Diageo prepares new whisky for Haig brand

Diageo has confirmed it will release a second whisky under the Haig brand since the launch of Haig Club, backed by David Beckham, in 2014.

Diageo has confirmed that they are “excited to be launching an outstanding new whisky from the House of Haig”, with further details due to be announced later this year.

Diageo teamed up with football star David Beckham, and media celebrity manager Simon Fuller, to promote the new Haig Club single grain whisky brand in 2014.

The involvement of Beckham aimed to promote the whisky to a new and younger audience than traditional whisky marketing had done before. However, the original £45 per bottle price for Haig Club did prompt some criticism.

Speaking to Scotchwhisky.com only this week, Steven Kersley, head of spirits and distillation at Brewdog’s new spirits division Lone Wolf, described Haig Club as “nonsense: a nice vase with a celebrity endorsement, and Cameronbridge spirit which you can buy off the shelf for about £18.”

The new Haig brand is expected to be launched at a lower price point than Haig Club, with a stronger focus on its versatility with mixers, reinforcing engagement with its original target market of younger drinkers.

The House of Haig is Scotland’s oldest grain whisky dynasty and the producer of Haig Blended Scotch Whisky and Dimple Scotch Whisky. Haig can trace its whisky producing roots back to the seventeenth century.