The Famous Grouse
The history of Famous Grouse can be traced back to 1800. It all began in a modest grocery store in Perth, owned by the future father-in-law of Matthew Glog.
John Brown established his food business in Perth in 1800, before moving to Atholl Street seven years later. His daughter Margaret, who was to marry Matthew Glog, took over the family business from her father in 1824. Margaret first acquired a license to sell wine and spirits in 1831. When Matthew joined the family business in 1835. ., the name was changed to Matthew Glog.
Atholl Street's business was going well. Hawthorn had extensive knowledge of wines and spirits after running the sheriff's cellar in Perth for more than 30 years. When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first visited Scotland in 1842 as guests of the Earl of Mansfield, he was honored to deliver food and wine to the Earl's home at Sconne Palace near Perth. After the visit of the Queen and the Prince, interest in everything Scottish seriously increased south of the border. This was the market trend that Matthew Glog wanted to impose.
When Matthew Glog died in 1860, the family business portfolio focused primarily on guilt, and his son William Glog largely continued this trend. After the Great French Wine Disease, the company began considering the idea of creating its own blended whiskeys around 1875.
However, it wasn't until Matthew Hawthorn III inherited the business from William in 1896 that the company registered its first mixed Scotch tape: the Brig o'Perth. Shortly afterwards, he created a new mixed brand called The Grouse in 1896. At the time, the company was still operating from his grandfather's premises, but expanded, occupying adjacent stores that jointly covered numbers 20 to 26 on Atholl Street.
In 1905, the limited company of Matthew Gloag & son was formed and Grouse was renamed "The Famous Grouse" in the same year due to its thriving reputation as a quality Scottish brand. As if to emphasize the family connection, Matthew Hawthorn III's daughter, Philippa, painted the first and now famous red wild hen to decorate every bottle of the authentic Famous Grouse Scotch whiskey.
