THERE are many reasons for cheer when it comes to the Scotch whisky industry.
It has long been a crucial source of exports for Scotland and the UK as a whole. And recent years have seen a most welcome variety of investment projects from players of all sizes.
Edrington this month showed off its £140 million investment in a new distillery for The Macallan on Speyside. This is part of a £500m investment in The Macallan brand, which has long been in high demand in a raft of overseas markets such as the US and Taiwan. At the other end of the size spectrum, we have had the opening of the Isle of Harris Distillery, with its strong and vital community spirit. And there have been myriad other Scotch whisky investment projects.
Read More: Ian McConnell: Taiwan's connoisseurs have long enjoyed premium whisky offering
Today, Speymalt Whisky Distributors has unveiled plans to build a new Scotch distillery at Craggan, near Grantown-on-Spey.
Speymalt, which dates back more than 120 years and is owned by the Urquhart family, notes the project will establish the first new malt whisky distillery to be built in Cairngorms National Park since its creation in 2003.
Read More: Scots exports follow whisky route into Taiwan
Ewen Mackintosh, managing director of Speymalt, declared: “Constructing a second distillery will enable us to continue creating a sustainable long-term legacy for future generations.”
And this brings us to another very important reason to be cheerful when it comes to the Scotch whisky industry – the importance of the long term.
Read More: Saturday interview: Distillery chief driven by job of taking the spirit of Harris global
This long-term approach is evident too when you speak with Simon Erlanger, managing director of Isle of Harris Distillers, and with Edrington. While Edrington is a player of real scale on the global stage, it is free to focus on the long term because of its ownership by a charitable trust, The Robertson Trust.
Read More: Former Edrington chairman has had a Good run at the top
Such long-term views as those seen in the Scotch whisky sector are particularly refreshing in a world of too-often-short corporate attention spans.
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