The Distillers Company plc was a leading Scotch whisky company and, at one time, a constituent of the

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

. It was taken over in 1986 by Guinness & Co. and is now part of

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 ...

History

The Distillers Company origins lie in a trade association known as the Scotch Distillers' Association formed by Menzies, Barnard & Craig, John Bald & Co., John Haig & Co., MacNab Bros, Robert Mowbray and Macfarlane & Co. in 1865. It was incorporated in 1877 as The Distillers Company Ltd. (DCL) and in 1894 DCL was listed on the Edinburgh and Glasgow stock exchanges. During the early part of the 1900s, DCL embarked in programme of distillery acquisitions at low prices in the wake of the Pattisons crash of 1898. In 1914 DCL claimed to be the largest whisky distiller in the world. In 1919 DCL purchased the totality of John Haig & Co. and in 1925 combined it with John Walker & Son and Buchanan- Dewar on a share exchange basis. In 1929 DCL took over White Horse Distillers Ltd. During the 1930s, one product introduced by DCL was an alcohol addition to petrol, called Discol. This was a way to benefit from any excess alcohol production as the market and demand varied. The resultant fuel was cooler-burning and had a higher octane-rating than fuel without the additive. in 1985 James Gulliver’s Argyll Foods group, which operated the Glen Scotia distillery, launched a hostile bid for DCL. The offer was rejected and The Distillers Company was finally 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. The transaction was shadowed by controversy because it involved fraudulent activity, becoming known as the

Guinness share-trading fraud The Guinness share-trading fraud was a major business scandal of the 1980s. It involved the manipulation of the London stock market to inflate the price of Guinness shares to thereby assist Guinness's £4 billion takeover bid for the Scotland, Sco ...

. DCL was renamed to United Distillers in 1987. In 1998 United Distillers was merged with International Distillers & Vintners to create United Distillers & Vintners (UDV), forming the spirits division of

plc. The company still exists today as Diageo Scotland Ltd.

Distilleries

Many malt distilleries were operated by DCL and most are still open under new owners:

Malt whisky distilleries

Grain whisky distilleries

Brands

The Distillers Company owned several blended whisky brands: * Black & White * Buchanan's * Dewar's * Haig *

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was established in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire in 1820, and continued to be produced and bottled at the town's Hill Street plant, once the world's ...

* J&B * Logan * Old Parr * Vat 69 *

White Horse A white horse is born predominantly white and stays white throughout its life. A white horse has mostly pink skin under its hair coat, and may have brown, blue, or hazel eyes. "True white" horses, especially those that carry one of the dominant w ...

Other

Chemicals and plastics

Since 1915, during the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Distillers supplied industrial alcohol for making explosives. In 1922, it started to manufacture Discol-branded motor fuel made from alcohol. In 1928, it formed together with Turner and Newall, the Carbon Dioxide Co Ltd for the sale of gas, a byproduct of their operations. In 1930, Distillers formed British Industrial Solvents for production of acids and other solvents from industrial alcohol. In 1933, it formed Gyproc Products which was sold to British Plaster Board in 1944. In 1937, Distillers acquired British Resin Products. Bamberg (2000), pp. 361–362 In 1939, it acquired a controlling stake in

Commercial Solvents Commercial Solvents Corporation (CSC) was an American chemical and biotechnology company created in 1919. History The Commercial Solvents Corporation was established at the end of World War I; earning distinction as the pioneer producer of aceton ...

and a 50% interest in BX Plastics, where full control was acquired in 1961. It followed by getting 48% shareholding in F. A. Hughes and Co. in 1941 and taking the full control in 1947. In 1947, F. A. Hughes and Co. was merged into British Resin. In 1947, British Petroleum Chemicals was incorporated as a joint venture of AIOC and Distillers Company. In 1956, the company was renamed British Hydrocarbon Chemicals. Bamberg (2000), pp. 350–352 In 1945, Distillers formed a joint venture, British Geon, with B. F. Goodrich to produce

polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons of ...

and in 1954 it started a partnership named Distrene with Dow Chemicals to produce

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It i ...

. In 1955, it took full control of Magnesium Elektron. In 1967, BP acquired chemical and plastic assets of The Distillers Company which were merged with British Hydrocarbon Chemicals to form BP Chemicals. Bamberg (2000), pp. 385–389

Pharmaceuticals

From 1942, ''Distillers Biochemicals'' (DCBL) operated an ''Agency Factory'' of the British Ministry of Supply manufacturing penicillin in Speke. The plant was one of the first two factories in Europe to produce penicillin. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, DCBL purchased the facility from the UK Government. Distillers was also responsible for the manufacture of the drug

Thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is an oral administered medication used to treat a number of cancers (e.g., multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and many skin disorders (e.g., complication ...

in 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 ...

. Thalidomide had been developed by Grunenthal with whom, in July 1957, DCBL signed a sixteen-year contract to market the drug. DCBL ordered 6,000 tablets for clinical trial and 500 grammes of pure substance for ''animal experiments'' and ''formulation''. Thalidomide was marketed in the United Kingdom under the name Distaval, beginning on 14 April 1958. Advertisements emphasised the drug's complete safety, using phrases such as ''non-toxic'' and ''no known toxicity.'' Later, Thalidomide was marketed under the names Asmaval, Tensival, Valgis, and Valgraine and found to cause nerve damage and malformations in births. The Speke site, also known as ''Speke Operations'', was eventually sold to

Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company, Trade name, doing business as Lilly, is an American multinational Medication, pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with offices in 18 countries. Its products are sold in approximately 125 count ...

in 1963. In February 2022 it was acquired by TriRX.

Directors of note

* Leonard Alsager Elgood

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

1943 to 1960.

References

Bibliography

External links

History page on Diageo website
*
Article about The Distillers Company at www.scotchwhisky.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Distillers Company Diageo Scottish malt whisky Alcoholic drink companies Drink companies of Scotland Spirit drinks manufacturers 1877 establishments in Scotland Food and drink companies established in 1877 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1986 Manufacturing companies based in Edinburgh 1986 mergers and acquisitions Eli Lilly and Company History of Edinburgh Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Scandals in Scotland Pharmaceutical companies of Scotland Chemical companies of Scotland