Eighty-year-old Charles Gordon, owner of William Grant's we can call him a visionary nomad, descendant of the founding family of William Grant & Son, and later chairman of the group, attended an auction in 1966 where two stills were for sale. These were not just any old stills, as one was a wonderful copper 'Carter Head' still built in 1948 by John Dore & co Ltd in a very limited series, the other was the still used by Marshall & Taplow of Stratford, one of London's historic gin distilleries that was already in existence at the time of the Gin Act, a very small 1860s pot still made by the legendary Bennet Sons & Shears. Charles Gordon didn't let the opportunity pass him by, although he still had no clear idea what to do with it. Only years later came the idea of using them for the production of Hendrick's Gin, which gives an idea of the pioneering mentality of Charles Gordon, the man who invented Single Malt Scotch Whisky. So it was after years of experimentation that Hendrick's Gin was born, in 1999.
