The Scotch Blog

Distillery future remains unclear

Thanks to Brian M For the alert.

Distillery future remains unclear   

CHANGES are afoot at Blackwood Distillers amid continuing uncer­tainty over its stalled six-year-old plan for a whisky distillery in Shetland.

Change in the ownership of the five Blackwood-related companies in recent months has seen several directors and prominent staff members leave. Annual accounts for all the companies are now up to five months overdue at Companies House and founder/chief executive Caroline Whitfield has not been responding to media phone calls for some time.

Shareholders used to regular updates have had no communication from her since September when she predicted that the loss-making company should move into profit from October under a refinancing deal.

Meanwhile, at Catfirth, site of the £5 million proposed malt whisky distillery, no work has been carried out since the plan was approved by the SIC three years ago.

Against this background it emerged this week that a deal is being done by Ms Whitfield’s own firm, the Shetland Spirit company, which will effectively transfer Blackwood’s gin and vodka products to a London company called Blavod Extreme Spirits.

The two-stage deal will initially involve licensing Blavod to take over production and distribution of Blackwood’s Nordic Dry Gin, Nordic Vodka and Jago’s vanilla vodka cream and Jago Love but ultimately the products will come to be owned by Blavod too.

Read the rest at The Shetland Times

Whisky Magazine announces winners

in a rare instance of live blogging, I present the winners of the 2008 Whisky Magazine World awards (pecking away on my iPod touch).

All of these have been deemed "best in the world".

Whisky Liqueur
Wild Turkey American Honey

Grain Whisky
Compass Box Hedonism

New Release
Glenrothes 25 years old

Blended Malt Whisky
Blue Hanger 30 years old

Blended Whisky
Suntory Hibiki 30

American Whisky
George T Stagg

Single Malt Whisky
Yoichi 20 years old

Blend Fury

Will Lyons had an excellent piece in Scotland on Sunday on the issues with the SWA's move to introduce "Blended Malt" into the world's whisky lexicon.

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Originally printed Sunday, March 30th, 2008
Scotland on Sunday

Blend fury

By William Lyons

A NEW row threatens to split the whisky industry as small distilleries accuse the big boys of confusing consumers and undermining single malts, writes William Lyons.

A SHORT drive from Dufftown, high above the River Spey, lies Cardhu single malt distillery. The jewel in Diageo's crown has been out of the public eye since the infamous "pure malt" controversy threatened to split the industry. But this week, as the six stills rumble away to produce the main spirit for Johnnie Walker, echoes of the dispute are being heard once again in a new row over the future of Scotch.

It's been four years since the £2.5bn industry almost ripped itself apart over the Cardhu affair when the Grant family, owner of Glenfiddich, one of Speyside's most powerful brands, roused the industry into forcing Diageo to withdraw the pure malt blend.

As the last cases were removed from the European market an uneasy calm settled over the whisky industry. As one insider said at the time: "The tanks are on the lawn but for now we have turned the engines off."

Those engines are about to be turned back on, albeit from a different source. This time it is the small distilleries that are leading the fight. With talk of the big distillers throwing their weight around, the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) steam-rolling through unpopular measures, and deals being "conducted among an old boys' network", the atmosphere has once again turned sour. As one prominent distiller remarked to this newspaper: "The Cardhu debacle which everyone thought had gone away, has not. Nothing has changed."

The vortex of this latest row is the new category "blended malt whisky", ironically the definition created to placate those who objected so strongly to Diageo's inflammatory invention.

Alas, poor Amber. I knew it, Horatio.

Simon Jones, reader and blogger was the first to give me the bad news . . .

Macallan Amber is being pulled.

It started out with Simon asking if I knew where he could get some in the UK, as he was told that it was no longer being produced.

I hadn't heard this, but I haven't exactly been keeping my ear to the ground lately.

In case you forgot, read about Macallan Amber here: Macallan & Boston

A quick inquiry to Caspar MacRae of Edrington, gave me the official bad news.

Hello Kevin,
Yes. Despite considerable positive feedback, Edrington decided in December that the test marketing of Amber probably did not justify the huge expense of a full brand launch.

This was a tough decision, but had to be taken in the context of considerable new investment at The Macallan distillery and the purchase of a significant interest in the (incidentally excellent!) Dominican rum, Brugal.

It is one of the hazards of being a relatively small company, that we simply cannot pursue every interesting opportunity.

However we will continue to make Amber available in Japan, Canada and through the distillery shop in Speyside for some time yet.

Sorry the news is not better.

Best wishes,
Caspar

I immediately placed an order for a case of the stuff to hoard; drink and hand out as very special gifts.

