Glen Grant Distillery underwent a significant ownership transition in 2018 when the Edrington Group announced its sale in June. After six months of speculation, the new owner was revealed in December as Hansjörg Wyss, the Swiss billionaire behind luxury crystal house Lalique. This acquisition marked Lalique's entry into Scotch whisky ownership, though the company possessed substantial industry experience. From 2006 to 2016, Lalique collaborated with The Macallan, crafting exquisite crystal decanters for the distillery's prestigious single malt releases through its wine and luxury goods subsidiary, Art & Terroir. The sale severed Glen Grant's long-standing association with Edrington's Famous Grouse brand, which had operated a popular visitor center at the distillery known as the 'House of Famous Grouse.' Under new ownership, the focus shifted to rebuilding Glen Grant as a standalone premium single malt brand. Lalique's investment of £15.5 million secured a 50% stake in the distillery, including one million liters of mature cask stock. Glen Grant maintains distinctive traditional equipment, notably Scotland's only remaining manually-operated 1.05-ton open-top stainless steel mash tun. The distillery features eight Douglas fir washbacks with an exceptionally long fermentation period of up to 120 hours, and a pair of copper pot stills. While the 2019 production target was 190,000 liters of new spirit, the new owners aim to increase annual capacity to 500,000 liters within the next few years without installing additional equipment. Historically, Glen Grant produced a heavily peated expression called Ruadh Maor at 80 PPM, though no peated production was scheduled for 2019. The appointment of former Macallan Master Blender Bob Dalgarno in 2019 signaled a new era for the brand. Under his expertise, Glen Grant planned to launch several new products in 2020. The core range includes Glen Grant 10 Year Old, Glen Grant Sherry Cask, Glen Grant Triple Wood, and Glen Grant Peated. Limited releases comprise Glen Grant 29 Year Old, Cameron's Cut, Jamieson's Jigger Edition, and the distillery-exclusive Peated Drummond Edition—a cask strength whisky crafted from 100% peated malt.
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