Sandy Grant Gordon

Gordon was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 6 May 1931. His mother was a doctor, and his father was the chairman of William Grant and Sons, a Scottish distilling company. Gordon was the great-grandson of the founder of the company. He was initially educated in Dufftown and then attended Rugby School, Warwickshire, England. He graduated with a degree in mathematics and law from Queens' College, Cambridge. He wanted to pursue a career in law or in aircraft design, but his father's diagnosis with colorectal cancer and later death prompted him to return and join the family distilling company. == Career ==

Gordon started out in his family's distilling company after his graduate studies in 1954 and was initially allocated managing sales for the Africa market. Prior to his efforts, virtually all of Scotland's exports were blended whisky. As of 2019, Glenfiddich was the largest selling single malt scotch whisky by volume, while both Glenfiddich and Balvenie were amongst the top 10 single malt whiskies in the global market by sales. He was awarded the College of Piping Award for his services to piping. and had set up a fellowship in Scottish history at the University of St Andrews. He was also the vice-chairman of the Scottish Seabird Centre, a conservation centre and had committed himself to supporting charities working with protecting endangered birds after his retirement. He had also made periodic bird-watching trips to Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, India, and Peru, after his retirement in 1996. == Personal life ==

Gordon met his wife Linda Stobart when he was studying in Cambridge. It is noted that he later showed her a book with the costs that he had incurred while courting her. His wife died in October 2019. Gordon was active outdoors, and had climbed the 282 Munros, mountains with a height greater than , in Scotland. == References ==