 A bottle of Vat 69 whisky. | |
| Type | Blended Scotch whisky |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Diageo |
| Country of origin | Scotland |
| Introduced | 1882 |
| Alcohol by volume | 40% |
Vat 69 is a blended Scotch whisky produced by Diageo in Scotland. It was created by William Sanderson & Son Limited [1] of South Queensferry, Scotland. [2]
William Sanderson was born in Leith, Scotland on 27 January 1839. [3] He started an apprenticeship with wine and spirituous liquors producer Matthew Buchan at the age of 13. [4] By 1863, he already owned his own business producing liqueurs and whisky blends. In 1880, his son William Mark joined the business and persuaded his father to bottle various blends of whisky. [5]
The characteristic Vat 69 bottle with its bulbous neck was introduced to the market and was not changed for the next hundred years. In 1882, William Sanderson prepared one hundred casks of blended whisky and hired a panel of experts to taste them. The batch from the cask (or “vat”) with number 69 was judged to be the best, and this provided the whisky's brand name. [6] The whisky was at first bottled in port bottles. In 1884, Sanderson bought the Glen Garioch distillery which was situated in the middle of a barley field. The distillery was meant to ensure the delivery of grain whisky. [7]
Sanderson took care that there were always new products to be blended, because DCL, which was a strong society at that time, controlled such a large amount of the production that it had a huge influence on the supply of the competing company. [8] For this reason Sanderson, together with Usher and Bell, founded a company to produce grain whisky, which still exists today as the North British Distillery. Sanderson sourced a few malt whiskies used to blend Vat 69 from a friend, John Begg, who owned the Royal Lochnagar distillery. When Begg died, Sanderson became director of Begg's distillery. In 1933, Sanderson's company merged with Booth's Distilleries, which merged again with the DCL group in 1935. [9]
In autumn 1980, "Vat 69 Reserve" from the House of Sanderson had its world première in England.
Despite its name, it is not a vatted malt, but a blend of about 40 malt and grain whiskies. Vat 69 Reserve carries no standard age statement. [10]
Enjoyed by General Frank Savage (played by Gregory Peck) in Twelve O'Clock High , a 1949 WWII film about the US Air Force in England 1943.
Vat 69 was the beverage of choice in the Preston household (Bette Davis and Gary Merrill) and also the mode of delivery for the titular poison in Another Man's Poison (1951).
Captain Lewis Nixon, an American World War II army officer who is a major figure in the 1992 non-fiction book Band of Brothers by Stephen E. Ambrose and the award-winning 2001 HBO miniseries made from it, is portrayed as an enthusiastic drinker who went to great lengths to obtain supplies of Vat 69. [11]
Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, a fictional character created by pulp magazine, radio and TV writer Robert Leslie Bellem, kept a ready supply of Vat 69 in his apartment, and had remarkably good luck finding a bottle at most of the murder scenes he investigated.
In The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension , Ellen Barkin character Penny Priddy says "I guess I just soaked up a bit too much Vat 69 here." while clutching the bottle and crying at a cocktail table.
In a Dirty Harry scene where crooks are held up in a store and "request" a car, Harry decides to give them one. Upon exiting the car once inside, on a wall can be seen, "VAT 69 Gold" appearing on a yellow sign in a stencil font.
Towards the end of the final episode of The Field of Blood (TV series) , three journalists are seen sharing a bottle of Vat 69 in their newspaper office.
A bottle of VAT 69 can be seen during a scene in "Women Haters"(1934), the first short by The Three Stooges during their time working for Columbia Pictures.
Jason Taverner buys a fifth of Vat 69 in Philip K. Dick’s novel, Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.
In a scene of the 1976 Italian movie Febbre da cavallo , one of the main characters is involved in recording a spot for the Vat 69, despite his inability to remember the proper line.
It was an old joke that "Vat 69" was the pope's phone number (ie Vatican extension 69).
In the 1959 film Our Man In Havana, protagonist Jim Wormold is asked to identify the body of his friend Dr Hasselbacher, lying prone on a bar floor holding a Vat 69 miniature, presumed intended as a gift for Jim's collection.
Actors Frankie Miller (Jake McQuillen) and Ken Hutchison (Dancer Dunnichy) can be seen swigging from a bottle of VAT 69 when the latter turns up at the former's workplace to drag him away for a drink in Peter McDougall's acclaimed BBC Play for Today drama Just A Boys' Game (1979).
