By Scott Wright
A NEW Glasgow whisky company that likens itself to a record label for independent spirits producers has revealed details of its first move into the bottling market.
DamGoodDrams was set up by self-confessed whisky “nerds” Paul Jamieson and Julian Mithoff at the height of lockdown in December 2020, initially as an e-commerce platform trading in casks and bottles from lesser-known distillers while the hospitality industry was closed.
Now it is preparing to debut the first whisky of its own as an independent bottler, with The Spirit of Glaschu (Gaelic for Glasgow) expected to be launched later this month. Some 220 bottles of the malt, a Blair Athol seven-year-old finished in rum casks, will be released.
Mr Jamieson, who hopes The Spirit of Glaschu will be the first of many whiskies to be launched by DamGoodDrams, said: “It has been an incredible journey so far, and we are eager to start trading internationally. There’s already considerable interest in our platform, with independent bottlers and distilleries approaching us, wanting to sell their whisky on our site, which is really encouraging. The next exciting step for us is getting our own independent whisky launched and [to] begin selling that overseas as well.”
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Mr Jamieson and Mr Mithoff do not have previous backgrounds in the whisky industry. Mr Jamieson was an aircraft engineer but was made redundant early in the pandemic, and invested cash from a redundancy pay-out into the launch of the business. In addition to the founders’ own funds, the launch was supported by a £15,000 package from Transit Startups through the British Business Bank, with a further £10,000 to follow next year. Much of the early funding has been invested in the purchase of casks and bottling fees.
When the company began life as an e-commerce platform, offering consumers the chance to acquire unusual whiskies when hospitality outlets were closed, Mr Jamieson said the owners had made a conscious decision to work with smaller players. Among the distillers and companies on its roster are Uncharted Whisky Co, Single Note, Rebels, Lochlea and Na Braithrean.
Mr Jamieson said: “They have been really good, high-quality single casks with cool stories, nice labels, and bottles, and they are doing really well. We are trying to think about it as a record label. If a band is doing really well and a record label takes them on, it is the same with the independents [we work with]. If we see them doing well, we want to sell them.”
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Mr Jamieson added: “People are really wanting something different from distillery bottlings. There is a lot of interest – the Netherlands and Germany, but obviously with Brexit it is really hard to ship there, and it is really expensive.”
Mr Jamieson explained that before Brexit it cost DamGoodDrams just £20 to export a bottle of whisky to Germany, with no fees incurred by the customer. Now it costs around €80 for the customer to have a bottle from the UK released.
Asked if the costs would deter the company from exporting to countries in the EU, he replied: “No, it is not deterring us. One of the beauties of [doing] our own bottling is [we] are a lot more in control of our own costs. If we can get our own costs down and bring the price of the whisky down as we enter those markets… that is the plan. It is just a challenge, but it is fun.”
Mr Jamieson said the company plans to release two of its own whiskies this year, with The Spirit of Glaschu to be followed by a further botting in November. A further three or four are planned for early next year.
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DamGoodDrams has been building awareness by forming relationships with bars in Glasgow, hosting tasting nights to give consumers the chance to try its whiskies.
Susan Nightingale, UK network director for Scotland at the British Business Bank, said: “Scotland’s whisky industry is full of opportunities for entrepreneurs with a passion for the craft and skill involved in distilling and bottling, and DamGoodDrams is a great example of how ambition and the right support can make dreams become reality.”
“Our Start Up Loans Programme is designed to help founders like Paul and Julian to succeed and it’s inspiring to see them develop their business into new markets.”
Long-term plans for the business include the development of its own premises for bottling whisky.
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