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Dear Coilers, Dram! is back with the best selling whisky in Scotland, the home of whiskies.

THE FAMOUS GROUSE – blended Scotch whisky

While many sources claim the Famous Grouse story began in 1800, the story of Matthew Gloag Sons didn't start with the Gloags at all. Rather, it began with the Browns.

John Brown established his Perth grocery business in 1800 before moving the premises to Atholl Street seven years later. It was his daughter, Margaret, who married Matthew Gloag. She took over the family business from her father in 1824 and ran it until Matthew took control a little over a decade later.

It was in fact Margaret who acquired a license to sell wine and spirits (and snuff) in 1831; Matthew didn't join the business until 1835 when the name was changed to Matthew Gloag. Margaret died just five years later.

Business in Atholl Street was good; Gloag had a wide knowledge of wines and spirits after managing the cellar of the Sheriff Clerk of Perthshire for more than 30 years. By the time Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Scotland for the first time in 1842 as guests of the Earl of Mansfield, he was given the honour of supplying food and wine to the Earl's home at Scone Palace near Perth. After the Queen and Prince's visit, enthusiasm south of the border soon spread for all things Scottish; a market trend that he was keen to exploit.

By the time Matthew Gloag died in 1860, the family business portfolio focused mostly on wines and his son, William Gloag, largely continued this trend.

It wasn't until Matthew Gloag III inherited the business from William in 1896 that the company registered its first blended Scotch, the Brig o'Perth. A year later, The Famous Grouse was released at the same time as the Grouse Brand.

Following the Great French Wine Blight the company began to look at creating its own blended whiskies around 1875. In 1896, William's nephew, Matthew Gloag (1850-1912), took over the family business. He created a new blended brand called The Grouse in 1896. At this time the company was still operating from the grandfather's premises but had expanded to occupy adjacent shops, jointly covering 20 to 26 Arthiole street. In 1905 the limited company of Matthew Gloag & son was formed and the Grouse was renamed The Famous Grouse in the same year. Matthew Gloag's daughter Philippa first designed the label's grouse icon. Only at this point did the company move to new purpose-built premises on Kinnoull Street.

The same obsession with quality remains from the founders days but the Famous story of the Grouse continues on with so many more stories to tell and whiskies to blend.

BOTTLE: 70cl at 40% ALC

NOSE: Light but not too flat, floral, fruity, some spices, sweet

PALATE: sweet, malts are present, young but relatively smooth, hints of vanilla

FINISH: sweet turning to dry due to tanines from the barrel.

My mark: 61/100 (60+ is good on my scale, it would be in upper 70s to lower 80s in usual 100 scales)

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