Chivas Brothers

The origins of the Chivas Brothers company extend all the way back to 1801 when an Aberdeen grocer and wine merchant was established by a man named John Forrest. His successor, William Edward, was joined in business by James Chivas in 1838. When Edward died three years later, James partnered with James Stewart before exiting the agreement in 1857 to be joined by his brother, John.

When James Chivas passed away in 1886, the business was inherited by his son, Alexander, who’s death in 1893 saw the end of family-ownership of Chivas Brothers, although it has retained its name ever since. The turn of the century then saw the company put greater focus on Scotch whisky and its master blender, Charles Howard, devised the recipe for Chivas Regal in 1909. The world’s first premium blend, it was aimed at the booming North American economies. The first and second world wars made life difficult for the first half of the century however, and by the end of the 1940s the company was in financial difficulty.

The result was a takeover by Canadian giant, Seagram, who had made vast sums of money during Prohibition. It controlled huge shares in both the American and Canadian whisky markets and was looking to Scotch as its next frontier. Seagram acquired Chivas Brothers in 1949, adding the Milton distillery to its portfolio the following year, renaming it Strathisla. In the decades that followed, the company built three more: Glen Keith in 1957, and Braes of Glenlivet and Allt-A-Bhainne in 1973 and 1975, respectively.

The modern iteration of Chivas Brothers was established in 2001 after the collapse of the Seagram empire the previous year. Its CEO at the time, Edgar Bronfman Jr had made an ill-advised attempt to diversify Seagram into the entertainment sphere, and that side of the business was eventually sold to Vivendi. The company’s drinks businesses were shared between Diageo and Pernod Ricard, the latter of which acquired its Scottish spirits division, Seagram Distillers, which controlled both Chivas Brothers and Glenlivet Distillers. The latter owned the Glenlivet, Glen Grant, Caperdonich, Benriach and Longmorn distilleries, along with the blender, Hill, Thomson & Co.

The deal with Pernod Ricard saw the French firm merge Seagram Distillers with its existing Campbell Distillers subsidiary, renaming the single entity Chivas Brothers. The further acquisition of Allied Domecq in 2005 expanded its portfolio even further, notably including the Ballantine’s brand, and firmly established Pernod Ricard’s Chivas Brothers as one of the largest Scotch whisky distillers, second only to Diageo.

With the Ballantine’s and Chivas Regal blends the second and third best-selling brands globally, much of the company’s malt capacity is reserved for them. It had however made significant investment in its single malt portfolio however, opening the state-of-the-art Dalmunach distillery in 2015, and launching the Secret Speyside collection in 2019, which collected four new brands for its Longmorn, Braes of Glenlivet, Glen Keith and silent Caperdonich distillery.