The Famous Grouse
Type: Blended or sourced brand
In 1831, Margaret Gloag secured a licence to sell wine, spirits and snuff from a Perth grocery. Her husband Matthew had yet to join the shop. Long before the red grouse became a familiar whisky emblem, this was a family business in which Margaret led the way. Today, The Famous Grouse is a blended Scotch whisky brand owned by William Grant & Sons, which completed its acquisition from Edrington on 1 July 2025.[2][4][6][7]
| Brand reference | Detail |
|---|---|
| Owner | William Grant & Sons; exact acquiring legal entity not reliably established. Acquisition completed 1 July 2025; checked November 2026.[6] |
| Previous owner | The 1887 Company, an Edrington subsidiary.[5] |
| Brand origin | Producer dates it to 1896, in a Perth shop.[1] |
| Registered name | The Famous Grouse, recorded as a trade mark in 1905.[2] |
| Related expressions in the acquisition | Smoky Black and Sherry Cask Finish.[11] |
The bird and the name
The red grouse is the defining emblem of this blended Scotch. Master of Malt’s trade history dates its adoption to 1896; registration of the name The Famous Grouse followed in 1905. The bird came first, the registered name later.[2][4]
Verdict: Legend
Claim: Matthew Gloag’s daughter Phillippa drew the first grouse on the label. Wikipedia repeats the story, but the designer’s identity remains unconfirmed in the supplied record. Earliest known source: not established from the sources checked. Source: Wikipedia. Last checked: November 2026.
William Grant & Sons describes The Famous Grouse as Scotland’s best-selling whisky, a claim reported by The Herald. It is the owner’s description, rather than an independently established ranking.[10]
Behind the familiar emblem lie two less settled questions: when the grocery began, and what the blend was first called.
Verdict: Disputed
Claim: The grocery has a precisely established founding date. Grace’s Guide gives 1800, while Master of Malt says John Brown moved to Atholl Street in 1807. These accounts do not establish a single founding date. Earliest known source: not established from the sources checked. Sources: Grace’s Guide, Master of Malt. Last checked: November 2026.
Verdict: Disputed
Claim: The brand’s first name is established. Grace’s Guide calls it The Grouse, ScotchWhisky.com calls it Gloag’s Grouse, and Master of Malt says Brig o’Perth came first, followed by the Grouse. The first name remains disputed. Earliest known source: not established from the sources checked. Sources: Grace’s Guide, ScotchWhisky.com, Master of Malt. Last checked: November 2026.
Margaret Gloag and the Perth shop
The business began as John Brown’s grocery in Perth. Margaret, Brown’s daughter, married Matthew Gloag and took over the Atholl Street shop in 1824. In 1831 she obtained a licence to sell wine, spirits and snuff, before Matthew joined the business.[2][4]
Matthew, born in 1797, had worked in service to a member of the judiciary. Grace’s Guide records that he managed the cellar of the sheriff clerk of Perthshire for more than 30 years. Master of Malt places his arrival at the shop ten years after Margaret took it over.[2][4]
His name became central to the business, but the familiar shorthand of Matthew as sole founder leaves Margaret’s earlier work out of the picture.[2][4]
Story box: Margaret before Matthew
| Field | Record |
|---|---|
| story_title | The woman who licensed the Perth shop |
| founding_story | Margaret Gloag took over the family shop in 1824 and obtained its wine, spirits and snuff licence in 1831, before Matthew joined. Sources: Grace’s Guide, Master of Malt. |
| documented_record | The trade histories establish Margaret’s earlier role in running and licensing the shop. Sources: Grace’s Guide, Master of Malt. |
| claim_source_mapping | Margaret’s 1824 takeover: both histories. Her 1831 licence: Grace’s Guide. Matthew joining ten years after 1824: Master of Malt. |
| last_checked | November 2026 |
Verdict: Documented
Claim: Margaret Gloag ran and licensed the shop before her husband joined. The documented sequence establishes her earlier involvement, without settling the business’s founding date. Earliest source date and underlying licensing document: not established from the sources checked. Sources: Grace’s Guide, Master of Malt. Last checked: November 2026.
