Rutherford & Company 

The origins of Rutherford and Company go back to the middle of the 18^th century when the family acquired a tavern just off the High Street in Edinburgh. History tell us that

‘Kindly Mrs Rutherford’s tavern in Craig’s Close was favoured by the merchants who congregated at the Mercat Cross to discuss business’. Amongst her regulars was Robert Burns, with whom the family has some intriguing connections. Another noted literary connection is with Sir Walter Scott whose grandmother was a Rutherford. The tavern prospered and before the end of the century the family had acquired another two. By the time that her grandson William came into the business they had a string of taverns across the city and were established as one of the leading wine and spirit merchants in the capital. William formally established the business of Rutherford & Company in 1834 and set up in cellars in Niddry Street, just a stone’s throw down the road from their original inn. Although William purchased the best of whiskies direct from the distilleries, the powerful single malts of the time were not to everyone’s taste and many of his clients preferred ale, brandy or claret. Soon he was shipping fine wines and cognacs from France and ports from Portugal and was supplying not only his own taverns but many others in the city. The cream of Edinburgh society purchased their wines from Rutherford’s and also the smoked hams, cheeses and other continental delicacies now being imported by the Company. A new, modern warehouse was built, across the road from the cellars in Niddry Street and the business flourished. When the practice of blending malt with the new grain whiskies became established in the 1860’s, Rutherford’s were quick to develop a range of whiskies renowned for their smoothness. The resulting blends were to prove a popular and palatable drink for all classes and when the vineyards of France were devastated by disease and cognac was suddenly unobtainable, Blended Scotch Whisky soared in popularity. Soon it was being exported in huge quantities to every corner of the world and the Whisky Companies of Glasgow and Edinburgh rode the crest of a wave. But while many of its competitors took advantage of the new demand for Scotch and developed substantial sales in London and overseas, Rutherford & Company was content to concentrate on its traditional market in Edinburgh. As a result, Rutherford’s was never to experience the surge in growth that turned many other companies into international brands. It remained a ‘local’ company, operating its own chain of inns and wholesaling wines and spirits to Edinburgh retailers. The company struggled during the 1920’s and 1930’s and the new generation of family members turned to the professions for their careers. By 1950 there were no Rutherfords left to operate the business and the family had to make a difficult decision. 

Rutherford’s and the MacRaes

The Rutherford and MacRae families were related as early as the beginning of the 18th Century, so closely in fact that the MacRaes unsuccessfully claimed the then vacant Lordship of Rutherford. However, the families went their separate ways with little contact until 1953. Then, the business of Rutherford & Company found itself in a difficult situation with the family members pursuing various professions and having little interest in the company. An approach was made to the MacRae family, now active in the trade in Glasgow, and within a short time Rutherford & Company had been acquired by McRae Brothers (Distillers) Ltd. The cellars and warehouse in Niddry Street were retained but a number of Rutherford’s Public Houses were sold off, as were those owned by McRae Brothers in Glasgow. The two companies worked closely and concentrated their efforts on blending and bottling a range of whiskies for the export market. From 1952 until 1963 the company maintained an Office in London and a Sales Office in Denver, USA. and substantial sales were made throughout North America and Australasia. Subsidiary companies included Northern Bonders, McRae Brothers Ltd and Glenelg Whiskies. They also operated the Rob Roy Highland Motel at Aberfoyle from 1957 until 1969 and the Imperial Hotel in Edinburgh from 1955 until 1971. In 1952 McRae Brothers purchased a bonded warehouse in Montrose, on the north east coast, and set up a blending, bottling and storage operation there under the name of Bow Butts Bonding Company. By 1960 the premises were too small for their needs and Bow Butts leased one end of a large jute mill in Montrose. As the jute industry declined Bow Butts expanded, first purchasing the premises that they leased and then in 1968 the remainder of the mill. Rutherford’s sold off their Edinburgh premises, McRae’s their Glasgow premises and both companies relocated their businesses to Montrose, now trading under one name, Rutherford and Company Ltd. When the Bow Butts Bonding Company was sold to Dundee rum and whisky merchant George Morton Ltd in 1975, Rutherford’s retained the part of the buildings occupied by themselves and their new associate company, Montrose Potteries Ltd. Times have changed. The Bow Butts Bonding Company has now gone, the warehouses converted into houses, but Rutherford’s and Montrose Pottery remain, though operating now on a more modest scale on a new site close to Montrose.

The Spirit of Scotland Book Decanters. 

