High Commissioner Profile

Blended Scotch Whisky

Since the Loch Lomond distillery opened in 1966, it has produced a wide variety of different whiskies using a diverse array of stills, including single malts, single grains and blends.

High Commissioner is a value blended Scotch whisky that has been hugely popular in the UK, although sales have fallen back somewhat in recent years. The brand also sells well in Burma and the Middle East.

Image
  • Production type
    Blended Scotch

High Commissioner History

Blended Scotch whisky High Commissioner in many ways encapsulates the philosophy pursued by Sandy Bulloch during his tenure at Loch Lomond – wholly produced at the self-sufficient Lowland distillery and value-priced.

High Commissioner was well established during the 1970s, and sold as a no-age-statement and five-year-old blend across A. Bulloch & Co’s Scottish chain of shops.

A softly fruity whisky with a touch of caramel and a whisper of peat, High Commissioner  has since enjoyed considerable success in its home market of the UK, as well as – perhaps surprisingly – in Burma and Oman.

The brand recorded sales of more than 1m nine-litre cases several years ago, but sales have dropped away somewhat since then to about 700,000 cases a year. Once the third-ranked blend in the UK behind The Famous Grouse and Bell’s, it is now placed fifth.

Timeline

  • 1966 Loch Lomond distillery opens in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire
  • 1984 The plant’s stills fall silent as the whisky industry suffers a serious downturn
  • 1986 Glen Catrine and Sandy Bulloch buy the distillery, a year after the plant was sold to Inver House
  • 1999 Two more stills are added to Loch Lomond’s already diverse collection
  • 2007 A Coffey still is added
  • 2014 Loch Lomond distillery passes into new ownership under Colin Matthews, supported by private equity business Exponent

Owners

Loch Lomond Group logo

Parent company

Current owner

See also

  • Glen Scotia Glen Scotia Glen Scotia Distillery & brand

    Glen Scotia

    One of Scotland’s smallest distilleries.

  • Loch Lomond Loch Lomond Loch Lomond Distillery & brand

    Loch Lomond

    Produces a range of single malts.

  • Craiglodge Craiglodge Craiglodge Brand

    Craiglodge

    A medium peated single malt produced at Loch Lomond distillery and part of its discontinued Loch ...

  • Croftengea Croftengea Croftengea Brand

    Croftengea

    Heavily peated single malt Scotch produced at the multifaceted Loch Lomond distillery in Alexandria.

Scroll To Top