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Wright & Greigs Profile
Blended Scotch Whisky
The name Wright & Greig would have been familiar to many in the Scotch whisky trade at the end of the 19th century, certainly in its home city of Glasgow. The firm was best known for its Roderick Dhu blend, named after the character in Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Lady of the Lake, and for owning the Dallas Dhu distillery on Speyside. At what point Wright & Greig’s Special blend was launched is unclear, though it may have evolved out its Special Old Scotch Whisky Premier brand that was selling before the First World War.
Wright & Greigs History
Wright & Greig Ltd was established in Glasgow in 1868 and 20 years later it was listed in a directory of the city’s firms as a wholesale wine and whisky merchant in a vast 12,700 square foot premises on Cadogan Street, in the centre. ‘The firm’s blends are famed in all parts of the globe,’ gushed the directory, ‘and in Scotland there is not a place of any note where their name is not known and regarded.’ It went on to mention its two main brands at the time – the Roderick Dhu blend and Shaugrun Irish whiskey.
To meet demand for the former, Wright & Greig acquired the newly built Dallasmore distillery in 1899 which was renamed Dallas Dhu. The firm went into volumtary liquidation in 1919 and its assets were absorbed by its associated company, Bulloch Lade. Sadly the latter was declared bankrupt the following year and was taken over by a consortium of buyers led by the DCL before being wholly absorbed into the drinks giant by 1927.
Bottles of Wright & Greig’s Special Blended Scotch Whisky, as well as Roderich Dhu, continued to be produced and exported, their production attributed to the Glen Ila Blending Company, presumably a holding company established by DCL to market the brands. The name is likely inspired by Bulloch Lade’s Glen Ila blended malt.
Owners
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Distillery & brand