You should as well.

My friend Joe Howell up in Boston may have some:

Federal Wine Spirits
http://www.federalwine.com/
29 State St
Boston, MA 02109
(617) 367-8605

Columba Cream rises to the top.

Last September I did a short blurb about Columba Cream based on a story by Will Lyons in Scotland on Sunday called Columba Cream Plan Hits The Rocks.

That short blurb was followed up by an email from Jamie Morrison and resulted in a Christmas story called Columba Cream Responds. The story detailed a lively back and forth and resulted in an even more lively string of responses.

This past week Jamie was eager to let me know that there was great news for the Scottish Liqueur Centre; namely that Columba has been faring very well with shoppers at Waitrose (a UK-based grocery chain) and has been picked up at all 186 Waitrose locations.

According to the Waitrose press release:

First launched in Waitrose’s two Scottish stores last year, Columba Cream has proved so popular with customers that the supermarket will sell it nationally.

Last Christmas the single malt cream and honey liqueur quickly became the top selling spirit in Waitrose’s Edinburgh branches.

Now thanks to the exclusive deal with Waitrose, the small independent company that makes the drink - The Scottish Liqueur Centre - it is expecting to double its turnover to £1million by the end of this year.

Jamie also wanted me to know that Columba Cream was the biggest selling spirit (yes - outselling all other spirits, not just liqueurs) at the Waitrose stores during the 2006 Christmas holiday.

What's more remarkable is that this was accomplished without resorting to the standard UK practice of deep discounting.

Bacardi prepares for growth; Makes Scottish land grab

Hey Kids.

I'm traveling to Kentucky today to visit Maker's Mark and Jim Beam.

Bourbon? On The Scotch Blog??

Why the hell not. Maybe it's time to change this site to "The Whisk(e)y Blog".

I'm also hoping to get a chance to visit one of the lesser talked about Kentucky whiskey institutions. Blue Grass cooperage? No. But maybe I'll try to fit that in as well. Stay tuned.

And remember Keep the feedback coming in for THE DRAMMIES. They don't want everyone to know, but many in the industry like The Drammies the best because it represents what YOU like.

Plus, it has the coolest name of ANY whisky award.

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On November 8th, Bacardi, the largest privately held spirits company in the world, announced the purchase of a 106 acre parcel of land, which will eventually be the site for a new "maturation, blending and storage facility" for their Dewar's portfolio.

The land is located in South Lanarkshire, about 25 miles outside of Glasgow, between Douglas and Lesmahagow, and is to be acquired from Scottish Coal, part of Scottish Resources Group.

Dewar's plans to develop the site to accommodate bonded warehouses and a bulk and blend center capable of housing more than a million casks. Plans call for having the first phase operational by January 2009.  Construction is planned to be undertaken in consecutive phases, starting in 2008 with an estimated completion in 2018.

The land deal is part of a previously announced $250 million investment in Scotch whisky production over the next 10 years. The investments are primarily to expand to keep up with the demand in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and other emerging markets.

Jon Grey, Vice President, Bacardi Global Operations:

Buying this piece of land in Scotland—known worldwide for its premium whisky—is the cornerstone of one of the most significant investments ever in the Scotch industry. Bacardi has always invested heavily behind our brands and their heritage.

I don't spend much time talking about Dewar's, but it is important to note that is is the number-one selling blended Scotch whisky in the United States, beating even Johnnie Walker.

Founded in 1846 by John Dewar Sr., John Dewar and Sons Limited has grown from a small wine and spirits merchant shop in Perth, Scotland, to become a global brand. Today, DEWAR’S is one of the largest whisky brands in the world, and the top selling blended Scotch whisky in the United States. The foundation stone of the portfolio is the WHITE LABEL blend, which was first created in 1899.

The Bacardi blended Scotch whisky portfolio is broken into 2 distinct lines: Dewar's & William Lawson.

The Dewar's line includes the ubiquitous Dewar's White Label; Dewar's 12 Years Old Special Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky; Dewar's 18 Years Old Founder’s Reserve Blended Scotch Whisky; Dewar's Signature Blended Scotch Whisky; and Dewar's 15 Years Old Blended Highland Malt Whisky. While on the Lawson's side there's Willam Lawson's Finest Blended Scotch Whisky, and Willam Lawson's Scottish Gold 12 Years Old Blended Scotch Whisky.

It's a little confusing as Bacardi groups both the blended Dewar's brands and single malt Aberfeldy under the "Dewar's" umbrella.

