William Gloag dies; his nephew, Matthew Gloag III, takes over the business. The Gloags register their first blended Scotch: the Brig o’ Perth Matthew Gloag wins the contract to supply food and wine for the visit of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert to Perth Finish: Caramel, soft pepper, big vanilla, roasted almonds, and peat, finishing on orange chocolate. Medium in length. Very smooth and soft.

B and B-: Good and above average. The best of the mass market whiskeys fit in this category, as do the bulk of the premium brands. A B- is three stars. Firstly this has the standard Famous Grouse blend in it but with some other peat based malt added in. This creates in my opinion a more punchy Whisky. While many sources claim the Famous Grouse story began in 1800, the story of Matthew Gloag & Sons didn’t start with the Gloags at all. Rather, it began with the Browns. PALATE : Medium body with drying oak, peat and dried fruit. Pepper and cloves with smoke and grainy sweetness. Quite a bit of alcohol heat that needs a few drops of water to soften. It has the green Highland type of peat notes and not the fishy Islay kind of peat. Water tones down the heat but also washes out the peat. It becomes fairly sweet with water. Finish: the sweet-peat palate gives way immediately to a mellow cinnamon spice, itself fading into drying peat.Finish: A very gradual fade down of the cocoa, and a fade up of the spice and oak. So subtle and unexpectedly elegant. 2.0 Conclusion - A simple yet decent blend... or is it? After the initial glass, I poured a second, this time with a splash of water (as always). We get something very different with this approach. It wasn’t until Matthew Gloag III inherited the business from William in 1896 that the company registered its first blended Scotch, the Brig o’ Perth. A year later, The Famous Grouse was released at the same time as The Grouse Brand.

The marketing and distributive power of the new company saw Famous Grouse become the highest selling Scotch in Scotland by 1980 and the second highest-selling in the United Kingdom. John Brown established his Perth grocery business in 1800 before moving the premises to Atholl Street seven years later. It was his daughter, Margaret, who married Matthew Gloag. She took over the family business from her father in 1824 and ran it until Matthew took control a little over a decade later. INGREDIENTS: Blending Scotch Whiskies matured for at least 12 years to ensure the perfect flavour intensity.NOSE: Peat and smoke come through at once when nosing. There are some medicinal notes, sweetness and wood as well. Notes of fresh pear and malt. The Famous Grouse blend is one of the top-selling brands globally, and as with many blends, it was conceived by a grocer and drinks merchant named Matthew Gloag. The Famous Grouse blend comprises whisky from various distilleries, including Macallan, Glenrothes and Highland Park. Nose: delicate, smooth, subtle smoke and sweet peat intermingle with honey and toffee. There is a slight citric note as well. When US Prohibition came into force in January 1920, the Scotch world was dismayed. Economic depression, coupled with high taxation, had forced a high reliance on export markets. However, as was the case with a handful of other blenders, the company’s distribution to markets close to the United States such as Canada, Latin America and the West Indies suddenly shot up. If some shipments made their way into the States, then so be it. The following indicators should be taken as only a guide and not a set of hard and fast rules. Some "premium" whiskeys really are quite terrible, while some mass market products are good enough to pour into a decanter and serve to the Duke of Edinburgh. A+: A masterpiece and one of the ten best whiskeys of its type. Above five stars.

Taste: Incredibly smooth and light, once again not forcing the issue with the peat and the smoke. The brown sugar on the nose has become dark chocolate on the tongue, and it mingles beautifully with the spice. Makes me think of a bar of dark chocolate with chilli that someone once gave me. I wasn't a fan of it at the time, but on tasting this I may have to try that chocolate again. Intriguing stuff. 2.0 Matthew Irving Gloag retires from the company due to ill health. The last Gloag to be involved in the company, he remains a consultant for life Lest anyone be put-off by that color comparison, however, my cat’s a good guy, if sometimes noisy, and the whiskey is a good whiskey, if a bit nosey. For lovers of peaty scotch, like me, that’s not at all a bad thing; in fact, it’s what recommends this particular blended Scotch to those who might otherwise scoff at blends. PALATE: Very similar in my view to the standard Famous Grouse but with a smoky taste which at no point overpowers the Whisky. Vanilla and spice (pepper) can be found especially if you hold it in your mouth.. There are fruits but i found the smoke taste masked the fruits until i added water which really opened it up. Oranges and a hint of chocolate come through once the water has had time to take effect! Palate: Sweet and creamy, but then grainy, harsh around the sides slightly and a hint of smoke and ashy peat. That's about it. Simple and "ok"? There must be more to this...Nose: As the bottle label does it's best to explain, this is meant to be a marriage of peated malt with the Famous Grouse blend, so naturally I was expecting a strong statement of smoke and peat. Not so. The smoke and peat is definitely there, however it is more than accommodating to the brown sugar accompanying it. A compelling balance. 2.0 Palate: creamy and smooth. It goes from sweet to peat - honey intermingled with delicate peat and a soft smokey texture. Brown moves the shop to 22 Atholl Street; this becomes the headquarters for The Famous Grouse for 99 years But the Grouse brand only started taking shape when William’s nephew, also named Matthew, took over the company. He created The Grouse Brand blend in 1896.

THE PERFECT GIFT: This award-winning (Gold at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2022) Scotch Whisky is an impressive gift for someone who appreciates smooth and smoky whiskies. The perfect gift to taste. Palate: Very smooth arrival. Peat, smoke, caramel, vanilla, and tobacco. The flavours are strong enough, but they don’t overwhelm the gentle quality of the whisky.By the time Matthew Gloag died in 1860, the family business portfolio focused mostly on wines and his son, William Gloag, largely continued this trend. It was in fact Margaret who acquired a license to sell wine and spirits (and snuff) in 1831; Matthew didn’t join the business until 1835 when the name was changed to Matthew Gloag. Margaret died just five years later. FINISH: Medium length and ends with spicy notes. It is quite a complex whisky for the price point. This whisky proves again that you don’t have to pay exorbitant prices for good whisky. It has a finish that makes you want another glass. The peat is also not too overwhelming. Even a non-peat-head like me enjoyed this peaty expression. Originally, The Famous Grouse was priced lower than the Grouse Brand. In a little over 10 years, the reverse would be true thanks to the popularity of The Famous Grouse. As if to emphasise the family connection, it was Matthew III’s daughter, Phillippa, who drew the very first, and now famous, red grouse that we see on the bottle. NOSE: I was expecting something hard to hit me on the nose but what i was greeted with was a mild smokey almost burnt sugar smell, it was pleasant and added to the existing smell of toffee. When i searched harder i could smell a faint tobacco scent, effective yet not in your face!