The name of Crabbie’s has remained famous throughout its long history in the Scottish drinks trade, but latterly only for the company’s peerless Green Ginger Wine - an essential ingredient in the Whisky Mac cocktail - and, more recently, for the hugely popular and successful Crabbie's alcoholic ginger beer.

This was not always the case.  The Crabbie company can trace its roots back to 1801, when Millar Crabbie first established an upholstering company in Edinburgh. Millar Crabbie soon switched to grocery and later his son John Crabbie began blending whisky. The Crabbie company continued producing blended whiskies throughout the 20th century but its fortunes dwindled in the 1970s and the Crabbie’s brand was sold in the 1980s to MacDonald and Muir, owners of the Highland Queen blend and Glenmorangie distillery.  

Halewood International acquired Crabbie’s in 2007 and set about reviving the brand, first with Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer, and subsequently with the opening of the Bonnington distillery, which commenced distillation in March 2020. Crabbie’s also have a flourishing indie bottling operation, with highlights including undisclosed ‘mystery’ long-aged single malts bottled under the Crabbie brand from the likes of Macallan, Glenlivet and Highland Park.