J&A Mitchell & Co Ltd

Brothers John and William Mitchell, sons of Archibald Mitchell, took ownership of Springbank in 1837.^1,5,7 Their partnership, J. & W. Mitchell & Company, was dissolved in 1872, and John bought the distillery for £5,055.^1,2,3 William left, and John's son Alexander joined, which is where the J&A Mitchell name comes from.^1,2,3 On 10 August 1897 the firm became a limited company.^3,4,5 Springbank shut down for a time in 1926.^1,3 Whiskypedia says it returned to production in 1933, while Wikipedia gives 1936.^1,3

In 1972 J&A Mitchell bought William Cadenhead's, an Aberdeen bottler founded in 1842 that buys casks from distilleries it does not own and bottles them itself.^6,10,11 Its whole stock had been sold at Christie's shortly before, and scarce glass bottles were one reason for the deal, though the bottles never arrived.^6,10,11

In 1979 Springbank was mothballed and stopped making spirit.^1,3 A limited run began in 1987, and Hedley Wright, who owned J&A Mitchell, chose to stop selling to blenders and build single malt sales instead.³ Regular production resumed in 1989.^1,7