spey put two individual distillery names alongside the corporate total. Their recorded ownership relationships come from separate trade references, rather than a list of 31 sites in the filing. Read together, the sources offer both the broad portfolio figure and two documented examples within it. [1][2][3]

The group and its Scotch subsidiary

The Form 20-F identifies Diageo plc as the exact legal entity making the filing. It also names Diageo Scotland Limited as a principal Scotch production subsidiary, recorded at 100 percent. These entries establish two related but distinct parts of the corporate picture: the owner group and a named production subsidiary. [1]

The portfolio total is reported at group level. The subsidiary entry establishes the relationship between Diageo plc and Diageo Scotland Limited. Each is useful in its own right: one describes the scale of the reported Scotch portfolio, while the other identifies part of the structure behind it. [1]

A principal production subsidiary is an important reference point, but its role alone does not provide the legal ownership history of a particular distillery. That requires a documented connection between the site and the entity holding it. The material used here does not reliably make that connection for Diageo Scotland Limited and individual distilleries. [1]

The filing therefore supplies a corporate framework, rather than a complete map of the sites beneath it. It establishes the reported portfolio size and the named subsidiary relationship; the individual distillery records add a different level of detail.

Two documented distillery relationships

Strathmill and Glen Spey are recorded within the Diageo group from 1997. They are two selected examples of its Scotch distillery ownership, drawn from an ownership list checked on 5 November 2026. [2][3]

For Strathmill, ScotchWhisky.com records Diageo as owner from 1997 to the present. The entry supports the group ownership relationship used here. It is not used to establish a legal transfer date or identify the company directly holding the site. [2]

For Glen Spey, the supplied record identifies Diageo ownership from 1997. ScotchWhisky.com also notes that Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged to form Diageo that year. The entry supports the group relationship, without establishing a separate legal completion date or the site's direct holding company. [3]

The 1997 merger gives the Glen Spey account its corporate context, while both entries place their recorded Diageo relationships in that year. The dates are useful markers in the trade records, with the limits described above. [2][3]

Read these references alongside the filing. The corporate source supplies the portfolio total; the trade sources support the two named examples. Together they connect the scale of the group with individual distilleries, while answering different parts of the ownership question. [1][2][3]

How to read the evidence

The fiscal year dates the portfolio total, 1997 dates the recorded distillery relationships, and 5 November 2026 is the check date. Keeping those three uses of dates distinct makes the record straightforward to follow. [1][2][3]

The Form 20-F supplies the corporate facts: Diageo plc, the reported total of 31 Scotch distilleries and the named subsidiary relationship. The Strathmill and Glen Spey entries supply the two individual group relationships included in this profile. Each source contributes a different part of the account. [1][2][3]

The portfolio statement is specific: 31 Scotch whisky distilleries in Scotland, for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2026. Both the geographical scope and the reporting period belong with the number. It is a dated corporate total, not a newly checked count for an unspecified date. [1]

The year 1997 belongs to the recorded group relationships for Strathmill and Glen Spey. It places those relationships in time without resolving every question about their ownership histories. In the Glen Spey entry, it is also the year of the merger that formed Diageo. [2][3]

The ownership list was checked on 5 November 2026. That review date is separate from the fiscal year end and from the dates in the trade entries. It tells readers when the list was reviewed for this profile, not when a corporate relationship began or changed. [1][2][3]

What the record does not establish

The filing passage does not name all 31 distilleries, and the sources used here do not establish the direct holding entities for the individual sites. Strathmill and Glen Spey are selected examples, not the opening entries in a verified complete directory. A full portfolio list would require the remaining names and the holding entity for each site to be established. [1][2][3]

This is also why Diageo Scotland Limited's 100 percent subsidiary entry remains separate from the distillery examples. Its documented role as a principal Scotch production subsidiary does not establish that it directly holds Strathmill, Glen Spey or every site in the total. The missing element is the link between each site and its holder, not the documented subsidiary relationship itself. [1][2][3]

Diageo's headquarters and listing details are unresolved in the supplied record. They are left out rather than inferred from the company name or drawn from information outside the verified sheet.

An unestablished detail is not evidence that a relationship does not exist. Here, the absence of verified direct holders means only that the sources and passages used do not settle which companies hold the sites. The group relationships remain documented; the finer legal structure remains open.

Using this profile

For a particular distillery, begin with the named group relationship. Strathmill and Glen Spey are both recorded under Diageo from 1997. Where the question concerns the company directly holding either site, look next for evidence specific to that legal relationship. [2][3]

For a comparison of ownership portfolios, use the corporate figure in full: 31 Scotch whisky distilleries in Scotland, for the fiscal year ended 30 June 2026. Carrying the date and scope with the number makes it a useful, precise statement of the reported portfolio. [1]

For a closer reading of the corporate structure, use the subsidiary entry for the relationship it records: Diageo Scotland Limited, a principal Scotch production subsidiary, at 100 percent. This adds corporate detail to the group picture without substituting a company name for a distillery. [1]

The useful takeaway is a picture at three levels: a dated portfolio of 31 Scotch distilleries, the named production subsidiary Diageo Scotland Limited, and Strathmill and Glen Spey as two documented group relationships from 1997. Together, they give readers a clear starting point for understanding Diageo's Scotch ownership. [1][2][3]

Where to go next

• How Distillery Ownership Changes: distinguish a group owner from the entity holding a distillery.
• Whisky Brands That Do Not Own a Distillery: separate brand ownership from production.
• Pernod Ricard.

Sources

1. Diageo plc. Form 20-F, fiscal year ended 30 June 2026. 2026. Portfolio statement and note 22. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/835403/000162828026057529/deo-20260630.htm
2. ScotchWhisky.com. Strathmill. Trade reference, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1895/strathmill/
3. ScotchWhisky.com. Glen Spey. Trade reference, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/1849/glen-spey/

This desk-researched profile uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing the company's corporate filing from the trade references supporting individual distillery relationships.

Last checked: November 2026