# A tale of two countries: who runs the stills

Stillbound Research · Ownership · October 2026 · John Robinson
Canonical: https://stillbound.ai/research/ownership/

![Scotland: who runs the stills](https://stillbound.ai/research/cards/ownership-map.png)
![Ireland: who runs the stills](https://stillbound.ai/research/cards/ownership-map-ireland.png)

**Scotland.** Two-thirds of its 163 Scotch whisky distilleries answer to a bigger company. Nineteen groups run 99. Seven more sit under multinationals. Diageo alone runs 31.

**Ireland.** Nearly three in four of its 52 Irish whiskey distilleries are still independent. Fourteen answer to a bigger company, and four of those are paused.

**Counted the same way.** A distillery answers to a bigger company if its owner runs more than one site, or is a multinational drinks group. Whisk(e)y distilleries only, counted by distillery, not by litres. Paused plants are shown, not deleted.

Sources: SWA operating list (September 2026), Irish Whiskey GI verified operators 2024, Companies House and CRO filings, operators and trade press.

Corrections: if you hold better data, write to hello@stillbound.ai with the figure and its basis. Corrections are logged and dated.

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