On-Trade / Malt Whisky: Loch up your daughters

Malt whisky brands are facing a tough choice between classic and contemporary aspirations. Just don’t throw the bairn out with the bathwater, says Phil Pemberton

You can’t write a malt whisky article without mentioning bagpipes, heather and, possibly, “a wee dram”. See, I’ve already done it. It must have the malt marketing men tearing at their sporrans in frustration.

It’s an image many of them have attempted to downplay, downgrade or downright disregard. The provenance of a brand is usually an excellent selling point, but malt has long struggled with its pipe-and-slippers, older-generation label.

Let’s take, for example, a press release I received in the process of writing this piece. “The Glengoyne distillery is situated in a wooded valley in the southern Highlands of Scotland, close to a small river that flows into the famous Loch Lomond… At the beginning of the 19th century, it is recorded that at least 18 whisky stills were in operation in this area. But these, like many others at that time, were illegal… smuggling became rife and the hills and glens around Glengoyne formed a perfect cover for this lawless activity.”

You can almost see a character from Kidnapped disappear through more mist than is present in the average Ultravox video – and if you’re old enough to understand that allusion, you’re probably enjoying a malt whisky right now.

This is not to criticise Glengoyne particularly, if at all, since I received plenty of examples of very similar prose. And Iain Weir, head of marketing for Ian Macleod, the distributors of Glengoyne and Smokehead malts, obviously believes particular products work with specific market messages. “The drinker profile of Glengoyne Premium Single Malt 10-Year-Old is a 30-plus curious discoverer,” says Weir, “knowledgeable, individual, confident, contented, rewarded, successful. Whereas Smokehead Premium Single Malt is aimed at consumers who are aged 25 plus, with profile traits of contemporary, modern, individual and exciting. They represent a new generation of adventurous malt-whisky drinkers who are looking for an innovative, modern brand that does not use old-fashioned Scotch whisky imagery and heritage.”

So, here we have two products, both malts, with a price point not that far apart (Glengoyne: RRP £23.99; Smokehead: RRP £19.99), one of which appears content with its undoubted provenance and another that wants to appear more contemporary.

Quality spirit
There is, therefore, a willingness to try and expand the category‘s appeal, but the problem remains that there have been many attempts to make malt accessible to a younger crowd, and not many can claim success. Robert Ransom, marketing director for Glenfarclas, agrees. “Scotch whisky is respected around the world for being a quality spirit,” he argues. “Having said that, single malt does have a challenge on its hands to reach a wider audience, particularly a younger and a female market, without alienating its existing consumers. This is one area were the whisky industry does, and can, work with the on-trade, to spread the single-malt message through education.”

Glenfarclas has recently appointed Pol Roger to be its UK distributor, and Ransom hopes that, “Pol Roger will help to boast our distribution, particularly to the premium on-trade south of the border.”

The ‘P’ word
The elements of the last quotes to take particular note of are “education”, “south of the border” and “premium”. The drinks industry has been getting its tongue round the word “premiumisation” for some time now, and Maxxium’s Gordon Muir, The Macallan brand manager, is about to give it another go. “Macallan is promoted as a luxury brand, and the on-trade appears to be segmenting through the premiumisation of products,” he says. “There has been a general rise of quality in the on-trade, as can be seen in the popularity of gastropubs, and malt is ideally placed to take advantage of this.”

But is the complexity of malt being adequately conveyed to the on-trade through training and brand information? “Products need to stand up for themselves,” contends Muir. “My job is to sell the quality of my brands, not the whole history of Scotch whisky.” Fair enough. But is there a responsibility for the Scotch trade as a collective to make more effort in educating on-trade professionals and subsequently consumers, in the delights of the golden liquid? David Williamson from the Scotch Whisky Association points to the Scotland Whisky Initiative that was set up in 2003. He says, “An ‘embassy’ network has been established, involving more than 60 hotels, restaurants and bars that meet certain quality criteria and with staff who have passed a one-day Scotch-whisky training school, which covers all aspects of production, appreciation, selection and responsible serving.” Sounds impressive; but wouldn’t a similar initiative south of the border be more effective in growing the category? The on-trade is currently educated in the main by the larger companies with an established distribution network that can offer a ‘tailored’ selection to a large number of venues.