The idea for these was conceived by Glasgow Whisky Merchant Russell Paterson and he marketed them for a number of years before selling the rights to the products to Rutherfords. The Company had built up an excellent sale of the Book decanters in its specialist wine and whisky shop in Glasgow and when it was offered the rights in 1968 it accepted with enthusiam. Initially, supplies of empty decanters were obtained from the historic Govancroft Pottery but the quality was poor and delivery unreliable. Rutherford’s had an empty building at its Bow Butts Bonding Company premises in Montrose and the decision was taken to create their own pottery manufacturing operation there. Up until this time the ‘Spirit of’ books had been produced in eleven colours, each entitled The Spirit of a different country and containing the liquor produced by that country. It was decided to discontinue all except Scotch Whisky and the new Montrose Pottery manufactured the books in black, green, brown and burgundy, numbered Volumes 1 to 1V, and all entitled The Spirit of Scotland. The books were made in three sizes, full bottle, half bottle and miniature. Initially they were dressed with a paper label on the spine but in 1974 the shapes were redesigned and the paper labels replaced with gold transfers fired onto the glaze. The 1974 shapes are still in production but The Spirit of Scotland books are now glazed with a black spine and white front and rear covers decorated with a range of images. The 25cl and 5cl books are also produced with a green spine under The Spirit of Burns brand and a number of limited edition commemorative miniature books have been produced with spines glazed cobalt, pale blue or pink and with gold text. The spine text on the latter reads ‘A Limited Edition’ instead of ‘The Spirit of Scotland’.  

Click here to see 1965 leaflet.

Click here to see 1971 leaflet.

Montrose Pottery 

Montrose Pottery was established in 1969 to manufacture one specific product, the  book shaped ceramic bottles. It took some three or four years before the pottery was up to speed and by then it was producing decanters for a number of other companies in the whisky trade. These included the well known Black Bulls in two sizes, a unique decanter for Willsher’s Dundee Scotch ‘n Orange Liqueur, the Abbot’s Choice figurine bottle and a more traditional shaped flagon for Chequers Scotch Whisky. A variation on the miniature book was the ‘Castles of Britain’ series, depicting 9 different British castles, filled with Drambuie and presented by British Airways to passengers flying on Concorde. Our first commemorative mug was produced for Luthermuir School and hundreds of wall plaques were made to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Chivers Jam factory in Montrose. The 200^th Anniversary of Sunnyside Hospital was marked by a miniature jug filled with whisky and the 21^st Anniversary of Montrose & District Round Table by an elegant black decanter. Soon a steady stream of visitors was knocking on the pottery door, asking to see around, so a range of mugs and other items was produced for them to buy. But the Pottery was really all about whisky decanters and these constituted over 90% of its production. At its peak in the late 1970’s the Pottery employed over 35 people, mostly female. Hundreds of thousands of decanters were produced, many of them destined for South America. But difficult days lay ahead for both the pottery and whisky industries. By 1983 the business had relocated to Glasgow and employee numbers were less than ten. Trading now as Rutherford & Company, they concentrated on producing the company’s own range of whisky filled ceramics. Yet another change in circumstances saw the business move back to Montrose and build a new workshop in a rural location one mile outside the town. Today Montrose Pottery is a one man business, concentrating on making decanters for its associate company, Rutherford’s Whisky Ceramics. The pottery also makes a range of mugs and other non whisky items and has an extensive selection of garden pots.  

Our Whisky Liqueurs

Our first venture into making Whisky Liqueur in 1952 was the result of family preference for a lighter drink than was then generally available. Although our family members much enjoyed Drambuie and Glayva, our ladies found that they actually preferred them reduced in strength by adding a mixer and being taken as a long drink. Why not make a lighter liqueur that could be enjoyed as it came, straight from the bottle? Although Bonnie Prince Charlie did gift the MacRaes his tartan (now known as the Prince’s Own and worn with pride by MacRaes) it is a source of regret that he did not gift us the secret recipe for our Whisky Punch. That was created by Company Chairman Robert McRae after many months of experimenting with herbs, spices and essences in the kitchen of his family home. Every week or so he would appear with a new bottle of murky brew and offer this for critical analysis. Eventually, after almost a year of experimentation, the McRae ladies gave their seal of approval and our Whisky Punch was ready! Although it was much enjoyed in the company’s establishments where it was available, Whisky Punch was not to be a huge seller. Perhaps the market was not yet ready for a Scotch based long drink but a major problem was the lack of finance necessary to take such a product to a wider market. Nevertheless, Whisky Punch was produced from 1952 until 1978, being available in 24 fl.oz, 12 fl.oz and miniature sizes. The original strength of 46 degrees proof was increased to 50 degrees in 1970 and the name was changed from Whisky Punch to Scotch Punch. The attractive shaped brown bottle created for Whisky Punch is still in use by Rutherford’s today for other products.

