Glenleven John Haig & Co 26 2/3 FL OZ

The Haig family could lay claim to being the oldest distilling family in Scotland. There are records of Haigs living in the Borders in the 13th century, but it wasn’t until 1655, when Robert Haig was brought before the church elders for daring to distil on the Sabbath, that the first record of whisky distilling in the family was recorded.

In 1751 Robert’s great, great grandson, John Haig, married Margaret Stein and this marriage cemented the family’s connection with Scotch whisky. The Stein family owned distilleries at Kilbagie and Kennetpans near Alloa. When John Haig suddenly died in 1773, his father-in-law took his five sons on as apprentices at Kilbagie and it was here that the Haig brothers learned the art of distillation and whisky making. All five brothers went on to found their own distilleries or become partners in others. Even some of their six sisters developed a relationship with whisky. One married John Jameson and moved to Dublin, where her husband founded the eponymous distilling company.

Following two failed attempts to agree informal production quotas with other grain whisky distillers in the Lowlands, 1877 saw John Haig & Co. join five other grain whisky distillers to form the Distillers Company Ltd (Now Diageo). The aim of this company was to regulate the sale of grain whisky stocks to the wholesale whisky trade. As a result of this amalgamation of distilleries, the blending arm of the company had to move from Cameronbridge to the town of Markinch, some three miles down the road. Today, the former bottling plant is a business park, but the main building, with the name John Haig & Co. Ltd. clearly visible, still stands over the town to this day!

70º Proof / 26 2/3 Fl Ozs

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