Old Fettercairn was established in 1824, having been only the second distillery to become legal after the Excise Act of the previous year. Founder Sir Alexander Ramsey ran into financial difficulty and was forced to sell the distillery and the Fasque estate on which it was located in 1830 to a merchant named John Gladstone, who ran both until his death in 1851.
The elder of Gladstone's sons, Thomas took over the stewardship of the estate and the distillery, which was let to sitting tenants. Younger brother William was a politician, eventually being elected to Prime Minister three times. Perhaps coincidentally, during one of his sojourns at No. 10, William happened to pass legislation alleviating the taxes on the whisky industry.
