James Martin's V.V.O. Blended Scotch Whisky

James “Sparry” Martin, formerly a travelling salesman for a Leith house, set up on his own as a whisky merchant in 1878. In 1912 his James Martin & Co. passed to Macdonald & Muir, owners of Glenmorangie, which in 1949 brought its companies together in the holding Macdonald Martin Distilleries. V.V.O. was the house's main blend, exported to the United States from 1913; in 1941 the SS Politician, the stranded ship of “Whisky Galore”, carried a thousand cases of Martin's whisky in its hold.

This bottle was blended and bottled in Leith and imported into Italy by Distillerie Riunite di Liquori of Solaro, near Milan, with the blue case and the brand's golden swallow.