The Distillers Company Limited was a leading Scottish drinks and pharmaceutical company which at one time was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was taken over by Guinness in 1986 in a transaction which was later found to have involved fraudulent activity, becoming known as the Guinness share-trading fraud.

The Company was formed in 1877 by a combination of six Scotch whisky distilleries: Macfarlane & Co., John Bald & Co. John Haig & Co, MacNab Bros & Co, Robert Mowbray and Stewart & Co. This company was born out of a trade association called the Scotch Distillers’ Association formed in 1865.

It combined with John Walker & Son and Buchanan-Dewar in 1925.

It was acquired by Guinness in 1986, forming United Distillers and the majority of its assets are now part of Diageo.

The following is a list of the subsidiaries of the Distillers Company as of 22 July 1980:

From 1942, Distillers Biochemicals (DCBL) operated an Agency Factory of the British Ministry of Supply manufacturing penicillin in Speke. The plant was one of the first two factories in Europe to produce penicillin. Following World War II, DCBL purchased the facility for approximately four million dollars.

Thomas Tew (died 1695), also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th century English privateer-turned-pirate. Although he embarked on only two major piratical voyages, and met a bloody death on the latter journey, Tew pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Many other famous pirates, including Henry Every and William Kidd, would follow in Tew’s path. Much of what is known about Tew is derived from Captain Charles Johnson's A General History of the Pyrates, which is a mixture of fact and fiction. When reading about Thomas Tew it is important to be able to distinguish between truth and story.

Captain Johnson said "Tew, in Point of Gallantry, was inferior to none."

It is frequently written that Tew had family in Rhode Island dating back to 1640, but it is not known where he was actually born. He may have been born in New England. One theory is that he was born in Maidford, Northamptonshire, England before immigrating to the colonies as a child with his family, although there is only a little circumstantial evidence for this. He lived at one time in Newport, Rhode Island. Tew is reported as being married with two daughters. According to one source his wife and children all greatly enjoyed the New York City social scene after Tew struck it rich., but there is no supporting evidence elsewhere for this.