Scotch Whisky Advertising/History Lesson

Tempus Publishing was kind enough to send me a review copy of Still Going Strong: A History of Scotch Whisky Advertising by John Hughes. Before I tell you about the book I wanted to pick a nit...

The problem I have with the book? In truth it is not really a History of Scotch Whisky Advertising, but instead a history of Distillers Company Ltd Blended Scotch Whisky Advertising.

If you were not aware, Distillers Company Ltd (DCL) was formed in 1877 and would later become a substantial chunk of the company known today as Diageo (a historical timeline is provided at the end of this story).

The book includes chapters on the Distillers Company Ltd, as well as Johnnie Walker, Black & White, Haig, White Horse and Vat 69 - all Diageo blends. There is a single chapter entitled "Other Blended Whiskies" - which covers a number of defunct Diageo/DCL labels.

This is VERY surprising considering that Mr. Hughes was, at one time, the Marketing Director for the Famous Grouse (Edrington) - which doesn't appear in the book at all. Neither do many of the popular blends including Cutty Sark (Edrington/Berry Bros), Dewar's (Bacardi), Teacher's (Fortune), or Chivas (Pernod-Ricard); surprisingly J&B and Bell's (both owned by Diageo) are not in the book either - nor are advertisments for any single malts, including Diageo's own single malts. Unfortunate.

OK, now that I've gotten that little piece of nitpickery out of the way, I wanted to tell you that I really liked this book. If you buy the book knowing that it is indeed a history of DCL(Diageo) blended brands, then I believe you will quite enjoy it . It is well-researched, well written and includes numerous black & white and color illustrations; with excellent summarized histories of each brand. The book also includes a short, yet excellent history of the Scotch Whisky industry (focusing on Blends).

All in all, a great addition to the library of any whisky fan.

Buy from Amazon - Still Going Strong - A History of Scotch Whisky Advertising - $19.77 (US)

John Hughes is also the author of Scotland's Malt Whisky Distilleries (Tempus ISBN: 0752425927)

-------------------------------------

A very brief history of Diageo:

• 1749 Giacomo Justerini arrives in London from Italy and forms Johnson and Justerini
• 1759 Arthur Guinness establishes his brewery in Dublin
• 1769 Alexander Gordon sets up his gin business in London
• 1820 John Walker sets up a grocery shop in Kilmarnock
• 1825 Thomas Sandeman sets up a spirit and wine business in Perth
• 1831 Alfred Brooks purchases Johnson & Justerini and re-names it Justerini & Brooks
• 1837 Arthur Bell joins Thomas Sandeman's business and later takes over
• 1851 Walter and Alfred Gilbey establish a gin distillery in Camden Town
• 1851 Justerini & Brooks joins with Twiss Brownings and Hallowes Ltd - agents for Hennessy cognac - to form United Wine Traders
• 1877 Formation of the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL), a combination of six lowland grain whisky distilleries
• 1898 Alexander Gordon & Co merger with Charles Tanqueray & Co, forming Tanqueray Gordon & Co
• 1962 W&A Gilbey merges with United Wine Traders to form International Distillers & Vintners (IDV)
• 1985 Guinness acquires Arthur Bell & Sons
• 1986 Guinness acquires the Distillers Company Ltd (DCL)
• 1987 United Distillers (UD) is formed, combining the businesses of DCL and Arthur Bell & Sons
• 1988 Guinness and LVMH take a 12% cross-shareholding in one another
• 1990 Guinness/LVMH cross-shareholding increased to 24%
• 1994 Guinness and LVMH cross-shareholding restructured. Guinness now has 34% of Moët Hennessy (drinks division of LMVH). LVMH retains a stake in Guinness PLC
• 1997 Grand Metropolitan PLC (GrandeMet) and Guinness PLC merge, forming Diageo PLC; United Distillers & Vintners (UDV) created from the integration of the IDV and UD businesses