SPAIN’s biggest whisky maker has announced plans to go global as it throws off its “inferiority complex”.

Established brand DYC ended last year at the top of its home market, pipping Scotch blends like Ballantine’s and J&B.

Now it has sight its sight on an international expansion - with a first venture in to the lucrative Latin American market.

Its head of marketing, Marcos de la Torre, said: “We want to get rid of the inferiority complex we have, the belief that something from abroad is better than something from here.

“So for us it is about not just exporting but breaking that complex and having success abroad like other Spanish brands such as Zara or Santander.”

READ MORE: Scotch whisky exports hit fresh record as US becomes £1bn market 

Spanish news agency Efe said that DYC controlled around a fifth of the Spanish market, which is the second biggest for Scotch in the EU. DYC sold 11 million bottles in 2018, up 5.5 per cent.

But the Spanish market. it said, was shrinking, by around two per cent a year. Mr de la Torre attributed this trend to a shift away from traditional nightlife, when dark spirits were consumed. Whisky, however, remains Spain’s favourite spirit.

Scotch sells at a premium, though Mr de le Torre maintained DYC was jut as good.

He said: “Whiskies imported from Scotland arrive in Spain at a higher price thanks to transport costs and duties and this serves to position them in consumers’ heads as of higher quality.”

Latin America is a major whisky market with both its own brands and a taste for Scotch. Mexico alone was last year reported to be the second biggest market for premium Scottish brand and the ninth biggest Scotch export market overall, accounting for more than £130m in sales last year. up 18 per cent.

Sales are soaring across Latin America, 40 per cent in Panama and 36 per cent in Columbia.

Spain, the fifth biggest Scotch market, was down 2.7 per cent at around £170m as gin rose.