Bell's 1999 Christmas Decanter

About The Brand: Bell's

The blended Scotch whisky brand Bell's was first created by Arthur Bell & Sons Ltd. and is currently owned by Diageo. In the UK, it is the whisky that sells the most. In 1798, the Bells Distillery was established. To produce a more consistent blended whiskey, Arthur Bell (1825–1900) started blending several single malts together in 1851. By at least 1863, Arthur Bell was the first recorded whiskey maker to establish a London representative. In 1895, Bell's two sons became partners in the company. In charge of overseeing the home market was Arthur Kinmond (1868–1942), while Robert was in charge of the brand's international expansion. The business started concentrating on blended whisky in the 1880s. In 1900, Arthur Bell perished. Following Robert's retirement to a life as a country gentleman in 1921, the partnership was transformed into a private business controlled by Arthur Kinmond. Due to a spike in demand following the repeal of Prohibition in America, Arthur Bell & Sons bought both Blair Athol and Dufftown distilleries in 1933. The Inchgower distillery was also purchased in 1936. When the Bell brothers passed away in 1942, William Govan Farquharson, the business accountant, was named chairman. He concentrated more on promoting the brand. Bell's was listed on the stock exchange in 1949. Arthur Bell exported goods to 130 different nations in 1954. Bell's was Scotland's best-selling whiskey by 1970. Early in the 1970s, Bell's was unable to match the major whisky distillers' advertising budgets. It instead concentrated on using mixers with their product. As a result, the product became more popular among women, and Bell's sales climbed by 800% between 1970 and 1979. Bell's rose to the top spot for whiskey sales in the UK in 1978. This expansion is mostly credited to Raymond Miquel, who was the managing director at the time. The business controlled almost 35% of the UK market by 1980. Gleneagles Hotels was purchased by Arthur Bell & Sons in 1984.  Guinness paid $518 million for the business in 1985, and Diageo later absorbed it.