Mr Malt Whisky dies at age of 89
Glenfiddich boss Gordon started worldwide boom
THE whisky baron who introduced single malt to the world and kickstarted a worldwide sales boom has died at the age of 89.
Sandy Gordon, boss of Glenfiddich, passed away from complications associated with a fall he suffered 12 years ago while walking in Peru.
Mr Gordon was the great grandson of William Grant, who began producing whisky from the stills of his Speyside distillery on Christmas Day 1887.
Mr Gordon recalled: ‘Virtually no malt whisky went outside Scotland until the early 1960s. Bottled malt had normally been drunk in the North and North-east, where they felt it was just a local taste.’
Armed with a case of his special cratur in triangular bottles, Mr Gordon set out for the US to change all that. Until then, Americans had been happy to buy ‘blended’ Scotch, a habit glorified by scenes of endless boozy lunches in Manhattan, as portrayed in the popular Mad Men TV series.
By the time Mr Gordon had retired i n 1996, Glenfiddich enjoyed sales of 800,000 cases a year and was firmly established as the world’s biggest- selling malt whisky. Ironically, it was his own relatives who had to struggle in the face of American influence during the 1920s.
Prohibition had been introduced in the US, a market deemed very important to the family firm from Speyside. However, they took the decision not to supply bootleggers across the pond and sales consequently plunged.
Born in 1931 in Glasgow, Mr Gordon was a reluctant businessman. He took a double first in maths and law at Queens’ College, Cambridge, and decided to join the firm in 1953 when his father was diagnosed with inoperable bowel cancer. Mr Gordon was known for his shrewd mind, keeping notes in little black books. His encyclopaedic memory meant that whenever the export manager needed sales figures, the easiest way to get them was to call the boss.
Mr Gordon spent his initial years developing the African market before turning his attention to boosting business in Europe and then the United States.
A bottling plant was created at Paisley, Renfrewshire, in 1960, and a distillery at Girvan in Ayrshire was opened by Prince Charles in 1964.
That year the firm also took over Popper Morson, an American import house, while reaching further into Europe.
In the 1990s it created Hendrick’s gin and Sailor Jerry rum, both of which became leaders in their markets.
For all his business flair, Mr Gordon was known for his frugality. On one occasion, he sent his secretary to the cobblers to have only one shoe repaired.
In 2009, he suffered a bleed on the brain while walking on a trip to Peru. His death has been attributed to complications from the fall. His wife of 64 years, Linda, died in 2019 and the couple are survived by their children, Maggie, Bill, Peter and Sally.