Dewars

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The Dewar's whisky brand was created by John Dewar, Sr. in 1846. Under the control of his two sons, John A. Dewar Jr. and Thomas "Tommy" Dewar, the brand expanded to become a global market leader by 1896. Tommy became famous as the author of a travel journal, Ramble Round the Globe, which documented his travels while publicizing the Dewar name. Dewar's eventually expanded their product by constructing the Aberfeldy Distillery in 1896.

Famous Grouse

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Matthew Gloag was a grocer and wine merchant in Perth, Scotland.^[1] Gloag purchased whiskies from distilleries around Scotland, and when Queen Victoria visited Perth in 1842, he was invited to supply the wines for the royal banquet.

In 1860, his son, William Gloag, took over the company and began producing blended whiskies. In 1896, William's nephew, also named Matthew after his grandfather, took over the company. He created The Grouse Brand blend in 1896, which due to its popularity, was renamed "The Famous Grouse" in 1905.^[1] Matthew Gloag's daughter Phillippa first designed the label's grouse icon

Glenfiddich

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The Glenfiddich Distillery was founded in 1886 by William Grant in Dufftown, Scotland, in the glen of the River Fiddich.^[5] The Glenfiddich single malt whisky first ran from the stills on Christmas Day, 1887.^[6]

In the 1920s, with prohibition in force in the USA, Glenfiddich was one of a very small number of distilleries to increase production. This put them in a strong position to meet the sudden rise in demand for fine aged whiskies that came with the repeal of prohibition

Macallan

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The distillery produces a number of expressions in its core Sherry Oak series, the most generally available being the 12-year-old, although the 18-year-old is widely distributed, alongside a 10-year-old cask strength expression at 58% ABV. Expensive 25- and 30-year-old versions can also be found.

More recently, starting in 2004, The Macallan for the first time started to offer single malt expressions vatted with whisky matured in used casks other than ex–sherry casks as part of the Fine Oak range. Macallan also markets special scotches in duty-free shops at airports such as the 1824 Collection.

Many rare, special releases and other small production run bottlings also exist.

Absolut

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Absolut was established in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith and is produced in Åhus, Sweden. Smith introduced fractional distillation which produces liquor without fusel alcohol in Sweden in 1877, under the name "Tiodubbelt Renadt Brännvin" (Tenfold Purified Vodka). Brännvin literally means "burn-wine" and is analogous to the German "Branntwein". The term is also used in Norwegian, Danish, Faroese and Icelandic.^{[citation needed]} ("Vodka" was not used for Swedish liquor until 1958, with the potato-based Explorer Vodka.) The name was changed to "Absolut Rent Brännvin" (Absolutely Pure Vodka) by Smith to market his much improved product

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