Glenfarclas whisky boss receives lifetime achievement award
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A LEADING figure in a family whisky business has been given an Icons of Whisky Lifetime Achievement Award from the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival.
John L S Grant, born in 1951, helped introduce Glenfarclas to international markets after joining the family business in 1974, having been educated at Gordonstoun and then worked in banking for a number of years.
One of the first relationships he established was in 1976 when he received the first order from Mähler-Besse, a renowned Bordeaux wine negociant who still distribute Glenfarclas in France to this day.
He was named managing director in 1979, 114 years after his great- great-grandfather bought Glenfarclas for the sum of £511-19-0 as part of Rechlerich farm.
Alongside his father as chairman, they went from a farming family with a distillery that sold mostly whisky for blending, to the producers of the world-renowned single malt.
In 1988 farming stopped at Rechlerich and the Grant family, with a farming heritage dating back to 1670, were now purely a family of distillers.
In his spare time John enjoyed grouse shooting, horse racing and classic cars.
In 2014, when a member of his production staff was diagnosed with MND, John got on his bike for the first time in 45 years and cycled the first leg of a sponsored cycle by the whole team from Glenfarclas to Macallan. This raised £27,000 which was used to pay for a holiday of a lifetime for the team member and his family, and the balance was donated to the family after he passed away, and John then made a substantial personal donation to MND Scotland.
An avid supporter of Moray Food Plus, he donated the proceeds of a single cask sale which helped fund a new van in 2020. Then in 2021, when the visitor centre reopened following Covid, he did not charge for tours, and asked guests for donations. This raised more than £16,000 which refurbished “The Bosie”, a special room in Elgin where they run cooking sessions for children, adults and families; parenting groups; and after-school supper clubs.
Unable to accept the award in person at the Touch of Tartan dinner at Dallas Dhu Distillery, Mr Grant said he was “surprised but honoured”.