An interesting variation of Whisky Punch was produced during the early 1970’s. At that time the company’s Bow Butts Bonded Warehouse was bottling huge amounts of Black Bull Scotch Whisky for Dundee based George Willsher & Company and it’s American partner Jack Gross of Baltimore. Black Bull was filled into a range of bottles ranging from a massive 1 gallon down to the ‘hip flask’ flat quarter bottles popular with those attending sporting events in the United States. In an attempt to reduce alcohol related trouble at such events, the United States Government prohibited the filling of Scotch into the smaller, flat bottles and their sale ceased overnight. But not for long! The restriction applied only to Scotch Whisky so Bow Butts added a minute amount of sugar, indiscernible to the taste but enough to ensure that the spirit was legally no longer Scotch but was now a liqueur! Sales boomed again until the United States Government saw the futility of their action and removed the prohibition. Disaster! George Willsher was now sitting on a huge quantity of adulterated spirit, neither Scotch nor a proper liqueur. The sugar could not be removed so the only option was to use the spirit as a base for a real liqueur, a variation of Whisky Punch. And so Willsher’s Dundee Scotch ‘n Orange was created! Bow Butts associate company Montrose Pottery produced an elegant cobalt blue decanter and Scotch ‘n Orange was shipped to the United States for about six years before production ceased.

The MacRaes and Robert Burns 

One prominent MacRae ancestor is James MacRae, one time Governor of Madras and commemorated by a monument at Monkton, near Ayr. MacRae had run away to sea as a boy and had progressed through the ranks to become one of the East India Companies most talented captains. A natural leader and a brilliant seaman, he had made his name, and a considerable fortune, hunting the pirates who plagued the Company’s ships. Appointed Governor of Madras in 1725, he tackled with enthusiasm the corruption that was rife in the city, laid down the beginnings of an efficient water and sewage system and introduced a degree of efficiency previously unknown into the way that the Company operated. Retiring in 1730, he returned home with an astonishing hoard of diamonds, the source of which has never been identified. With no immediate family, MacRae lavished his fortune on a cousin, Bella MacRae, in appreciation of her earlier kindness to his mother. Married to a carpenter and living in poor circumstances, she found her family installed in a fine farm at Ochiltree and her children bought the best education available. MacRae continued his interest in the family and when the eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was of age he arranged an advantageous marriage to William Cunningham, the thirteenth Earl of Glencairn. William’s concerns about his new wife’s lowly social standing was no doubt tempered by her dowry of £45,000 in diamonds and an estate worth £25,000! Elizabeth, now Countess Glencairn, never forgot her origins and became a greatly respected member of Scottish society. She and her son James, the fourteenth Earl, were much loved patrons of the young Robert Burns and MacRae money was influential in introducing Burns to Edinburgh society. The young Earl of Glencairn was instrumental in arranging the publication of the extended Edinburgh Edition of Burns work and he and his mother underwrote its success. Even after Edinburgh had tired of Burns, Glencairn remained his patron and it was he who secured for Burns his appointment as a riding officer with the Excise Service. When Glencairn took ill and died an untimely death in 1791, Burns was moved to write one of his most poignant laments. He further honoured his friend and sponsor by naming his fourth son James Glencairn Burns. If Captain James MacRae had never run away to sea, made his fortune and lavished it on Elizabeth and her family, would we ever have known of Robert Burns? 

O! why has worth so short a date,
While villains ripen grey with time?
Must thou, the noble, gen’rous, great,
Fall in bold manhood’s hardy prime
Why did I live to see that day-
A day to me so full of woe?
O! had I met the mortal shaft
That laid my benefactor low. 

The bridegroom may forge his bride
Was made his wedded wife yestreen:
The monarch may forget the crown
That on his head an hour has been:
The mother may forget the child
That smiles sae sweetly on her knee;
But I’ll remember thee, Glencairn
And a’ that thou has done for me! 

Robert Burns, 1791 

Today, we at Rutherfords are proud to perpetuate our connection with the Bard through our unique The Spirit of Burns range of whisky ceramics.

Our early days in whisky distilling.