From grocery to whisky blending
Whisky bought directly from Highland distilleries helped shape the next chapter. Master of Malt records Matthew purchasing those stocks; after his death in 1860, his son William Brown Gloag took over. Under William, securing whisky supplies became an explicitly documented part of the firm’s development.[2][4]
In 1887, William became an original shareholder in Edinburgh’s North British distillery. The trade histories connect that investment with securing grain whisky. The family’s interests now reached beyond the shop counter into the supply of whisky for the business.[2][4]
Matthew Gloag III took charge in 1896. That is also the year the producer gives for the brand’s origin in a Perth shop, and the year in which the trade account places the adoption of the red grouse motif.[1][2][4]
The full name reached its formal milestone in 1905. Grace’s Guide records both the blend’s registration as The Famous Grouse and the formation of the limited company Matthew Gloag & Son that year. The dates mark distinct events: 1896 is the producer’s brand origin date, not the documented registration date of the full name.[2]
By Matthew’s retirement in 1910, whisky blending had become the firm’s main business. His son William, known as Willie, took over. A bonded warehouse and bottling plant were added at the Perth site in 1935, expanding the facilities of an already established blending business.[4]
Fred, known as Freddie, Gloag became chairman in 1947. Master of Malt identifies him as the fourth generation to lead the firm. Family leadership endured, but a decisive change in ownership would come in 1970.[4]
The family sale and the Edrington years
Freddie Gloag’s sudden death and a double death duty led to the family sale in 1970, according to the trade histories. Highland Distilleries bought the business, while Matthew Irving Gloag remained a director. Family ownership ended; a family connection to the company survived.[2][4]
The 1999 change came through corporate ownership rather than a family sale: Edrington took control of Highland Distillers and, with it, The Famous Grouse.[4]
Verdict: Documented
Claim: Death duties forced the family sale in 1970. Trade histories attribute the sale to double death duty following Freddie Gloag’s death. The underlying probate evidence is not supplied. Earliest known source: not established from the sources checked. Source: Master of Malt. Last checked: November 2026.
The 2025 acquisition
William Grant & Sons announced its agreement to buy The Famous Grouse and Naked Malt from The 1887 Company, an Edrington subsidiary, on 23 September 2024. Following scrutiny by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, trade reporting recorded clearance in March 2025. William Grant & Sons then announced that it had completed the acquisition on 1 July 2025.[5][6][8]
The Grocer reported that Edrington intended to leave blended Scotch and concentrate on spirits it described as ultra-premium. That language expressed Edrington’s business strategy, not a judgement on the quality of the whisky it was selling.[7]
As checked in November 2026, The Famous Grouse belongs to William Grant & Sons, not Edrington. The transfer also included Smoky Black and Sherry Cask Finish, according to Forbes.[6][11]
The dates that explain the brand
The shop, the brand and the registered name each have their own milestones. Read these dates as stages in the business’s development, followed by its changes of ownership, rather than as interchangeable founding dates.[1][2][4][6]
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1824 | Margaret Gloag took over the Atholl Street shop.[2][4] |
| 1831 | Margaret obtained its wine, spirits and snuff licence.[2] |
| 1887 | William Brown Gloag became an original North British shareholder.[2][4] |
| 1896 | Producer’s brand origin date; Matthew Gloag III took charge.[1][2] |
| 1905 | The Famous Grouse name was registered as a trade mark.[2] |
| 1970 | Family business sold to Highland Distilleries.[2][4] |
| 1999 | Edrington took control of Highland Distillers.[4] |
| 1 July 2025 | William Grant & Sons completed its acquisition.[6] |
Where to go next
- Johnnie Walker: explore another major blended Scotch brand.
- Dewar's: continue through the Scotch brands and blends section.
- Chivas Regal: read another brand profile alongside this one.
Sources
- The Famous Grouse. Where Our Whisky Began. Undated web history, checked November 2026. https://www.thefamousgrouse.com/en/our-grouse
- Grace’s Guide. Matthew Gloag and Son. Undated web reference, checked November 2026. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Matthew_Gloag_and_Son
- ScotchWhisky.com. Matthew Gloag & Son. Web reference, publication date not supplied in the fact sheet, checked November 2026. https://scotchwhisky.com/whiskypedia/2619/matthew-gloag-son/
- Master of Malt. Classic whisky: The Famous Grouse. Web history, publication date not supplied in the fact sheet, checked November 2026. https://www.masterofmalt.com/blog/post/famous-grouse/
- William Grant & Sons. Announces plan to acquire The Famous Grouse. Acquisition announcement, September 2024, checked November 2026. https://www.williamgrant.com/gb/legacies/william-grant-and-sons-announces-plan-to-acquire-the-famous-grouse
- William Grant & Sons. Completes acquisition of The Famous Grouse and Naked Malt. Completion announcement, 1 July 2025, checked November 2026. https://www.williamgrant.com/gb/legacies/william-grant-and-sons-completes-acquisition-of-the-famous-grouse-and-naked-malt
- The Grocer. The Famous Grouse whisky sold to William Grant & Sons. Acquisition reporting, 2024, checked November 2026. https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/news/the-famous-grouse-set-to-change-hands-as-edrington-agrees-sale-to-william-grant-and-sons/695795.article
- The Spirits Business. William Grant finalises Famous Grouse purchase. Acquisition reporting, July 2025, checked November 2026. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2025/07/william-grant-finalises-famous-grouse-purchase/
- The Herald. Scotch whisky sector historic moment. Web commentary, checked November 2026. https://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/25291369.scotch-whisky-sector-historic-moment-major-deal-done/
- Forbes. Glenfiddich Owners William Grant & Sons Acquire Famous Grouse. Acquisition reporting, 1 July 2025, checked November 2026. https://www.forbes.com/sites/felipeschrieberg/2025/07/01/glenfiddich-owners-william-grant--sons-acquire-famous-grouse/
- Wikipedia. The Famous Grouse. Web reference, publication date not supplied in the fact sheet, checked November 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Grouse
This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing trade histories from producer statements and acquisition announcements.
Last checked: November 2026