The History of the Distillers Company 1877

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Like so many low-demand expensive books, Professor Weir's history is now printed digitally on demand and so allow a little extra time for delivery. First published in 1995 by the Clarendon Press (an imprint of Oxford University Press), this is the 2005 reprint version with an up-dated preface by the author. It is an important contribution to whisky lore and, unlike so many business histories, was in no way sponsored or subvented by DCL or its successors. However, Ron Weir openly acknowledges the considerable help he eventually received from the company and its many representatives involved in making original material avaialbale to him. The history of Scotch whisky is in many ways the history of Distillers and this comes across, in a slightly understated way in Weir's work. This may well reflect the fact that securing the company's acquiescence in his writing the book was not a foregone conclusion and some of the Kremlinesque attitides for which 20 St.James's Square (the one-time headquarters of DCL) was notorious no doubt had to be handled with care and discretion. That was certainly the initial experience of Philip Morrice when he sought the cooperation of DCL in his writing of "The Schweppes Guide to Scotch" in the late 1970's. "Oh no, not another damned book on whisky", lamented the late Brian Spiller, who himself later became something of a whisky author. However, once the determination to go into print was established beyond doubt, the doors of the vaults creaked open and the old firm could not have been more helpful. And that was clearly Ron Weir's experience too, otherwise he could not have produced such a complete and comprehensive account of DCL's first 60+ years. The book falls easily into three parts. Part One deals with the circumstances that led to DCL's formation and its rapid and sometimes less than easy expansion up to the First World War and all of the problems of the temperance movement and Governemnt intervention. Part Two deals with the post-war amalgamations which saw the great names of Buchanan, Dewar and Walker, as well as numerous smaller operators, come into the DCL fold. Part Three is of less interest since it deals largely with DCL's divesification into other activities such as industrial alcohol and chemicals. If you want to understand fully the development of the Scotch whisky industry and why it has been such a success, this volume is essential reading. A free download of the chapter on Dundashill Distillery is available when buying this book.

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