William Whiteley & Co is a blending company founded in Leith in 1922. It made a large amount of money during Prohibition thanks to the illegal exportat of its blend King’s Ransom. In 1933, it bought the Edradour distillery in Pitlochry, formerly known as Glenforres. William Whiteley & Co used the distillery to create a blended malt from Edradour and another Highland malt bottled under the name Glenforres—further adding to the confusion over what the product was by displaying the name of the subsidiary in charge of its production, Glenforres-Glenlivet Distillery Co. In 1982, the distillery was sold to Campbell & Son, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, which ceased production of the brands.

A King’’s Ransom 12 Year Old bottled in the 1970s in a ceramic decanter.