Vat 69

Vat 69
A bottle of Vat 69 whisky
TypeBlended Scotch whisky
ManufacturerDiageo
OriginScotland
Introduced1882
Alcohol by volume40%

Vat 69 is a blended Scotch whisky produced by Diageo. It was created by William Sanderson & Son of Leith, Scotland, in 1882. At its peak, it was the 10th best-selling whisky in the world.[1]

History

William Sanderson (1839–1908) was apprenticed to a Leith-based wine and spirit merchant at the age of 13. By 1863 he had his own business, selling cordials, liqueurs, and blended whiskies. In 1882, he set out almost a hundred of his blends in numbered vats and invited expert colleagues to judge which one was best. The experts unanimously chose Vat 69, which then became Sanderson & Son's flagship product. Sanderson acquired the Glen Garioch distillery in Aberdeenshire in 1884 in order to give the company a constant supply of malt whisky, and in 1885 founded the North British distillery (producing grain whisky) with a number of other blenders.[2]

In 1937, Sanderson & Son became part of The Distillers Company, later to become part of Diageo. Blending and bottling moved from Leith to South Queensferry in 1969.[3] The South Queensferry plant closed in 1984.[4]

Blend

Vat 69 production in 1972

Despite its name, Vat 69 is not a vatted malt, but a blend of about 40 malt and grain whiskies. Vat 69 Reserve carries no standard age statement.[3]

In the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, Vat 69 is the whisky of choice of Captain Lewis Nixon.

See also

References

  1. ↑ MacLean, Charles (2011). Great Whiskies: 500 of the Best From Around the World. London: Dorling Kindersley. p. 359. ISBN 978-1-4053-6018-0.
  2. ↑ "William Sanderson & Son Ltd, distillers, Leith". Leith Local History Society. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Vat 69 | Scotch Whisky". scotchwhisky.com. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  4. ↑ "South Queensferry". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 17 June 2026.
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