On the single malt whisky side, Bacardi currently operates six five distilleries: Aberfeldy, Macduff, Aultmore, Craigellachie and Royal Brackla.

The broader Bacardi portfolio includes (among others) the top-selling Bacardi Rum; the much over-hyped Grey Goose vodka; the old guard Bombay gin; and the very tasty Bombay Sapphire gin.

 

Keeping it in the family

After 40 years with the company and 14 years in the position, Ian Urquhart is stepping down as Managing Director of Gordon & MacPhail.

Ian will retain a part-time, Non-Executive Director role, with the company; and G&M will remain firmly in the capable hands of the Urquhart family with Ian's brothers Michael & David Urquhart assuming joint Managing Director responsibilities.

The fourth generation of the family is also well-represented in the management structure with nephews Stephen Rankin and Neil Urquhart assuming additional responsibilities as Associate Directors within the company. But It's not all family at the helm - Associate Directors Ewen Mackintosh and Derek Hancock will also take on more work. Ian Chapman steps up to Marketing Manager.

Commenting on the reorganization, Michael Urquhart, says:

We thank Ian for his hard work, commitment and service to Gordon & MacPhail over the last 40 years and we wish him all the very best in his retirement.

We started the preparations for this reorganisation over eighteen months ago by appointing four Associate Directors and investing in a comprehensive management training programme.  We have a strong team in place at Gordon & MacPhail as we look to the future and the challenges this will bring.  We remain committed to providing consumers around the world with the highest quality products and excellent customer service.

Exciting times for one of Scotland's most respected independents. Gordon and MacPhail has over 110 years experience in maturing and bottling single malt whiskies.

Since their founding in 1895, Elgin-based Gordon and MacPhail have purchased ‘new make’ whisky which they mature and bottled themselves - as such G&M are able to offer the most extensive selection of single malts in the world. In addition G&M owns the Benromach Distillery in Forres. 

For more info on Benromach, read this past story.

More peat! Less Oban? Powered by Aberlour. Better Excuse?

More Peat

The crazy bastards at Bruichladdich are getting ready to fire up the stills for a new expression of yet another heavily peated mash.

This one, to be called Lochindaal (after the large body of water just yards from the front gate - and also one of the names that the now long gone Port Charlotte distillery went by) will be peated to 50 ppm +/-.

That's a bit higher than the recently released Port Charlotte (40 ppm) and much lower than the yet to be released Octomore (80 ppm +/-).

The first distillation is planned for October 26th 2007 and  the first 100 casks of the distillation will be offered for sale to the public at £1850 a cask.

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Less Oban?

A reader wrote to ask about rumors regarding Oban 14 year old being in short supply.

I pinged my contact at Diageo who denied this rumor:

Thanks for your question about Oban. I've checked with the brand team and they have confirmed that we will have the same quantity of Oban in the coming year in the US as we've had in the past couple of years.

Subsequently, some non-Diageo sources told me otherwise.

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Powered by Aberlour

Apparently Aberlour is the "un-official" favourite whisky of British troops in Iraq.

An Irish soldier, who formerly lived in Elgin, started recommending (and providing) it to his colleagues.

Officially speaking these soldiers aren't supposed to have whisky whilst "on duty", but whose going to deny them?

Maybe Gordon Brown can make friends among the troops and support Scotland at the same time by air-dropping a couple of casks?

No, I did not get this rumor from Aberlour ;)

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Better Excuse (than the last few?)

"The current plan to build a distillery at Catfirth, Nesting, has been delayed because of Blackwood chief executive Caroline Whitfield's personal circumstances regarding her divorce."

Later in the story...

"The shareholder added that following speculation that Blackwood may go into liquidation and then reinvent itself, he felt the company would be unlikely to attract local investors a second time."

Shetland Today (Thanks, Brian M.)

Glenmorangie Update

In regard to the recent posting on the Glenmorangie changes, a trusted source tells me:

The Herald Article, and your subsequent posts relating to it, is not accurate.  I am embargoed to say anything at this time. But, when the info is released in a more formal and legitimate way in the near future, what they are doing will make more sense.

This could be interesting. Stay tuned.

Benromach Organic Approved for the US

PRESS RELEASE - July 2, 2007

Gordon & MacPhail, proprietors of Benromach distillery have launched, Benromach Organic Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky.  Hand made by just two men at Speyside’s smallest working distillery, Benromach Organic is the first bottled Single Malt Whisky released to be fully certified by the Soil Association of the U.K. The product has also been approved for sale in U.S.A.

The whole process – raw ingredients, distillation, maturation and bottling – is certified organic to the rigorous standards set by the Soil Association.