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Private company

Whyte and Mackay

Logo: Shaksocwiki, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons4

Scottish alcoholic beverage company

Whyte & Mackay Ltd is a company producing alcoholic beverages based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of Alliance Global Group, one of the largest alcoholic-beverage companies in Southeast Asia.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1844Founded1
  • Industrybeverage industry1
  • HeadquartersGlasgow1
  • Founded inGlasgow1
  • Websitewww.whyteandmackay.co.uk
  • Legal formprivate company limited by shares1
  • LEI213800M7UKV8WZT957763
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered address4TH FLOOR ST. VINCENT PLAZA, G2 5RG Glasgow, United Kingdom3
  • Registered withCompanies House, SC0144563

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Whyte and Mackay Scotland Whisky 01
Photo: Thiago MTB, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons6

Whyte & Mackay Ltd is a company producing alcoholic beverages based in Glasgow, Scotland. The company is a subsidiary of Alliance Global Group, one of the largest alcoholic-beverage companies in Southeast Asia.2

Corporate structure

Whyte and Mackay is part of a group headed by Alliance Global. 7 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Charles Mackay (1850–1919) and James Whyte founded a company as whisky merchants and bonded warehousemen in Glasgow in 1882. W&M Special was their first blended whisky and it was successful in the United Kingdom and other English speaking countries. After World War II the company focused on the home market and now sell more than 1 million cases a year.

The Company was purchased by Hugh Fraser's SUITS group in 1971. SUITS was acquired by Lonrho in 1981 and subsequently Whyte & Mackay was sold to Brent Walker in 1988 and then to American Brands in 1990, which was renamed as Fortune Brands in 1997.

In 2001 Fortune Brands sold Whyte & Mackay to its management for £208 million in a deal part-financed by brothers Robert Tchenguiz and Vincent Tchenguiz and brother-in-law Vivian Imerman and a £190 million loan from German investment bank WestLB. Initially chairman then CEO, Imerman instituted an aggressive cost-cutting programme and bought out 60 shareholder employees before, in 2005, purchasing the remaining interests in the firm with the Tchenguiz brothers. In 2007, they sold the company to Indian-based United Spirits Limited for £595 million.

In August 2013, key members of United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of United Breweries that owned Whyte & Mackay, resigned from positions at Whyte & Mackay in the wake of the purchase of a controlling share of USL by Diageo, including USL Chairman Vijay Mallya, Whyte & Mackay CEO John Beard, and director Ayani Nedungadi. Regulators in the UK were investigating whether to force United to divest itself of Whyte & Mackay before the sale due to anti-trust concerns over Diageo's dominant position in Scotch whisky production. On 16 September 2013, Whyte & Mackay appointed Bryan Donaghey as its new CEO. Donaghey formerly served as managing director of Diageo for Scotland and prior to Diageo held posts within the Scotch Whisky Association.

On 31 October 2014, the India-based United Spirits sold Whyte & Mackay for £430 million to the Philippines-based Alliance Global Group and controlled by the group beverage production arm, Emperador Inc.

In 2024 the company recorded record pre-tax profits of £96M, mainly down to the success of The Dalmore. As of 2024, the company's assets sat at £1billion.

From Wikipedia’s article on Whyte & Mackay, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Products and brands

  • Scotch whisky

Listed on Wikidata.1

The company sells Single Malt and Blended Scotch whiskies, Liqueurs, Brandy, Cognac and Sherry. Their brands include:

Single Malt Whiskies: Dalmore, Fettercairn, Jura and Tamnavulin.

Blended Whiskies: Whyte & Mackay, The Woodsman, Shackleton, John Barr and Claymore.

Also in their portfolio: Nemiroff Vodka, Fundador Brandy, Wildcat Gin, Glayva Liqueur, Harveys Sherry, Camus Cognac and The Whisky Works.

Read the full text

In August 2010, it was reported that Whyte & Mackay would replicate a supply of whisky discovered in Antarctica from a 1907 expedition of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's supplies. The 11 bottles of whisky recovered were of the Mackinlay brand, and Whyte and Mackay now oversee those distilleries.

On 14 October 2010, Whyte & Mackay sold two bottles of their 64-year-old Dalmore Trinitas malt whisky for £100,000 each. According to the master distiller, only three bottles of this whisky were ever made, and it cannot be made again.

From Wikipedia’s article on Whyte & Mackay, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

Subsidiaries

  • Fettercairn distillery since 1973

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. 1973Acquired Fettercairn distillery1

Timeline

  1. Oct 31, 2014Acquired Acquired by Alliance Global1
  2. 1844Founded Founded in Glasgow1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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