Black Dog is a brand of Scotch Whisky that is distilled, aged and blended in Scotland, and bottled and marketed in India by United Spirits Limited (USL), a subsidiary of the United Breweries Group. In 2013, Black Dog was reported to be the world's fastest growing Scotch Whisky by volume, according to International Wine and Spirits Research (IWSR). The whiskies used in the blend come from Scotland. Black Dog Scotch Whisky sold in India is bottled in Parmori District Nasik in Maharashtra, by importing the undiluted spirits from Scotland, a strategy that avoids the import duties imposed on liquor imports to India that are bottled prior to import. (Import duties may be as high as 150% for liquor bottled prior to import, but only about 30% when bottled in India.) The brand's main competitors are Teacher's (by Suntory) and Something Special (a Pernod Ricard brand).
History
Black Dog was launched in 1883, with the name Millard Black Dog, by James McKinley of the Leith family of Scotland. The whisky was named by the man who brought the whisky to India, Walter Millard of the East India Company. He named it after his favourite salmon fishing fly, known as the Black Dog.
A black dog is the name given to a being found primarily in the folklores of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, often said to be associated with the Devil or a Hellhound. Its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal dog, and often has large, glowing eyes. It is often associated with electrical storms (such as Black Shuck's appearance at Bungay, Suffolk), and also with crossroads, places of execution and ancient pathways.
The origins of the black dog are difficult to discern. It is impossible to ascertain whether the creature originated in the Celtic or Germanic elements in British culture. Throughout European mythology, dogs have been associated with death. Examples of this are the Cŵn Annwn,Garmr and Cerberus, all of whom were in some way guardians of the underworld. This association seems to be due to the scavenging habits of dogs. It is possible that the black dog is a survival of these beliefs. Black dogs are almost universally regarded as malevolent, and a few (such as the Barghest) are said to be directly harmful. Some, however, like the Gurt Dog in Somerset and the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills in Connecticut, are said to behave benevolently.
A dog or a black dog was a coin in the Caribbean of Queen Anne of Great Britain, made of pewter or copper, typically worth 1½ pence or 1⁄72 of a dollar. The name comes from the negative connotations of the word "dog," as they came from debased silver coins, and the dark color of those same debased coins. Black dogs were also at times called "stampes" or "stampees," as they were typically the coins of other colonial powers—French coins worth 2 sous or, equivalently, 24 diniers—stamped to make them British currency.
A dog and a stampe were not necessarily of equal value. For example, the Spanish dollar was subdivided into bits, each worth 9 pence, 6 black dogs or 4 stampees. Before 1811, 1 dollar equalled 11 bits (making a dog 1⁄66 of a dollar and a stampee 1⁄44 of a dollar); after 1811, 1 dollar equalled 12 bits (making a dog 1⁄72 of a dollar and a stampee 1⁄48 of a dollar). In 1797, however, a "black dog" is equated with a "stampee."
Mary Prince's narrative tells of slaves in Antigua buying a "dog's worth" of salted fish or pork on Sundays (the only day they could go to the market).
“Oh my gosh, what a cute dog,” I remarked ... A Westie appears on the label of Black and White whisky. They are the ambassadors of Cesar brand dog food ... Sophia is a therapy dog who visits hospitals, cancer centers, senior homes, and homebound folks.
UnitedSpirits, which makes Smirnoff vodka and Black Dog whisky, also posted a higher quarterly profit due to a drop in raw material prices and excise duty spending ... WorldcategoryGreenpeace oil protesters cover Rishi Sunak's home in black fabric.
BENGALURU, July 20 (Reuters) - India's UnitedSpirits (UNSP.NS), which sells the Smirnoff brand of vodka and the Black Dog brand of whisky, reported a more-than-22% jump in Q1 profit on Thursday, ...
Dog mess ...Glenys Kinnock, wife of former Labour leader Neil, enjoyed a tea with the Queen where they spent most of their time discussing the problems of incontinent dogs ... Whisky business. She once demoted a footman for giving whisky to her corgies.
