Attracting new scotch drinkers

Attracting new drinkers. That seems to be the new imperative for many distillers.

• Bruichladdich introduces "Rocks" a single malt actually designed to be served over ice. HERESY!
• Glenlivet sponsors a  loosely veiled ad in the form of a "debate" to discuss the merits of using single malts in cocktails.
• Whisky Magazine sponsors their second annual competition at Whisky Live London for the best whisky-based cocktail.

Just what the hell is going on here?

Well, obviously distillers are seeing the potential for cultivating a new market among the hip young bar crowd. You know them - the 20- to 30-somethings who frequent the latest trendy bar/club. They've been weened from micro-brews and moved on to martinis.

But let's face it, they aren't drinking your father's martini - they scarfing down sickeningly sweet mixed drinks made with gin, vodka, rum, tequila or another liquor of the month, served into a martini glass.

This crowd asks for Grey Goose, but couldn't tell it from Popov. This crowd wants to drink as much as possible, but doesn't really want to taste the alcohol.

Distillers figure (rightly so) that whisky is the next frontier. The next great untapped drink ingredient. And the distillers and distributors, most of them anyway, would really like to get a piece of that "potential market demographic" (that's my marketing jargon :)).

Are you surprised? Don't be.

Yes, most distillers are in the whisky biz for the love of making the stuff. But most distillers are owned by large companies, who are in turn owned by shareholders. And it may surprise you to know that there are many shareholders who own a piece of Fortune, Pernod, Diageo and others, who could care less about the tradition and history of whisky making. They want to see a return on their investment. Even little independent privately-held Bruichladdich, is looking to make some money.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with making money. A profitable market helps all of our favorite distillers to keep on keepin' on. And that's a good thing long-term.

The issue that many of the old-guard have with these short-term marketing tactics is that they could  dilute the mystique of single malt. That may very well be true. But I'm not so worried about the mystique as I am for the industry and some of the companies.

Since the path for getting a whisky from the still to the bottle is a long term affair, the companies who are implementing the short-term marketing tactics could be damaging their own future in the end.

How? Well obviously a smaller company like Bruichladdich has less whisky in the pipeline, and any increase in output today won't hit the bottom-line for a number of years. So, I'll pick on "the laddie" (but it's only 'cuz I love you guys) and make a few broad predictions:

1. Bruichladdich ramps up production today, and by the time the stuff is really ready, 10 years, the trendy market has LONG moved on the the next big thing. Bruichladdich has a surplus of product that they sell-off cheap, or it becomes the main ingredient in a nice blend.

2. Bruichladdich continues their trend in non-age-labeled product (by releasing the product long before the standard 10 years aging) in order to get some short-term profits. This results in a general degradation of reputation of the product. This leads to a complete abandonment by a notoriously snobby old-guard. If and when the whisky trend goes the way of the wine-cooler trend, Bruichladdich sees some very hard times.

3.Bruichladdich has played the market absolutely correctly and becomes the Grey Goose of single malts.

How it really works out is anyone's guess. I think the big guys (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich) have little to lose. Many people look down on these two for be too populist, anyway. They'll always have a market.

Bruichladdich has little to lose as well, they are already considered to be a young upstart, but as far as I am concerned they are doing some really neat things.

The middle market will likely sit back and wait to see how it turns out.

Me? I'll continue to take my single malt neat, with a little water on the side (I've never liked mixed drinks anyway).

Comments

[Jonathan Charney]

I tried scotch for the first time right before I was deployed to Iraq. I wanted to get an older bottle for when I go home on leave. The problem is I don't know which one to get. Any advice would be helpfull. Willing to spend up to 200 to 300 dollars. Please respond via email as I only have a short time on the internet and I don't know if I will even be able to remember this blog site. Here is my civilian email adress: heydude1775@yahoo.com I will give you the military one later. Thanks,
Jon