Teachers 50 Scotch Whisky
An iconic blended Scotch whisky from Glasgow, Teacher’s is a drink from the East Highlands, a region of Scotland famous for retaining smoky characteristics in their whiskies. Sourcing their single malts from Ardmore, Teachers is a brand with a significant portion of history behind their products and the years are reflected in their fine blends.
Although the standard expression from the house of Teachers is the Teachers Highland Cream, the Teachers 50, released in honor of India’s 50th Independence Day contains a unique blend of single malt and grain whiskies that is hard to come by.
The foundations for the Teachers brand were laid by William Teacher in the 1830s, capitalizing on the newly passed Excise Act of 1823. He procured a license to sell whisky and began running a ‘dram shop’ where whisky lovers would stop by and feast on drams of their favorite whisky.
Years later, when the Spirits Act of 1860 further allowed more freedom for sellers to mix and create whisky blends of their own, William Teacher put his expertise to good use by experimenting with a number of blends.
The Teachers Highland Cream came into being during this time when William Teacher was positively satisfied with a peaty drink with a high malt content, a drink with a complex and rich flavor that made him considering naming it after his own family name.
After he laid the foundations for the Teachers brand and created the quintessential Teachers Highland Cream blend, William Teacher passed away in 1876, leaving the responsibility and the Teachers’ brand into the hands of his son, William Junior, and his younger brother, Adam.
A rampant growth under the authority of William Junior and Adam Teacher saw increased sales and profit, the purchase of new land in 1895 with the purpose of building a new distillery of their own in Aberdeenshire in 1897. Adam died a year later without witnessing the completion of his plans although by then, the Teachers brand was well on its way towards glory.
Surviving Prohibition, and a decline in the number of operational distilleries in Scotland, while also scripting victories by beginning to export Teachers to the United States and the acquisition of the Glendronach Distillery defined the later years for the brand.
Fast forward to 1997, the brand released the Teachers 50, a 12-year-old blended whisky that commemorated 50 years of Indian Independence, strengthening their positioning in one of the world’s most prolific whisky drinking nations.
