THE managing director of Edrington’s Macallan business has highlighted its confidence in the global prospects for single malt whisky, including its “huge” growth potential in China.
Scott McCroskie declared that the single malt category was currently enjoying an “excellent moment”, despite mounting geopolitical tensions, and pointed to figures from the Scotch Whisky Association which revealed growth of 14.2% in sales values to £1.17 billion last year.
His comments came as Edrington oversaw the Scottish launch of its new Macallan Double Cask 12 single malt range. It forms part of a new core range for the Speyside brand alongside the Sherry Oak 12 and Triple Cask Matured, with the former Macallan Gold brand renamed Double Cask Gold.
The range, which will be presented consistently in global markets, follows a previous Macallan portfolio based on colour – gold, amber, sienna and ruby.
The Macallan is currently the world’s biggest selling single malt by value, with 950,000 cases sold in its last financial year. That figure is expected to rise in its next set of accounts. Edrington’s 2016 accounts showed that its malt exports grew by 12% to exceed £1bn for the first time. In general, we are in a really excellent moment for Scotch, [and] for single malt Scotch in particular,” Mr McCroskie said. “You will have seen the SWA export stats and the shift from blend to malt over the years. The Macallan is performing incredibly strongly, ahead of the market but the market as a whole is performing well.
“We are seeing places like China, which have been subdued, starting to really come back, and I think that is having a positive impact.
“[Across] the global economy, although it is volatile and there is lots going on from a geopolitical perspective, there is good underlying growth across a range of markets.”
Recent months have seen a significant upturn in fortunes for whisky distillers in China after years of decline, sparked by government-led austerity measures. The Macallan is the number one single malt in China, which is one of the company’s top six markets. But Mr McCroskie said that “today’s position is nothing [compared] with how it could end up. Time will tell, but it feels to us like China offers huge growth potential for single malt as a whole.”
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