Buchanan's is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by

Diageo Diageo plc ( ) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It is a major distributor of Scotch whisky and other spirits and operates from 132 sites around the world ...

in Scotland.

History

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

, born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

but son of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

immigrants, returned to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

shortly after he was born and he was brought up in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

. He joined a

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

shipping firm as an office boy when he was fourteen or fifteen, and was later promoted to be a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

. In 1868 he joined his brother in the

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

business until 1879, when he moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

as an agent for a company in the

whisky Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from Fermentation in food processing, fermented grain mashing, mash. Various grains (which may be Malting, malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, Maize, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky ...

trade. He realized that there was an untapped market in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for bottled Scotch whisky and set about producing his own, the ''Buchanan Blend''. He went into business on his own in 1884 as ''James Buchanan & Co'' and producing the first ''Buchanan's'' ''Blend''.Buchanan's Forever – James Buchanan (1849–1935)
/ref> In 1898, James Buchanan was given the Royal Warrant to supply the Royal Household with Buchanan's Whisky to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

and the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

.Sting.com - Buchanan's Forever to 'Present' an unprecedented musical experience with Sting in May 2010 - Proceeds to Benefit the Diageo 'Learning for Life' program that provides education and life skills to thousands of individuals throughout Latin America...
The company joined

Distillers Company The Distillers Company plc was a leading Scotch whisky company and, at one time, a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over in 1986 by Guinness & Co. and is now part of Diageo. History The Distillers Company origins lie in a trade ...

in 1925. Distillers was acquired by

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

in 1986, and Guinness merged with

Grand Metropolitan Grand Metropolitan plc was a leisure, manufacturing and property conglomerate headquartered in England. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index until it merged with Guinness plc to form ...

to form

in 1997.

Blends

*Black & White (Originally "Buchanan's Blend", then "House of Commons") 8 *De Luxe 12 *Special Reserve 18 *Master *Red Seal

Reviews

Buchanan's offerings have generally performed very well at international

Spirit ratings With a growing number of offerings, such as those produced by an increasing number of microdistilleries, various mechanisms have arisen to provide reviews and opinions of individual varieties of spirits. These events generally use expert panels ...

organizations. The De Luxe 12-year, for example, earned a string of 3 gold medals and 2 double-golds from the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

World Spirits Competition between 2005 and 2010. The 18-year was awarded three golds, a silver, and a double gold medal over that same time frame. In 2011, the Beverage Testing Institute gave the Red Seal a relatively strong score of 92 out of 100.

Buchanan's Forever

Buchanan's Forever is a musical experience that honours the legacy of Buchanan's founder by way of an ongoing community enrichment program which forms part of Diageo's regional social responsibility platform, ''Learning for Life''. Buchanan's Forever has been held in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and in each country it supports a charitable project that helps communities in each of these countries. Buchanan's Forever artists have included:

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

James Blunt James Blunt (born James Hillier Blount, 22 February 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is known for his songs "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover". As a British Army captain in the aftermath of the Kosovo War, Blunt ...

Jon Bon Jovi John Francis Bongiovi Jr. (born March 2, 1962), known professionally as Jon Bon Jovi, is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He is best known as the founder and Lead vocalist, frontman of the rock band Bon Jovi, which was fo ...

, Fonseca,

Fito Páez Rodolfo Páez, popularly known as Fito Páez (; born 13 March 1963), is an Argentine rock and roll musician and filmmaker. He was member of the "Trova Rosarina" and is known as "The Troubadour of Argentine Rock", and is considered an important ...

, Aleks Syntek, Gerry Weil,

Franco De Vita Franco Atilio De Vita De Vito (born January 23, 1954, in Caracas, Venezuela) is a Venezuelan Latin Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter. His first album as a solo artist garnered three Spanish-language hits in Venezuela. He signed with the ...

, Sting and

Ely Guerra Ely Guerra (born Elizabeth Guerra Vázquez, February 13, 1972) is a Mexican singer-songwriter who was raised in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. The daughter of Alberto Guerra and Gloria Vázquez, Guerra lived the first years of her life in Mon ...

References

External links

Official site
{{Diageo plc Diageo brands Blended Scotch whisky 1979 establishments in Scotland 1879 introductions