Old St Andrews Ltd pairs up Scotch whisky with golf, using the name of Scotland’s most famous golfing centre. Its whiskies are presented in dimpled, golf ball-shaped bottles, although ‘straight’ alternatives are also available, as are mock barrels.

As a Scotch whisky blender, Old St Andrews has been active for some 75 years, but it was in the early 1970s that the firm really came to prominence, with an initiative in Japan that involved fitting half-gallon bottles of whisky into miniature leather golf bags, housed on miniature golf trolleys. Golf-themed bottlings remain at the heart of St Andrews’ activities, and overseas markets are where most of its trade is conducted. 

The brand was made popular in the 1980s by Denis Thatcher (husband of Margaret Thatcher), who was often photographed on the golf course with a golf ball miniature in his hand. It soon found favour with the golfing community and saw an expanded level of sales in duty-free shops in the mid-1990s. However, at the end of the 1990s, duty-free sales in Europe ended with the creation of the single-market European Union. Recently, following the appointment of new distributors, the brand has seen a resurgence.

The company has two principal Scotch whisky offerings – Old St Andrews Clubhouse, which is a five-year-old blended Scotch, and 10-, 12- and 15-year-old blended malts, named respectively Twilight, Fireside and Nightcap. The firm is also the licensed bottler of Ron Burgundy’s Great Odin’s Raven Special Reserve blend, which takes its name from the lead character in the movie Anchorman.