William Lundie & Co. / J&G Grant
The Lismore range of Speyside single malts and blends was originally named after the Inner Hebridean island sandwiched between Mull and the mainland. Although two illicit stills have since been found on the island, there is no record of legal whisky distilling ever had taken place.
Created by William Lundie & Co., which came to prominence under the guidance of brothers John and Willie Lundie during the mid-20th century, Lismore is today bottled by Glenfarclas owner J&G Grant using the same recipes handed down by the Lundie family.
The name of Lundie has been synonymous with the business of whisky broking for generations and has trading roots dating back to 1904.
In 1932 Robert (Bobbie) D. Lundie established whisky broker R. D. Lundie & Co. (initially as Lundie & Morrison, a partnership with Stanley P. Morrison), which became the sole UK agent for Macduff single malt, then owned by William Lawson Distillers Ltd.
The business was passed down through the family and a sister company, William Lundie & Co. Ltd, was formed during the 1950s initially as a broker before later turning to blend and bottle the firm’s own blended whisky brands: Lismore and Royal Heritage.
In 2004 William Lundie & Co. was sold to J&G Grant, proprietor of Speyside’s Glenfarclas distillery, which now blends and bottles the Lismore range.
Lismore is based on the tiny Island of Lismore, found between Mull and the Scottish mainland. It is not actually a distillery, rather they independently bottle Speyside whiskies from a secret Speyside distillery. Lismore is bottled by J&G Grant, the owner of the Glenfarclas distillery.
The Lismore brand was first created in 1974 by the Lundie family. The Lundie family were successful whisky brokers, and so had access to some wonderful cask stocks. Eventually, the second generation of Lundie's (Alan & Bruce) realised that they could siphon off some of the very best casks and bottle them under their own brand.
The provenance of their whisky is a closely guarded secret, but we're assured that this "recipe" hasn't changed since the brand was founded.
