Home > Terms > English (EN) > Glen's Vodka

Glen's Vodka

Glen's Vodka is a brand of vodka that is distilled in Scotland in the United Kingdom, from sugar beet. It is produced by Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse, a company based in Catrine, Ayrshire. The vodka was launched in about 1972 and was originally known as Grant's, but as it increased in popularity, another company William Grant & Sons, which produces Grant's whisky, appealed to the Scottish Courts forcing the name to be changed, and the vodka was relaunched as Glen's in 2003.

Glen's Vodka is one of a number of low-priced brands of vodka produced in Britain. It can be found in many drinks retailers, ranging from large supermarket chains to independent local off-licences. It is most commonly offered for sale in 200 ml, 350 ml 700 ml and 1 Litre bottles; a 50 ml "miniature" is also available.

Since 2008 the brand has been among several targeted by counterfeiters of fake spirits. The counterfeit 700 ml bottles can easily be identified by the markings on the bottom of the bottle, which are different from bottles containing the genuine product. There are also differences in the adhesive used to attach the labels.

In 2009 Glen's Vodka actually came first in a blind taste test reported in the Guardian online. That tasting included many premium brand vodkas.

In November 2011 a gang who tried to flood the market with sub-standard fake vodka branded as Glen’s from their own bottling plant were jailed, according to HM Revenue & Customs. Officers seized 9,000 bottles of the fake vodka, along with manufacturing equipment, at an industrial unit near Great Dalby, Leicestershire. Hull Crown Court was told that there was a complete lack of fire safety measures, posing a serious and life-threatening hazard.

The vodka, containing chemicals unfit for human consumption, had been distributed across Britain. Bottles were seized from shops in Salford, London and South Wales. The loss to the Exchequer was put at £1.5 million.

Five men were charged with conspiracy to cheat the revenue. Kevin Eddishaw, 57, of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, and John Humphreys, 46, of Upton, Nottinghamshire, were jailed for seven years; James Fyfe, 51, of Arnold, Nottingham, got 16 months; Mark Gyles, 48, of Nottingham, got 12 months, suspended for 12 months; and Michael Matthews, 56, of Westonsuper-mare, got 18 months.

0
  • Part of Speech: noun
  • Synonym(s):
  • Blossary:
  • Industry/Domain: Beverages
  • Category: Vodka
  • Company:
  • Product:
  • Acronym-Abbreviation:
Collect to Blossary

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Terms in the News

Billy Morgan

Sports; Snowboarding

The British snowboarder Billy Morgan has landed the sport’s first ever 1800 quadruple cork. The rider, who represented Great Britain in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was in Livigno, Italy, when he achieved the man-oeuvre. It involves flipping four times, while body also spins with five complete rotations on a sideways or downward-facing axis. The trick ...

Marzieh Afkham

Broadcasting & receiving; News

Marzieh Afkham, who is the country’s first foreign ministry spokeswoman, will head a mission in east Asia, the state news agency reported. It is not clear to which country she will be posted as her appointment has yet to be announced officially. Afkham will only be the second female ambassador Iran has had. Under the last shah’s rule, Mehrangiz Dolatshahi, a ...

Weekly Packet

Language; Online services; Slang; Internet

Weekly Packet or "Paquete Semanal" as it is known in Cuba is a term used by Cubans to describe the information that is gathered from the internet outside of Cuba and saved onto hard drives to be transported into Cuba itself. Weekly Packets are then sold to Cuban's without internet access, allowing them to obtain information just days - and sometimes hours - after it ...

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)

Banking; Investment banking

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is an international financial institution established to address the need in Asia for infrastructure development. According to the Asian Development Bank, Asia needs $800 billion each year for roads, ports, power plants or other infrastructure projects before 2020. Originally proposed by China in 2013, a signing ...

Spartan

Online services; Internet

Spartan is the codename given to the new Microsoft Windows 10 browser that will replace Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer. The new browser will be built from the ground up and disregard any code from the IE platform. It has a new rendering engine that is built to be compatible with how the web is written today. The name Spartan is named after the ...

Featured Terms

Chris2012
  • 0

    Terms

  • 1

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Automotive Category: Automobile

self-driving car

A car that drives itself by automatically handling the steering, gas, and brakes with no help from the driver. Self-driving is made possible by the ...

Contributor

Featured blossaries

AQUARACER

Category: Fashion   1 2 Terms

The World's Billionaires

Category: Business   1 10 Terms