It has seemed that Scotch whisky distiller Edrington has in recent times been making much less noise about The Famous Grouse than it did in the past.

This meant that, while its deal to sell this famous blended Scotch whisky brand to William Grant & Sons and declaration that it was the “right moment” to exit the blended category came somewhat out of the blue on Monday, it was not a surprise.

Edrington has not been wary in the past of selling big-name brands if it has felt this has suited its strategy.

It sold off Cutty Sark, a famous brand going way back which earlier in the current millennium had its profile raised as a favourite tipple of fictional advertising executive Don Draper in television drama Mad Men. Cutty was sold to French spirits group La Martiniquaise-Bardinet in a deal unveiled in 2018. Edrington sold historic Crieff malt whisky distillery and brand The Glenturret, a major part of The Famous Grouse blend, to French wine company Art & Terroir in the same year.

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In the years that followed Edrington’s shrewd 1999 acquisition of Highland Distillers, which had by that time bought The Macallan, the Glasgow-based distiller seemed to make quite a big deal of The Famous Grouse in its dispatches. Edrington was backed in this 1999 deal by William Grant & Sons.

However, for a long time now Edrington’s focus has been very much on The Macallan, in which it has invested very heavily indeed. A new £140 million distillery for The Macallan at Craigellachie in Speyside was opened in 2018, with Edrington noting around that time that it was investing a total of £500m in this upmarket single malt brand.

Edrington is a company which does not do things in a hurry. As an entity controlled by a charitable trust, it does not have to rush things.

This has benefited the business greatly over the years and decades. It has been able to invest for the long term, with the space and time for its board to take a properly strategic view.

It is a far cry from the frantic efforts of some executives of stock market-listed companies driven by short-term factors which might determine their bonuses, or under pressure from noisy institutional investors or arbitrageurs.

And the approach Edrington has been able to take has served the business very well.

It has also been a good thing for charitable causes in Scotland.

Edrington noted again this week as it announced the sale of The Famous Grouse and its Naked Malt blended Scotch whisky brand to William Grant & Sons for an undisclosed sum that its principal shareholder, The Robertson Trust, had donated £367m to charitable causes in Scotland since 1961.

The family-owned William Grant & Sons has also shown the great success that can be achieved from taking a long-term view, and making the right strategic moves from its perspective.

It said this week that The Famous Grouse brand would be a “significant addition” to its portfolio, adding: “The brand has potential for innovation and international growth in a number of markets, and we’re excited about what the future holds.”

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The deal unveiled this week by Edrington and William Grant & Sons, which is subject to regulatory approvals, could easily enough be seen as good for both parties. It will also hopefully not be negative in any way for those working for the businesses being sold. Both companies, which are major players in the global whisky sector, have reputations as good employers.

The Highland deal was a fine example of something for which Edrington had been geared up for a long time, and it was executed very impressively when the time came. At that stage, the business was headed by Ian Good, who was knighted in 2008 and whose immense role in building Edrington was rightly highlighted when he died last year.

While Edrington has appeared over the years and decades to be a sea of tranquillity, in a good way, amid much of the dispiriting modern-day corporate mayhem, it has shown itself prepared to take the bold steps needed to achieve the positions in global markets which it desires.

Scott McCroskie, its current chief executive, said on Monday as the sale of The Famous Grouse and Naked Malt brands was announced that “we consider this the right moment for Edrington to exit the blended Scotch category and focus on our core portfolio of ultra-premium spirit brands”.

He added that the decision is “driven by our strategy to focus on our core strengths and the growth opportunities in the ultra-premium spirits category”.

Some might view this as a big call, putting more eggs in fewer baskets.

However, from Edrington’s perspective, its ever-greater focus on the ultra-premium category has delivered rich rewards in recent years.

In July, Edrington unveiled a 6% rise in underlying annual pre-tax profits to £411m as core revenues jumped 11% to £1.165 billion.

At that stage, Mr McCroskie voiced his belief that Edrington’s results for the 12 months to March 31 were “among the best in the spirits industry”.

And this followed a sharp rise in profits in the previous financial year.

Edrington in summer 2023 announced pre-tax profits before exceptional items had risen by 43% to £387.7m in the 12 months to March 31 that year.

Core contribution, defined by Edrington as profits from its branded sales and distribution after the deduction of overheads on a constant-currency basis, rose by 16% to £454.8m in the 12 months to March this year.

Mr McCroskie wrote in his 2024 annual review: “Edrington achieved 11% growth in core revenue and a 16% increase in core contribution over the previous year. The higher rate of growth in core contribution reflects an increasing proportion of sales from higher-value, more-profitable products in line with our strategy.

“This year’s results continue a trend of strong growth, with Edrington increasing its core contribution by 87% over four years from 2019/20, despite doubling our brand investment in the same period. This achievement reflects the success of our ultra-premium strategy, and especially of The Macallan.”

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The Scotch whisky sector has recently been facing a significantly tougher trading environment, and this is clearly not lost on Edrington.

Mulling the outlook this summer, Mr McCroskie highlighted his expectations that demand would be adversely affected by economic pressures seen in the second half of the financial year to March 2024.

He declared then that the “post-Covid spirits boom” had come to “an abrupt end” during the year to March 31.

The Scotch Whisky Association earlier this month revealed that exports of Scotch whisky were in the first half of this year 18% lower than in the opening six months of 2023, at £2.1 billion.

However, as Edrington and William Grant & Sons both know, and have certainly proven with their patience and strategic vision and the successes achieved on the back of these qualities over decades, Scotch whisky is a long-term business.