La Martiniquaise-Bardinet

In 1981 the firm set up the Glen Turner Blending Company to manage Label 5, and later the Glen Turner malt brand.^3,5 Bardinet, a rum and cocktail company that had bought the Scottish whisky brand Sir Edward's in 1983, joined in 1993 when La Martiniquaise bought 66% of it.^1,7,8 In 2001 the Glen Turner Blending Company became Glen Turner Distillery Ltd, starting a period of fast growth in Scotch.⁵

In 2004 it opened the First Blending Company in Bathgate, Scotland, to mature, blend and bottle its Scotch.^1,5,6 Bathgate was La Martiniquaise's first step toward becoming self-sufficient in whisky.^1,5,6 Glen Moray, in Elgin, Speyside, was already one of the malt whiskies blended into Label 5, and The Glenmorangie Company, which sold it, planned to focus on Glenmorangie and Ardbeg.^1,4,6 Starlaw, at the Bathgate site, makes grain whisky, the kind distilled from wheat or maize in column stills, and after it opened the subsidiary took the name Glen Turner Company.^4,9,10

In 2018 it bought the Cutty Sark blend from Edrington, which agreed to keep blending and bottling it for a hand-over period.^1,2,11 Jean-Pierre Cayard, the founder's son and the group's head, said the deal put the group in Scotch whisky's top five.^1,2,3 In 2019 France's competition authority cleared Cofepp, which heads La Martiniquaise and Bardinet, to take control of Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits, with conditions.^8,12 That added the William Peel blend to Label 5 and Sir Edward's, and by 2021 the group held more than 70% of the firm.^8,12