TOMATIN has declared it was the fastest-growing of the top 10 single malt whiskies in the key US market last year.
The Highland distillery, owned by Takara Shuzo of Japan, sold more than 35,000 cases of branded product across the Atlantic last year, generating nearly £2 million of sales. This was a 52 per cent rise on the previous year, according to figures from Impact Databank.
Tomatin, which is the number 10 single malt in America, highlighted its popularity in New York, Texas and California.
The US is the biggest overseas market for single malt Scotch whisky by value, accounting for £922 million of exports last year, up 7.7 per cent on 2016. Speyside whisky The Glenlivet, owned by Pernod Ricard, was the biggest-selling single malt in the market last year with sales of 419,000 cases, according to Impact Databank.
Tomatin sales director Graham Nicolson said: “There is growing demand for Tomatin stateside and, thanks to our fantastic partnership with Phillips Distilling Co, we have been able to meet this demand and grow Tomatin’s US presence at a significant pace.
He added: “2018 has been a year of intense acceleration for Tomatin, not just in the US, but in the UK too. We are delighted to celebrate this latest business milestone and look forward to further growing the brand in the US, and beyond, as we head into 2019.”
Tomatin, which is based 16 miles south of Inverness and 15 miles north of Aviemore on the A9, reported overall sales of £18m for 2017 in June, up 25 per cent on the year before. Growth was driven by the UK, US and European markets. The period also saw sales from its visitor centre top £1m for the first time.
Sarah Dickson of the Scotch Whisky Association said: “Single malts are extremely popular in the USA, with the country representing 26% of overall value of single malt exports – and the equivalent of 23.7 million bottles shipped to the country in 2017.”
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