Hall of Fame

Very few people can claim to have spent literally their whole life in the whisky industry, but John L S Grant of Glenfarclas comes very close. Born in 1951, he spent his childhood at Glenfarclas House, where he still lives to this day. Following his school years at Gordonstoun, he joined the Bank of Scotland for three years then worked for Wm Teachers Ltd for a further three years. In 1974, John joined the family business – an astonishing 47 years ago.

In the early days, John learned the ropes across the business and then focussed his energy on introducing Glenfarclas to international markets at a time when this was still very unusual, as the sale of single malt was practised by only a small number of brands. One of the first relationships John built would prove to be one of the most enduring.

In 1976, he received his first order from Mähler-Besse, a renowned Bordeaux wine négociant which still distributes Glenfarclas in France today. John was officially named managing director in 1979, 114 years after his great-great grandfather first bought Glenfarclas for the sum of £511 19s 0d as part of Rechlerich farm. Over the next decades, alongside his father as chairman, John oversaw massive changes to the business – they went from a farming family with a distillery that sold mostly whisky for blending to the producers of a world-renowned single malt.

In 1988, there was a seismic shift when farming officially stopped at Rechlerich, and the Grant family, which has a farming heritage dating back to 1670, became solely a family of distillers. John was able to add ‘and bottlers’ to that nomenclature when he became a partner in Broxburn Bottlers alongside Peter Russell of Ian Macleod Distillers.

This was one of many steps taken by the Grant family over the years to ensure the independence and quality of the spirit that bears the name Glenfarclas. A few things have endured throughout John’s years in the business: his love of travel, which led him around the world searching for the perfect partners to distribute his beloved whisky; his appreciation of fine wine; and his passion for the gentlemanly pursuits of grouse shooting, horse racing and classic cars.

But the thing which endures most of all is his desire for Glenfarclas to remain one of Scotland’s traditional family-owned distilleries.