Just around the time when William Rutherford was setting up his cellars in Niddry Street, Edinburgh, his distant kinsman Alister Mhor (Alexander MacRae) was building a new home for his family on a tiny island close to the shore of Loch Monar, high above Strathfarrar, on the old drove road that crossed the mountains between Beauly and Kintail. Forced out of the traditional clan homelands of Wester Ross by famine and land hunger, Alister took advantage of the ancient law that gave him squatter’s rights if he had his house built and the lum reekin’ before the landowner attempted to move him on. Assisted by his wife, he soon had constructed a simple dwelling using the rough hewn stone that lay all around with a roof thatched with heather and complete with smoking chimney! They cleared a small area of the mineral rich ground and grew barley and potatoes and, once their presence had been accepted, constructed a causeway linking the island to the shore at Pait. People had been distilling their own spirit for generations, using their surplus grain to produce whisky to warm away the cold winter nights with a little left over to sell on to their neighbours. Government legislation had now banned this practice, restricting whisky production to the new licensed distilleries and folk like Alister saw a new career beckoning! He set up his illicit stills in a little bothan by the burn at Cosaig, not far from the edge of the loch and was soon in full production. Before long, his whisky was being distributed throughout the district and even the laird became an established and satisfied customer! However, excise officers were scouring the countryside for illicit distillers and it was not long before a large group found Alister hard at work in his exposed location. They arrested him and marched in triumph to Dingwall, but there was no shame in being caught distilling ‘illicit’ whisky, an activity that had been an essential part of Highland life for hundreds of years. Convicted and fined, he returned to the cottage at Pait determined not to be caught again. He rebuilt his stills in a new and more remote location, high on the slopes of Meall Mor and it was here that his son Hamish Dhu learnt his trade. Long before his father died in 1887 at the age of 97, Hamish had surpassed him with his skills and his ‘Pait Blend’ was renowned as a whisky of the highest quality. Regarded as superior to many of the ‘licensed’ whiskies it was much sought after from Kintail to Inverness and, of course, being ‘duty free’ it would also have been much cheaper!.

Much of Hamish’s distilling took place during the long winter months when snow made it hard for the gaugers to travel but they did make at least one excursion up the loch by boat, looking for telltale wisps of smoke on the hillside. No doubt the considerable local support that the MacRaes enjoyed had resulted in the boat being delayed and a warning sent ahead. On another occasion, the excisemen were persuaded to enjoy the local hospitality at Ardchuick while on their way to apprehend Hamish. The next morning they were unable to continue on their mission, ill as the result of drinking ‘bad’ whisky, and they dragged themselves back to Dingwall. Hamish went to great lengths to assure the district that the ‘bad’ whisky was not of his making!

Hamish and his sister Mary were by now getting older, the stills were worn out and the increased activities of the excisemen made operating increasingly difficult. His father had been a large and well proportioned man of exceptional strength with a reputation for being wild when roused and the gaugers had been more than a little wary of him. Although Hamish was of similar build and strength, the excisemen had become more organised and better resourced and he was not regarded with the same apprehension that his father had been.

In 1901 Hamish decided on a final twist of the gaugers’ tail. He reported the finding of a still (his own!) and after leading them to the site he claimed the £5 reward offered by the Government and retired from what most highlanders regarded as an honourable trade. He was a larger than life character, much liked and well respected in his community. Despite his very basic way of life, he would regularly don full Highland Dress on a Sunday and visit the laird for a dram and a blether. When he died in 1915 he was taken home to the ancient burial ground at Clachan Duich in Kintail, where he lies beside his Father, Mother and Sister.

Although it was a popular whisky in its time, it is unlikely that the Pait Blend would have appealed to the palate of today. Our 21st century dram must, by law, be matured for a minimum of three years in oak casks before it can even be called Scotch Whisky. In practice, most whiskies are matured for considerably longer than that to allow the flavours to develop and the rough edges to be smoothed off. Hamish’s whisky would have been sold and drunk as soon as he could distribute it and would have been a rough, fiery and very powerful drink with considerable character! The same adjectives might have been used to describe our ancestors, James ‘Hamish Dhu’ MacRae and his father Alister Mhor!

But the Pait Blend did not die with Hamish Dhu. Hamish and Mary had a younger brother, Alexander Andrew, who had been born at Pait in 1857. Alexander and his wife Christina left Scotland to make a new life in New Zealand and were joined in Southland by a number of cousins, one of whom brought with her Alister Mhor’s recipe for making whisky. When prohibition was introduced to New Zealand in 1902 the MacRaes once again saw opportunity beckoning! Soon, the family was hard at work supplying not only the community but also the local constabulary with Hokonui moonshine. Some 51 years and over 30 prosecutions later, the making of whisky was legalized and today visitors to the Hokonui Moonshine Museum in Gore can not only learn the story of the MacRaes tradition of illegal whisky making in New Zealand but can purchase a bottle of Old Hokonui whisky, still being made to Alister Mhor’s original recipe!