United Distillers [SEP] inception
United Distillers
United Distillers was a Scottish company formed in 1987 from combining the businesses of Distillers Company and Arthur Bell & Sons, both owned by Guinness. The company owned six single malt Scotch brands, which were relaunched as the "Classic Malts" range. It also owned the Bernheim distillery (now owned by Heaven Hill) and the Stitzel-Weller distillery, both in Louisville, Kentucky in the United States.
In 1997 Guinness merged with Grand Metropolitan to create Diageo, and in 1998 United Distillers was merged with
, shareholders Robertson & Baxter and International Distillers & Vintners formed joint venture company Lothian Distillers, which bought out all other shareholders for an agreed price of £84 Million. After the completion of the replacement of the exploded No.4 still, an expansion plan allowed the production of a grain-neutral spirt to support IDV's Smirnoff vodka brand, and maximum plant capacity to rise to . In February 1998, the company produced its 1,500,000,000 l.alc of whisky since its inception in 1885. A commemorative new bourbon barrel was filled to mark the