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The brewer, which owns the Glenfiddich, Mirage and Taboo brands, as well as its signature blended scotch, currently divides its media buying arrangements by brand and market. Universal McCann handles Glenfiddich in parts of Europe, while all of William Grant & Sons' UK media is handled by John Ayling & Associates.

UK marketing for William Grant & Sons has traditionally been handled through First Drinks, the distributor which it co-owns with Bacardi-Martini. First Drinks' entire media business was consolidated into John Ayling & Associates in 2000, when Glenfiddich moved from Universal McCann.

However, it is understood that the assignment currently being discussed would cover all brands across Europe and include William Grant & Sons' slice of the First Drinks portfolio. Grants and Glenfiddich spent about £1 million between them in the UK last year.

John Ayling & Associates' chairman, John Ayling, said he was unaware of any William Grant & Sons' review, while First Drinks declined to comment on reports of its parent company's plans.

William Grant & Sons was unavailable for comment as ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 went to press.