Scotch whisky, often simply called whisky or Scotch, is malt whisky or grain whisky made in Scotland.
Whisky or whiskey is a type of liquor made from fermented grain mash. Various grains are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden casks, which are typically made of charred white oak. Uncharred white oak casks previously used for the aging of port, rum or sherry are also sometimes used.
Single malt Scotch refers to single malt whisky made in Scotland. To qualify for this category, a whisky must have been distilled at a single distillery using a pot still distillation process and made from a mash of malted barley. Therefore, a single malt means that the whisky has not been blended elsewhere with whisky from other distilleries. As with any Scotch whisky, a single malt Scotch must be distilled in Scotland and matured in oak casks in Scotland for at least three years, although most single malts are matured longer.
Single malt whisky is malt whisky from a single distillery.
Royal Brackla distillery is a Highland single malt Scotch whisky distillery on the Cawdor Estate, near Nairn in Scotland.
A blended malt, formerly called a vatted malt, or pure malt, is a blend of different single malt whiskies from different distilleries. These terms are most commonly used in reference to Scotch whisky, or whisky in that style, such as Japanese whisky.
Kilchoman distillery is a distillery that produces single malt Scotch whisky on Islay, an island of the Inner Hebrides. Kilchoman Distillery is in the northwest of the island, close to Machir Bay. Kilchoman was founded by Anthony Wills and remains an independent, family run distillery. It is the smallest on the island but since obtaining Rockside Farm in 2015, is in the process of expanding.
Glen Moray distillery is a Speyside distillery producing single malt scotch whisky. Situated on the banks of the River Lossie in Elgin, Moray the distillery started production in September 1897. It was sold in 2008 by the Glenmorangie Company Ltd. to La Martiniquaise.
Glencadam distillery is a distillery in Brechin, Angus, Scotland that produces single malt Scotch whisky. The distillery is owned by Angus Dundee plc and produces one malt whisky, with the remainder of production sold to blenders or used within Angus Dundee plc for use in blended whisky brands.
Knockando distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery, located in Knockando, Moray, in the Strathspey whisky-producing area of Scotland.
Teacher's Highland Cream is a brand of blended Scotch whisky produced in Glasgow, Scotland by Suntory Global Spirits, a subsidiary of Suntory Holdings of Osaka, Japan.
Royal Salute is a blended Scotch whisky brand produced and bottled by Chivas Brothers in Strathisla Distillery in Speyside, Scotland.
Murray McDavid is a bottler of Scotch whisky, offering a range of whisky from vintage single malts and grains to blended malts.
Strathclyde distillery is a grain spirit distillery producing PBS that will make grain whisky after maturation, located in the Gorbals district of Glasgow, Scotland.
Douglas Laing & Co is an independent bottler of Scotch whisky. Based in Glasgow, Scotland and established in 1948, the company has a number of brands including its "Remarkable Regional Malts" range, encompassing The Epicurean, Timorous Beastie, Scallywag, Rock Island and Big Peat, as well as Old Particular, Provenance and Xtra Old Particular, which they collectively call their "Exceptional Single Casks". The firm also creates and sells King of Scots Blended Scotch Whisky, Clan Denny Single Casks and Premier Barrel.
Girvan distillery is a grain whisky distillery located in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
Allt-A-Bhainne distillery is a Scotch whisky distillery in the Speyside Region of Scotland. It is located just down the road from the well-known whisky town of Dufftown. Allt-a-bhaine is one of the newer distilleries in Scotland, having been built in 1975. It was the first distillery to be designed with modernity in mind. All the equipment is in one room and the process from start to finish can be accomplished by one person.
Ailsa Bay distillery is a Lowland whisky distillery located in South Ayrshire, Scotland. The distillery is owned by William Grant & Sons.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to whisky:
Glenesk distillery was a Highland single malt Scotch whisky distillery located near the town of Montrose, Angus in Scotland.
| By Appointment to King Charles III |
|    |
|---|---|---|
| By Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II |
| |
| By Appointment to Prince Charles (Prior to becoming king in 2022) |
| |
| By Appointment to HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (Deceased April 2021) | ||
