Stewart's

Popular in export markets, this blend became a firm favourite of one of the world’s richest men.

The Stewart’s blend started with the blending firm J&G Stewart Ltd, which has roots stretching back to 1779 when it was a pioneer in the import and export trade. The company was prominent in Spain and by the 1890s was well established in many other European countries, particularly Sweden and in the Americas. Prior to Prohibition Stewart’s was popular as a premium blend in the US and was a favourite of banker and financier JP Morgan whose New York cellar contained enough bottles of Stewart’s to have memorial labels attached to them and distributed to his friends in 1915, two years after his death. In 1917 Distillers Company Ltd acquired J&G Stewart, which had struggled for some years, in one of the biggest whisky deals at the time – the purchase included stock amounting to 8,000 butts of whisky. Stewart’s eventually came into the ownership of Whyte & Mackay in 1986, when Guinness’ takeover of DCL forced various brands to be shed from the DCL’s brimming portfolio. Today Stewart’s is blended by Whyte & Mackay master blender Richard Paterson.