Loch Lomond Group
Type: Owner group
Inside a former dye works in Alexandria, the modern Loch Lomond Distillery took shape.[7] That distillery shares its name with a wider spirits business: the group’s 2019 sale included malt and grain whisky production, a separate Campbeltown distillery and the remaining stocks of closed Littlemill.[6]
Exponent formed Loch Lomond Group after buying the Loch Lomond Distillery Company’s assets in 2014. Hillhouse Capital and the management team acquired the group in 2019.[1][2]
| Field | Verified record |
|---|---|
| Group formed | 2014, after Exponent acquired the Loch Lomond Distillery Company’s assets.[1] |
| Latest established ownership transaction | Hillhouse Capital and management buyout, signed and completed on 6 June 2019.[2][3] |
| Previous ownership | Exponent, which bought the business from the Bulloch family in 2014.[1][4] |
| Whisky assets in the 2019 transaction | Loch Lomond malt and grain distillery, Glen Scotia and remaining stocks from closed Littlemill.[6] |
| Other production infrastructure | Catrine bottling plant, included in the 2019 transaction.[6] |
| Chief executive | Colin Matthews, identified in the role in November 2026.[11] |
What Loch Lomond Group is known for
Loch Lomond, Glen Scotia, Littlemill, High Commissioner, Glen’s Vodka and Ben Lomond gin sit within the same portfolio.[6] This is a spirits business, not simply the company behind one distillery or one single malt range.
Loch Lomond Group and Loch Lomond Distillery are distinct. The group brings these interests together; the Alexandria distillery is one of its production assets.[1][6] The shared name can obscure the breadth of a business whose interests include production, brands, whisky stocks and bottling.
Working production sites, brands and whisky stocks can share an owner without sharing a history. Each name has its own production record and its own relationship to the wider business. Those distinctions explain more about the portfolio than treating every name as another operating distillery.
From the Bulloch family to private equity
The modern group grew from an established family business. Exponent traces that business to Scotland in 1842 and says it remained in family ownership until the 2014 acquisition.[4] The 1842 date describes the business’s ancestry, not the opening of the modern Loch Lomond Distillery.
Story box: A family business becomes a wider spirits group
Founding story: Exponent formed Loch Lomond Group in 2014 after buying the Loch Lomond Distillery Company’s assets from the Bulloch family. These included Loch Lomond Distillery at Alexandria, Glen Scotia in Campbeltown and the Glen Catrine packaging plant at Mauchline. Source: BBC News, 2014.[1]
Turning point: Hillhouse Capital acquired the group from Exponent, with management participating in the buyout, signed and completed on 6 June 2019. Sources: BBC News, 2019 and Cleary Gottlieb, 2019.[2][3]
Documented record: The two reports trace the move from family ownership to successive private equity owners. Sources: BBC News, 2014 and BBC News, 2019.[1][2]
Verdict: Documented. Transaction reporting establishes the central ownership sequence, though the supplied record does not set out the precise legal entity structure.
Earliest sources used: BBC News’s 2014 acquisition report and its 2019 takeover report.[1][2]
Last checked: 7 November 2026.
The 2014 acquisition brought new leadership. Former Diageo chief financial officer Nick Rose became chairman, and Colin Matthews became chief executive.[1] Matthews was still identified as CEO in November 2026.[11]
By the 2019 takeover, the group had a presence in more than 120 countries.[2] That figure captures its international reach at the time, rather than its current distribution. The sale concerned a wider spirits business with international reach, not merely the transfer of two Scottish distillery buildings.
For comparison with other transactions, how distillery ownership changes explains the differences between acquiring shares, physical assets, brands and whisky stocks. Here, the transaction reporting identifies distilleries, remaining whisky stocks and bottling infrastructure within the sale.
What the whisky portfolio contains
A working distillery, stocks from a closed distillery and a bottling plant play very different roles. The 2019 transaction included all three kinds of asset: Loch Lomond’s malt and grain production, Glen Scotia, remaining Littlemill stocks and the Catrine bottling plant.[6]
Loch Lomond makes both malt and grain whisky. Both sides of production appeared in the description of the distillery in the 2019 sale.[6] Calling it solely a single malt producer leaves out an essential part of the operation.
Glen Scotia gives the group its separate Campbeltown distillery. It joined the business in 1994, when Alexander Bulloch bought Gibson International, a transaction that also brought Littlemill.[7][8] Glen Scotia’s place in the portfolio therefore reaches back well before Exponent formed Loch Lomond Group.
