Diageo is the worlds biggest spirits and drinks company.
Guiness, Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, J&B, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, Baileys...
Auchroisk, gothic style distillery and very unknown.
Diageo owns around 30 whisk(e)y distilleries, amongst the most well knowns is Caol Ila, Lagavulin, Cardhu, Talisker and Bushmills. Their main focus has never been single malts, but blends. They bottle blends like J&B, Johnnie Walker, Bell's, Dimple, VAT 69 and Old Parr. For a big company like Diageo single malt whisky is a very side production, and some of their distilleries can be hard to find as single malts. In the early 80's and 90's Diageo was also infamous for shutting down a series of destilleries, their reason was a crisis in whisky sales and to make production more cost-effective. Close down one distillery and modernise and double production on another!
Some of these has since reopened with new ownership. Bladnoch and Benromach comes into my mind. Others are lost forever, and I am sure a lot of us, including Diageo itself regrets this. I can name Rosebank, St. Magdelene, Port Ellen and Brora. At least Brora lives on as Clynelish
I know Clynelish and Brora is considered two different distilleries, but they are not more different than any other Diageo distillery were before and after they were modernised in the 70's. Main difference is that Brora did produce peated malt in the early/mid 70's.
Johnnie Walker is the worlds number 1 blend
And check this nice wee film :
I got 6 bottlings of whiskies distilled by distilleries now under the Diageo ownership, keep an eye on the next posts. This will be whisky from 6 different distilleries, open and closed. 6 different bottlers, including Diageo self, and aged 12 to 33 years old.
