Alexander Reid founded the Macallan distillery in 1824. When Reid died in 1847, his son managed the distillery until his own death in 1858. Then the distillery was taken over by James Shearer Priest and James Davidson until it was acquired by James Stuart in 1868. In 1892, the distillery was taken over by Roderick Kemp. Following Kemp's death in 1909 the management of the distillery came under The Roderick Kemp Trust. In 1966 The Macallan went public and was listed on the stock exchange. The distillery remained in the Kemp family until 1996, when Highland Distilling Ltd bought out the shares, HDL where then taken over by the Edrington Group in 1999. The Macallan malt whisky was always renowned among blenders who used it as a "top dressing" in their blends, but it wasn't until the late 1970's that it was bottled as a single malt. The number of stills at Macallan has grown over the years along with the whiskies popularity. In 1965 the stills where increased from 6-12, in 1974 from 12-18 stills and in 1975 the number was increased to 21 stills. All the whisky produced at the distillery is matured in Oloroso sherry casks. 75% of production is sold as single malt and the remaining 25% goes into blends such as Famous Grouse, Cutty Sark, J & B, Chivas Regal, Ballantines or Long John. The Macallan single malt is a favourite with malt whisky drinkers worldwide and is often given the label "The Rolls-Royce of single malts".