Muir reveals that Maxxium offers products from two categories: the “classic” and the “contemporary”, and within each category is a choice of a mainstream, a select and an exclusive brand. Diageo has offered a Malts of Scotland selection of six to the on-trade. Unfortunately, further information about its current activity was unavailable since Diageo declined to comment, a good example of communication and education from that business.

New World whiskies?
Two of the more user-friendly Scotch brands at the moment are William Grant’s Monkey Shoulder and John Glaser’s Compass Box. I asked Muir whether he felt these new brands were helping or hindering the category. “Anything that opens up the sector is a good thing,” he says. “I liken these new products to what happened with the explosion of New World wine: it brings into the category people who will, hopefully, go on to explore further.”

Glaser’s entrepreneurial story is well known in the trade, and when you speak to him, you realise that he is about as Scottish as Rod Stewart. The former Diageo executive and marketing manager of Johnnie Walker feels that malt has got to play to its strengths. “I was there in America in the ‘90s, when attempts were made to make Scotch into a tequila. Not surprisingly, it failed. You simply cannot be what you are not.” However, that doesn’t mean that his bottle labels feature pictures of shortbread on a tartan rug. In fact, they are pretty funky. His small-business approach is personal and emphasises the creation of high-quality new flavours. “Educating the on-trade is an expensive business that only the major corporations can really do effectively,” he says. “We have aimed at positioning ourselves in the premium bars and restaurants with the aim that their endorsement and influence will have a wider effect in other areas of the on-trade.”

Compass Box’s blended-malt offer also lends itself more readily to cocktails and is therefore seen on the lists of some of the leading cocktail bars in London, although Glaser contends that he does not create his brands with cocktail-making in mind.

The JD effect
As we finally appear to have got to the cocktail hour, what does somebody at the sharp end of the on-trade think of malt’s future? Michael Butt is a former head bartender for London’s Match Bar Group and is now a director of his own drinks training company, Soulshakers. “One of the major problems malt has is a product called Jack Daniel’s,” he laughs. “You need to appreciate that the average bar manager, who is, say, 25, has a limited attention span in which to grasp the complexity of the Scotch category. I think you can effectively train someone in six whiskies, and it’s useful to use something such as Dave Broom’s ‘backbar plotter’, which helps to balance the tastes of the products you stock – for example, making sure you list a light, smoky or salty variant.”

Status symbol

Butt believes that operators are often caught between the connoisseur, who is difficult to please with a small list, and the essentially uneducated, who don’t know where to start. “Not many malts work in cocktails, particularly single malts, but I don’t really see that as a problem for the category,” he argues. “In other markets – Russia, for example – people will happily sit down with a bottle and drink it like that. It is a status symbol to be drinking a luxury product, and that is how malt should be promoted in the UK. It should be perceived as a strong rival to Cognac, and it has the growth opportunities to be enjoyed in a similar way.”

It seems that malt must remain proud of its traditions  but continue to find new ways of expressing the complexity of its spirit to a new audience. The general on-trade drift towards a premium offer is a golden opportunity for malt and, if it can tone down the tartan, it should take it.

Malt on the menu?

The bad news
Everyone’s going premium. Vodka is leading the way – when its producers are not giving Powerpoint lectures on their point-of-difference taste profile, they are labelling bottles “superduper-ultra-rare-premium” or some such.
Cocktail creation. Bourbon has traditionally been preferred to malt whisky when making cocktails. Jack Daniel’s has also noticed the premium creep and released its single-barrel offer into the UK on-trade. Plus malt’s back story is, well, just not that cool.
Education. Admittedly, the Scotch whisky category is a difficult one to convey to a busy bar manager, but is the sector making enough effort?

The good news
Everyone’s going premium. Malt is renowned as a premium spirit – no question about that – and is therefore in an excellent position to capitalise on consumer desire for quality.
New faces. Recent entrants such as Monkey Shoulder and Compass Box have shown there is interest and profit in the malt sector. The consumers of these brands tend to have a younger profile and will hopefully explore the category further.
Fashions change. What and how we drink changes over time. The marketing men and women will find the right message, and a receptive audience, soon. Malt is appreciated in many countries and in different ways to the UK. These habits may become popular here too.

© db September 2006