A scandal unravelled
Society member Justine Hazlehurst is an expert on Leith’s whisky history. Now she has turned her attention to the infamous story of the local Pattison brothers, who have become synonymous with the collapse of the whisky market at the turn of the 20th century. In her new book, she says it’s time to re-evaluate their role
WORDS: JUSTINE HAZLEHURST MAIN PHOTO: MIKE WILKINSON
The Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s home of Leith is an area steeped in whisky history. During the second half of the 19th century, much like its counterpart in the west, Campbeltown, the Port of Leith was once considered by many to be an unequivocal whiskyopolis.
However, unlike the Wee Toon – with its numerous distilleries – Leith’s whisky trade was focused primarily on the three Bs: bonding, brokering and blending.
As a resident of Leith, I was always fascinated by the number of old bonded warehouses dotted in and around the port. In its heyday of the 1890s, there were between 90 and 100, all housing numerous casks of Scotch whisky. And, therefore, back in 2017, having decided to find out more about as many of them as possible, my research led me to establish the Leith Whisky Trail. This, in turn, opened the door to an interest in one of the largest whisky firms based in Leith: Pattisons Ltd – an interest which subsequently grew into an outright obsession!
A BURSTING BUBBLE
In brief – and without wishing to give away too many spoilers – two brothers, Robert and Walter Pattison, took over the running of their father’s business, Pattison, Elder & Company. When they made the decision in 1896 to convert the business into a limited company, Pattisons Ltd was formed.
The 1890s were proving to be a boom period for Scotch whisky and, on the surface, Pattisons Ltd appeared to be one of the most successful Scotch whisky firms of its time. But when the business collapsed at the end of 1898, it signified that the bubble had well and truly burst.
The brothers’ ambitious and audacious moves not only triggered the collapse of their own company but also caused a domino effect in the trade – both in Leith and beyond – whereby many other Scotch whisky firms also folded. In turn, investigations into the collapse of Pattisons Ltd revealed certain unusual practices, lighting the fuse to one of the biggest scandals in the history of Scotch whisky.
PICTURED: Justine Hazlehurst at the Shore in Leith
SCOTCH SCAPEGOATS
Just as the Leith Whisky Trail was really starting to take off and proving to be a hit among whisky history enthusiasts, the pandemic struck. With the various lockdowns preventing any tours taking place for the foreseeable future – and with many aspects of my other businesses also affected – I decided to use the time as wisely as I could by digging deeper into the lives of the Pattisons.
Reading through various Scotch whisky reference books, as well as newspaper articles of the day, one thing became crystal clear: the narrative, as it had appeared in the press at the time, had not only been somewhat biased against the brothers but had also been repeated and reinforced, without question, over the decades in subsequent publications. The Pattison name, it seemed, had only ever been used to shoulder the blame for what was the inevitable end of Scotch whisky’s golden era.
Wanting to move beyond the name, I endeavoured to uncover the real story behind the Pattisons. The first step towards that goal – which, incidentally, turned into more of a leap – was to trace the entire Pattison family tree. And this is when, after many, many hours of research, I was finally able to contact the brothers’ only living relative: Walter Pattison’s great-grandson, David.
Here is where I struck lucky. As much as I had enjoyed losing hours upon hours in various archive departments, studying trial papers, wills and distillery plans among many other records, nothing compared to the joy of exploring the Pattison family’s photo albums and personal belongings, which David generously gave me access to.
This not only afforded me an insight into the Pattisons I could never have gained otherwise, but it also underlined that they were more than just two brothers at the helm of a failed Scotch whisky business. The Pattisons were, indeed, a large family with each member having their own wonderful story to tell.
Before I began writing the book, I knew that Opening the Case: The Affairs of Pattisons’ Whisky would ultimately be just that – a story. With my narrative arc complete, I set out to weave these tales into a single cohesive account, set against the backdrop of Leith and spanning the 12 pivotal years from 1890 to 1902.
A CAUTIONARY TALE
This was by no means an easy task. Both the Pattisons’ business and family relationships formed an enormous, intricate web. Moreover, the dealings of the Scotch whisky brokers and merchants at the time had become so entangled that unpicking and straightening out the threads became quite a challenge.
The Scotch whisky trade at the time was riddled with a number of systemic flaws, one of which was the over-production of spirit. During the boom period of the 1890s, many well-known Scotch whisky merchants embarked on building and/or enlarging distilleries to secure supplies of spirit for their blends – the Pattisons themselves had interests in Glenfarclas, Oban, Aultmore and Ardgowan distilleries. This increase in the number of distilleries only served to ensure that more whisky was produced than the market could possibly take on.
With this in mind, the collapse of Pattisons Ltd should have served as a cautionary tale for the future, highlighting that such practices were, quite simply, unsustainable.
However, with the ‘whisky loch’ of the 1980s – leading to the inevitable closure of several distilleries – we know that lessons learnt from before aren’t always adhered to.
If we cast our eyes over the current Scotch whisky landscape, we find 151 distilleries currently in production.* Adding to this are numerous new distilleries, some already under construction and others soon to break ground. With this growth, we might well question whether Scotch whisky history is on the verge of repeating itself.
* Source: Scotch Whisky Association, May 2024
Justine Hazlehurst is the founder of tasting and events company Kask Whisky and the co-director of the annual Fife Whisky Festival. After no less than four years of research, her first book Opening the Case: The Affairs of Pattisons’ Whisky is available to purchase at kaskwhisky.com
PICTURED: Justine at The Vaults, photo by Peter Sandground