Glen Grant is situated just near Rothes, which is also the hometown of Glenrothes Whisky. The river Spey feeds the distillery.
James and John Grant, both brothers, founded the distillery in 1840. They were once in the business of illegal distilling. When they wanted to get on the legal side with a license they decided to start with Glen Grant.
James 'The Major' Grant, nephew of John Grant, took control of the distillery in 1872. He was known to be an influential innovator. After his death in 1931, Glen Grant survived with the efforts of his three daughters.
The new successor turned out to be his grandson Douglas MacKessack. In 1952 or 1953 Glen Grant amalgamated with 'the mother' company of Glenlivet, to form Glenlivet & Glen Grant Distilleries Ltd.
Later on in 1972, this company merged with Longmorn-Glenlivet Ltd. and Hill Thompson & Co., leading The Glenlivet Distillers to take over.
Years later, Seagram bought Glenlivet and Glen Grant, just for a couple of years, until Seagram was bought by Diageo & Pernod Ricard. The final takeover happened in 2006 when Gruppo Campari bought Glen Grant.
Glen Grant is the third biggest malt producer around, right after Glenfiddich and Macallan. Glenlivet comes in at a close fourth behind Glen Grant. The distillery also used the advantages of the river Spey, for its quality water.
The shapes of the stills are very important for Glen Grant. Extremely tall necks make the Whisky lighter. A special hump on the immediate section, creates a larger surface for the Whisky to touch. Glen Grant was one of the first distilleries to use pneumatic drum malting.