Littlemill represents whisky stocks rather than working production. The 2019 transaction report specifically included the remaining stocks of the closed distillery.[6] Its continuing whisky name should not be confused with an operating distillery.
The original 2014 assets included the Glen Catrine packaging plant at Mauchline, and the Catrine bottling plant appeared again in the 2019 transaction.[1][6] Bottling infrastructure belongs alongside the distilleries in an account of the group, rather than behind its better-known whisky names.
For the distinction between a whisky name and its production source, see brands without their own distillery.
The Alexandria distillery behind the group name
The modern Loch Lomond Distillery was built inside the former United Turkey Red dye works in Alexandria.[7] Duncan Thomas, Littlemill’s owner, developed it with Barton Brands of Chicago.[7][8]
Littlemill’s influence reached into the equipment: according to the producer’s account, the first straight-neck pot stills were based on Littlemill designs.[7] The connection between the two distilleries was therefore both personal and technical. Barton Brands, a Chicago bourbon firm, took full ownership in 1971.[7][8]
The opening year remains Disputed. The group’s website is quoted as saying the distillery opened in 1964 and began production the following year; the distillery’s own website is quoted as giving 1966.[7] Both accounts belong in the chronology.
The later production sequence is clearer. The distillery closed in 1984, then restarted production in 1987.[7][8] A cooperage opened in 1994 with an initial workforce of five full-time coopers.[8] The producer also records the addition of two malt stills in 1999 and another two in 2015.[7]
Those additions mark particular stages in the site’s development, rather than giving a verified present-day still inventory. They trace the development of the production asset behind the Loch Lomond name.
Reading the history without merging different dates
Exponent’s account of the family business’s origins in 1842, the Alexandria distillery’s opening and the group’s formation in 2014 describe separate milestones.[1][4][7] The disputed dates concern specific events, not the whole chronology.
Two further points remain Disputed. A trade source dates the start of grain whisky production to 1993, while the group’s website, as quoted, gives 1994. Accounts also differ over the acquisition of the silent distillery in the mid-1980s: one names Glen Catrine in 1985; another describes Inver House in 1985, followed by the Bulloch family in 1986.[7][8]
The closure in 1984, restart in 1987 and later ownership transactions are separately documented.[1][2][7][8]
Common mistakes
Calling the group family-owned today: the Bulloch family history is only part of the ownership story. Exponent acquired the business in 2014, followed by the Hillhouse and management buyout in 2019.[1][2]
Treating Littlemill as an operating group distillery: the whisky name continues, but the 2019 transaction concerned remaining stocks from closed Littlemill.[6]
Describing Loch Lomond only as a single malt distillery: grain whisky is part of the operation too. The 2019 sale explicitly included the Loch Lomond malt and grain distillery.[6]
Where to go next
- How Distillery Ownership Changes: understand what transfers when a whisky business changes hands.
- Whisky Brands That Do Not Own a Distillery: distinguish ownership of a name from ownership of production.
- Ian Macleod Distillers: explore another company through its own ownership and distillery record.
Sources
[1] BBC News. Private equity firm buys Loch Lomond Distillery Company assets. 2014.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-26418111
[2] BBC News. Spirits group Loch Lomond sold to Hong Kong fund. 2019.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-48546306
[3] Cleary Gottlieb. Hillhouse Capital Acquires The Loch Lomond Group. 2019.
https://www.clearygottlieb.com/news-and-insights/news-listing/hillhouse-capital-acquires-the-loch-lomond-group
[4] Exponent. Loch Lomond Group. Undated portfolio account, supplied sheet checked November 2026.
https://www.exponentpe.com/our-portfolio/loch-lomond-group
[6] ScotchWhisky.com. Loch Lomond Group under new ownership. 2019.
https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/latest-news/26009/loch-lomond-group-under-new-ownership/
[7] Brian’s Malt Musings. Loch Lomond Distillery 60th Birthday?. March 2026.
https://malt-musings.blogspot.com/2026/03/loch-lomond-distillery-60th-birthday.html
[8] Whisky.com. Loch Lomond. Undated distillery reference, supplied sheet checked November 2026.
https://www.whisky.com/whisky-database/distilleries/details/loch-lomond.html
[11] Falkirk Herald. Falkirk duo earn monthly awards. November 2026.
https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/sport/football/falkirk-fc/falkirk-duo-earn-monthly-awards-9335867
This desk-researched article uses the supplied TOP-A414 fact sheet, separating transaction reporting, producer accounts and disputed historical dates.
Last checked: November 2026