Allied Lyons

Allied Lyons was formally established in 1978 through the acquisition of J. Lyons & Co by Allied Breweries, with the new company name adopted in 1981. Allied Breweries had started life as a merger of three English breweries in 1961, which had since diversified into the spirits production industry through its purchase of Scotch whisky blenders, Stewart & Son and Wm. Teacher & Sons.

As Allied Lyons, the company continued to pursue acquisitions in the whisky sphere, dispensing of other areas of its business in order to focus and streamline its operations. Its spirits division was known as Allied Vintners and under the chairmanship of Sir Derrick Holden-Brown, had designs on making a play in North American markets. A deal to acquire the Canadian giant Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts was instigated in 1985 and finally completed two years later, giving Allied Lyons a portfolio of distilleries and brands in Canada and the US. These included Maker’s Mark in Kentucky, and the Walker distillery in Ontario where it would produce Canadian Club.

In Scotland, the deal saw the Scottish-based Hiram Walker & Sons folded into Allied Lyons and a new Scotch whisky division called Allied Distillers was formed. The new subsidiary saw its existing brand portfolio boosted by the new additions of the Ballantine’s blends, the Ardbeg, Balblair, Glenburgie, Glencadam, Miltonduff, Pulteney and Scapa malt distilleries, and the Dumbarton grain distillery.

Allied Distillers’ portfolio was then further supplemented in 1989 when Allied Lyons acquired Long John International, the spirits division of the Whitbread group, further adding Laphroaig, Tormore and another grain facility at Strathclyde. In 1991, the company collected two of these, Laphroaig and Tormore, alongside Glendronach and Miltonduff in its short-lived Caledonian Malts, their response to the Classic Malts of Scotland from United Distillers. Sadly, Tormore did not sell well and was later switched out for the Scapa brand.

Allied Lyons also made an attempt to enter Irish whiskey production in 1988, however it failed in its bid to acquire Irish Distillers in a deal worth $288m. At the time only Cooley distillery was independent of the group on the entire island, making it a substantial asset. The bid was withdrawn however after Irish Distillers rejected it and complained to the European Commission that the three parties involved, Guinness, Grand Metropolitan and Allied Lyons had intended to carve the company up.

In 1995, the company acquired the Pedro Domecq company along with its significant brandy portfolio, and Allied Lyons was subsequently reorganised as Allied Domecq.