At Linn House, the Aberdeen-based spiritual home of Chivas Brothers, the Scotch-manufacturing company is currently celebrating 200 years of high spirits. "The secret of blending is in its balance. Thankfully, Scotland is blessed with all the right conditions to produce this global masterpiece," quips Cryle. "But it's time the Highlander's traditional drink moved to newer pastures."
Cryle is referring to subtle changes in western drinking patterns which are forcing companies like Chivas to increasingly focus on continents like Asia and Australia. For long, malt whisky has remained Scotland's greatest industry. But western consumers are slowly and steadily shifting to products like white spirits, beer and sparkling wine. Global sales of Scotch have been relatively static in the last couple of years.
"Like any consumer product, Scotch is sensitive to trends and cycles. In countries like the UK and the US, younger consumers are eager to try something new. Some are turning to white spirits. As a result, the industry is looking at new ways to stimulate demand in the more mature markets. They are promoting single malts, premium blends and even whisky cocktails," says Tim Jackson, a director at the Edinburgh-based Scotch Whisky Association. Ironically, Mediterranean Spain, a traditional wine-drinking country, is today the world's biggest Scotch market!
Agrees Geoff Parmiter of Chivas Brothers' 161-year-old Glen Grant Distillery: "Distillers are trying hard to work together to explain the need to acquire the authentic product and taste, rather than fakes which are gaining popularity because of Asia's high-tax regimes." The Malt Whisky Trail—a leisurely drive through extraordinarily beautiful Scottish Highland scenery—is one such effort, in which seven distilleries and one cooperage offer visitors a unique opportunity to experience firsthand the history and the process behind the production of one of world's greatest and the most expensive and traditional drinks.
High-tariff countries like India permit import of bulk Scotch for bottling. As a result, the nation loses out on the premium brands and revenues since only 25 per cent of one million cases of Scotch consumed in India is through legal channels and the rest through smuggling and counterfeit. Admits Seagram vice-president Sumit Lamba: "Bootlegging can be controlled only if availability of genuine Scotch is improved and the price made comparable to bootleggers' price through reduced tariffs." Sums up Jens Tholstrup, brand ambassador of William Grant & Sons: "The global trend is towards better and not more drinking. And for that you cannot depend on counterfeit and smuggled products." But till tariffs fall, to appreciate the genuine stuff, you need to be rich enough to haunt five-star bars or go on a Scotch trail.
