LOST WHISKY IS REVIVED BY FAMILY AFTER 83 YEARS

THE James Eadie whisky brand is being relaunched by the great-great-grandson of the founder, more than 160 years after it was established.

Former Diageo executive Rupert Patrick has resurrected the label, which was created in 1854 but which disappeared when his family sold it to brewing giant Bass in 1933.

He has bought 28 casks from some of Diageo’s smaller distilleries, which it tends to use for blends rather than single malts, and is bottling the whisky under the James Eadie name.

Perthshire-born James Eadie was one of 14 children who left school at 14 to work for a living. He built a chain of 300 pubs but the family also had its own recipe for a blended whisky, and only a few bottles of the original remain.

Patrick, who has 24 years’ experience in the whisky business, is confident the blend will tap in to a trend towards craft brewing and distilling.

Patrick, a member of Keepers of the Quaich, a society which recognises achievement in the field of whisky, said: ‘Until now I’ve never had the chance to realise my ambition to get the brand going again.’

The new James Eadie whisky will sell for between £36.99 and £55 a bottle.